Op-ed
Republicans Triple Down on Their War against the Poor
Immigration Bill
John Boehner said that he would not be bringing up an immigration bill this
year after weeks of telling the public they had laid out principles for the immigration
bill. He stated on Thursday "There's
widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce
our laws, and it's going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation
until that changes," Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday. Critics
claim he changed his mind after Tea Party Republicans warned him that he
would loose his speakership if he tried to bring a bill to the floor. But
rather than be honest, we get this “blame on President Obama bull”.
Unemployment Insurance
The Senate introduced an unemployment Bill to help 1.7
million workers who have ran out of unemployment. Majority Speaker Harry Reed Introduced
a 3 month unemployment bill in the senate but it failed to get enough votes to
pass. The vote was 58 to 40, just two votes short needed for it to be veto
prove. Even if the bill had passed the senate, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan
made it clear that if the bill came to the house, they would vote it down.
Food Stamps
The Republican Party in the house separated the Snap Program
from the Farm bill and tried to cut 40 billion dollars from the bill. The bill, written under the direction of the House majority leader, Eric
Cantor, Republican of Virginia would make the cuts over a 10 year period. The
Democrats negotiated with the Republicans and agreed to an 8 billion dollar
cut. Most of the people on food stamps are workers who have lost their jobs,
military soldiers returning from Afghanistan
and Iraq
and older senior Americans. Food pantries are struggling to keep their pastries
stocked because the demand is so great.
As voters we need to make our choices known at the ballot
box and through local community actions. If we allow them to continue their war
on the middle class and poor we have ourselves to blame.
Sources:
House
Republicans Pass
Deep Cuts in Food Stamps
Boehner: Distrust
of Obama drags down immigration bill
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