The unemployed should not be fed: "If you give a person ample food supply they will reproduce"

Republicans Kiss the Rich; Diss the Jobless
By Leo W. Gerard
United Steelworkers of America International President
July 19, 2010

A brutal competition pits worker against worker continually now in this country. Five unemployed people vie with each other for each available job. It’s like a cruel game of musical chairs, with five desperate competitors for one seat.

Workers who’ve lost cars to repossession and homes to foreclosure run around frantically trying to get that one job. When the music stops, four disheartened, still-unemployed people move to other viscous cycles of five struggling to win one available job.

Republicans watching this blame the 14.6 million unemployed Americans for the inadequate number of chairs. They’ve called the unemployed lazy and refused to extend unemployment compensation. Meanwhile, the GOP is demanding an extension of Bush’s tax cuts for the rich.

To the GOP, the rich are deserving. Republicans see the unemployed as leeches — not as victims of filthy-rich, banksters who destroyed the economy, not as the stalwart citizens whose tax money Bush used to bail out Wall Street. To Republicans, the unemployed – along with the un-rich – deserve only disrespect.

And they’ve been heaping it on.

Republican Sen. John Kyl of Arizona said during a debate on the Senate floor, for example. “In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.”

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah demanded drug tests for those receiving unemployment benefits, “We should not be giving cash to people who basically are just going to blow it on drugs.”

Republican Senatorial candidate Sharron Angle of Nevada said extending benefits to the unemployed, who she characterized as “spoiled,” would be “terrible.”

Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer of South Carolina said the unemployed, like stupid stray animals, should not be fed: “My grandmother was not a highly educated woman but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”

Read the full article at:

http://blog.usw.org/2010/07/19/republicans-kiss-the-rich-diss-the-jobless/

Jackass Andre Bauer came in fourth out of four candidates. Bad news, the Sara Palin endorsed candidate won the nomination.

And we have a lot of jobs for people in this country. We are going to need a huge staff for at least a decade to clean up the oid bidness mess in the Gulf.

Put the squeeze on outsourcing. Make the corporatists pay when they ship jobs offshore.

I believe that everyone feels better about themselves when they have a job, and yes, anyone who is able is better off working, whether on the dole or not.

Of course humans breed. We are driven to fuck, employed or not.

They don't know any better, my ass.

That's one Republican politicians solution!

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

was outsourced he was making $1,800 a week. His unemployment was the max of around $400 a week. Our mortgage alone was $1,800 a month. Let them do the math. His unemployment checks weren't enough to pay the mortgage, let alone other bills, and put food the the table. Oh, yeah be contented to sit back and collect unemployment. I only worked part time because I was going back to college at the time.

We still had one teenager at home. Breed? Breeding was PERMANENTLY, as in vasectomy after 2nd child was born, over by then.

These Republicans are totally clueless as to who exactly are the unemployed.

going to blow it on drugs.” Interesting they will say drugs when actually alcohol is more likely. I had a guy tell me once that if you didn't cash the check in a bar, you weren't doing it right.
I'm glad they are passing the extension, but some of what the Republicans say is true about some people collecting benefits.
I went from age 16 to 41 without ever being unemployed. Not even for one day. The first time I did collect "unenjoyment" checks was when I was layed off a construction job. This was about three months every year for three years. Even though I was required to "look" for work I made sure to not apply somewhere that might actually hire me. This was SOP for most of the guys in the same boat I ever knew. We already had jobs and knew we were going back to work in the spring. The layoff was actually a paid vacation, courtesy of the generous taxpayers of Washington state. I thank you very much.
A few years before the guys weren't even required to do a job search. The bosses just sent job service the list of layed off guys, and they were put on stand by.
I can't believe anyone hasn't had a friend or relative work the system. In past years with a better economy, it was more reasonable for a guy that was "in between" jobs to know he would find something worthwhile before too much time went by. I know I never expected a guy that was normally a good worker to have to take just any job. Someone that has never been steadily employed is a different matter though.

If you notice this is the Reagan type crap we are hearing regurgitated

Remember "Welfare Queens"? That was directed at blacks in this country....

Now they are using the same rhetoric for all unemployed Americans...

They are so transparent that it boggles the mind.

the system, it's probably because they still live at home. You have to at some time had a full time job to ever collect any unemployment checks.

*edit for SP*

there should be something that protects the self-employed, even if it's just paying out when times are flush so that they can get assistance when things aren't going well.

It's another segment of the population that may not be counted. Many of the fisherman down in the gulf were self-employed and now their livelihood is destroyed they are screwed.

Damn the ruling class to hell.

unemployed people are doing the wrong thing.

Assuming all of them, or even the majority, are doing the right thing is every bit as ignorant and short-sighted.

good people/bad people; good doctors/bad doctors; good lawyers/bad lawyers, etc., etc. The thing is - I'd much rather support this very small minority of the population with welfare and programs in order for them to better educate themselves, etc. - but the BIG PROBLEM IS CORPORATE WELFARE. The little people/victims are always the ones to get blamed while the big corporations walk off scott-free with our tax dollars.

the system. Whether it's welfare, or food stamps, or section 8, or unemployment, or disability, or whatever, there are always people taking the handout and NOT trying to support themselves in any meaningful way.

To say that this isn't happening is just plain lying. Or ignorance.

And yes, it has been racially directed by politicians, and there is no excuse for that, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

be idealistic about it. I know there are people who are really trying and suffering out there, but I think for every one of those, there are several people working the system.

two years ago unemployment was under 5%, today it's nearly 10%.

That would suggest that you believe that 7.5 out of 10 suddenly decided to become unemployed 2 years ago & live on half their income for a vacation or something.

5 applicants for every job opening, what's so difficult about that?

And I have known too many people to think that most people are being honest, at least after awhile, on benefits. Experience has shown me that people like getting something for nothing a lot of the time.

That doesn't mean that there aren't good, hard working people out there collecting benefits.

i interpret "those" to mean people who really need the help, & "several" to mean "3 or more".

that = 1/4 v. 3/4.

i don't think my interpretation of your remarks is an unwarranted stretch.

Knee jerking? Who knew?

I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if I came on DU sounding like my Fox news watching relatives and got this response. You shouldn't be, either.

"I think for every one of those, there are several people working the system."

Several? So would the ratio be 2 to 1 or 5 to 1 in your opinion?

Now please retract your suggestion that most people collecting unemployment compensation are somehow "abusing" the system and should not receive unemployment benefits.

That sounds way too much like Republican talking points directed against unemployed people.

"but I think for every one of those, there are several people working the system."

Got any credible data to back up that assumption or are you just pulling arbitrary numbers out of your ass?

I know a few scumbags, in-laws in fact, that have managed to game the system over the years, yes, it does happen from time to time. But that certainly doesn't mean that I believe 3 out of 4 people collecting benefits are some kind of scam artists. All it means is that I know a few that have managed to cheat the system.

And they made hundreds of billons in their scams, paid for by guess who .... us!

Christ. They write the fricken laws!

If you don't give them food, someone else might, and they'd still reproduce.

No, euthanasia is the only answer for South Carolina. As governor, he should set up Human Society shelters to put the unemployed 'to sleep.'

;-)

I just hope 'ol Andre realizes that actions sometimes have consequences....

sorry, couldn't help it.

:grr:

And God knows we don't need any more David Vitters...

holding starving babies? I doubt that anything will stop people from reproducing. Guess we had better give them all free birth control and abortions.