The economic collapse and ensuing high unemployment rates have reminded us that no one is immune to the vagaries of the 21st century economy. While there has been significant disagreement about how to jumpstart the economy, motivated as often as not by partisanship, most people in Congress understand that, at least in the short-term, basic human decency demands that our social safety net remain accessible to the millions enduring hardship because of the extended recession. For one Senator, though, it is simply too expensive to provide even modest support to those among us who are have been hit hardest.
In using procedural mechanisms to block a temporary extension of unemployment benefits, which passed the House on a simple voice vote, Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky made clear that he believes that compassion, even in a time of crisis, is not a value he holds in high regard. This is not a matter of parochialism or politics—Kentucky’s unemployment rate since the beginning of the collapse has been higher than the national average, and, in any event, Bunning has chosen not to run for reelection. Rather, it is pure callousness from a man who, after a successful baseball career and more than 20 years in elected office, has forgotten what it means experience economic uncertainty.
The Senate will certainly find a way to overcome Senator Bunning’s intransigence, but restarting unemployment support for people who temporarily lost access to it will be expensive and time-consuming. Whatever Senator Bunning believes he will have accomplished with his obstructionism, let’s hope it was worth the cost, both in dollars and in personal suffering.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda .
