GOP Party of Greed tries to delay relief for unemployed millions

This is the third time, at least, the Senate was ready to pass an extension of the Unemployment Insurance benefits. And it is the third time Republicans are trying to stop it passing in a timely manner, considering 185,000 unemployed people have already lost their means to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their families. By the way, I use those three terms advisedly. Calling this government program benefits puts distance, desirable to those unwilling to grapple with the problem (Republicans), between the human misery delay is causing and their own greedy, self-centered posturing and bargaining.

Today’s gem from the Party of Greed was almost laughable, if its consequences were not so sad. “The objection came, Manley said, because Republicans were trying to introduce unrelated amendments attacking ACORN and the financial-industry bailout, among other things,” according to a HuffPo article. Manley is Jim Manley, senior communications advisor to Sen. Harry Reid, majority leader.

It is not unusual for either party to attach completely unrelated legislation to bills about to be passed. It’s despicable, for either party, but not unusual. In this case, despicable is not even close to the proper description. The Party of Greed loathes ACORN, and I will admit that ACORN has had some bobbles in its mission to serve the disenfranchised…but then, what organization is without its failures? It would seem ACORN is no worse and no better than many. What it has to do with unemployment insurance, however, is clear. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. But it became useful to the Party of Greed in its attempt to increase the human misery that was fertilized and gestated and given birth by their own very odd couple, Dubya and Dickie.

Which brings us to point two, attaching anything about the financial-industry bailout to this bill. But then, the Party of Greed would have no problem adding insult to injury. The facts:

• Dubya came into office with a surplus Clinton left.
• Dubya saved his rich buddies from paying any tax at all, and he gave away several farms to buddies in oil, armaments and godknowswhatallwhichisn’tevenknownyet.
• Dubya and his partner, Deadeye Dick, created the conditions for a financial bailout to be necessary.
• Dubya took the first shot, locking the next administration into a spiraling black hole of unholy financial hell that I frankly doubt we will see our way out of until some sort of apocalypse radically alters the political scenery―a true people’s revolt (and one would hope it would be civil disobedience only, but then, Americans haven’t been starved and thrown out of their homes like so many medieval peasants before, either, not even in the Great Depression. (At which point, a “thank goodness for Franklin Delano Roosevelt” is in order. But for him, we would probably be entering a second dark age. Well, at least the peasants would, providing we had come through the first.)