John Boehner Screws The Unemployed by Killing Unemployment Benefits Extension

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Speaker of the House John Boehner announced today that he plans to kill the bipartisan unemployment benefits extension that the Senate has agreed to.

Boehner used a letter from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies to come out against the bill. Rep. Boehner said, “The serious problems with the Senate legislation being noted by these state directors – the state employees charged with actually implementing the Senate unemployment insurance legislation if it were to become law – are cause for serious concern.  We have always said that we’re willing to look at extending emergency unemployment benefits again, if Washington Democrats can come up with a plan that is fiscally-responsible, and gets to the root of the problem by helping to create more private-sector jobs.  There is no evidence that the bill being rammed through the Senate by Leader Reid meets that test, and according to these state directors, the bill is also simply unworkable.  Frankly, a better use of the Senate’s time would be taking up and passing the dozens of House-passed jobs bills still awaiting action.”

Boehner is using the letter as political cover. He needed a reason to once again screw over the unemployed. The concerns voiced in the letter can be addressed legislatively before the bill comes out of the Senate, but Boehner is applying the same logic that he used when he claimed that Obamacare must be killed because the website had issues.

Speaker Boehner is looking for a reason, any reason, to keep millions of people economically struggling. Republicans view throwing people off of unemployment benefits as a political winner.

They are convinced that they can escape blame for their actions. Boehner and his House Republicans are certain that America will blame President Obama. The truth is that there are enough Republicans in the House who would join with Democrats to pass the unemployment benefits extension.

Boehner had to come up with some reason to keep the bill off of the House floor. Now that he’s got it, millions of hard working Americans are going to be thrown into economic uncertainty and poverty, thanks to John Boehner.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association