Republicans Tell 19 Million Jobless Americans To Starve By Opposing Stimulus

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:33 pm

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Republicans in Congress are telling the 19 million Americans who are getting some form of government check for lost wages to deal with it as they oppose more stimulus.

CNN video on new jobless claims:

CNN reported on the latest jobless claims data:

730,000 people filed for the very first time for unemployment benefits last week. A little better than we had been expecting, but that number itself is so big, Alisyn. When you add in people applying for the pandemic programs, those special programs in covid, it’s something like 1.2 million Americans for the very first time filing for first-time unemployment benefits.

These numbers far exceed the records set in the great recession and even earlier than that. So this still shows a lot of pain in the American job market. Altogether, some 19 million Americans — I just want you to think about how big that is. 19 million Americans are receiving some form of check from the government for lost wages, for jobless benefits. That shows the depth of the jobs crisis.

House Minority Leader McCarthy suggested to Punchbowl News that he wants unemployment to stay high so that he can blame Biden, “It’s early, of course, but McCarthy believes that he can lay a subpar job-creation situation and rising gas prices at Democrats’ feet next year. McCarthy also thinks that some early Biden executive orders, such as canceling the Keystone Pipeline, will hurt Democrats politically.

For almost a week, House Republicans have been telling their caucus to vote no on the stimulus:

House Republicans are telling Americans to starve. They want to keep the country in crisis because it is their only path back to House and Senate majorities in 2022. Republicans are trying to politically profit off of the suffering of the American people, which is why the Biden stimulus must be passed.

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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.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

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