Actually ideas are the currency of public policy ( OK, in addition to lobbyist from special interests which both party's need to shed) and Republicans have none, At Health Care Summit, GOP Repeats Same "Start Over" Talking Point from July
At Thursday's White House health care summit, President Obama pleaded with the participants for "a discussion, and not just us trading talking points." Alas, as Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander made clear from the get-go, the President was destined for disappointment. In his opening remarks, Alexander insisted Democrats should abandon the bills they've already passed and start from a fresh sheet of paper. But in proclaiming that "This is a car that can't be recalled and fixed and we ought to start over," Alexander was merely regurgitating a sound bite Republicans first introduced last July.
What's sad - in addition to giving millions of hard working Americans the shaft - is that Lamar represents the great moderate thinks of conservatism - yet he is so far Right of the mainstream American family he cannot began to address the structural problems with an American economy that does not get any American working a forty hour week a living wage and affordable health care coverage.
While Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) represents the selfish self centered egotistical inanity of conservatism - GOP Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) claims extending unemployment benefits is creating ‘hobos.’
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is trying to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, but is facing resistance from Republicans who are throwing up procedural hurdles and trying to use the extension as leverage to push through a tax cut for the wealthiest families in the country. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) today questioned the necessity of an extension on the grounds that “we intend to have some immediate impact on the economy through what we’re doing.” And discourse in the House isn’t any better, with Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) positing that extending unemployment benefits may be creating “hobos”:One has to appreciate the total disconnect from reality of Republicans like Heller - currently enjoying a nice wage and subsidized health insurance courtesy the tax payers. If Heller is so concerned about any strain on the public coffers perhaps he'll volunteer his salary as a Republican promoter of a dog eat dog culture to those out of a job because of the economic policies of his buddies like George Bush and Mitch McConnell(R-KY). Heller represents a common problem with Republicans - they behave like irresponsible children that whine when they have to pay for their mistakes.
Heller said the current economic downturn and policies may bring back the hobos of the Great Depression, people who wandered the country taking odd jobs. He said a study found that people who are out of work longer than two years have only a 50 percent chance of getting back into the workforce. “I believe there should be a federal safety net,” Heller said, but he questioned the wisdom of extending unemployment benefits yet again to a total of 24 months, which Congress is doing. “Is the government now creating hobos?” he asked.
1.1 million workers are due to have their benefits expire next month, and 5 million will see their benefits disappear by June. There are currently six unemployed workers for every job opening, and even without compensating for population increases, 350,000 jobs a month would need to be generated for two full years just to make up the jobs lost in the recession.
