The leader of the Congressional Black Caucus Representative Emmanuel Cleaver appears to have abandoned the 99ers and H.R. 589.
In his article Is helping 99ers "cost prohibitive"? Jason Tabrys (Liberal Examiner for examiner.com) relays a White House conversation that seems to sound the death knell for HR 589 and with that, any hope the 99er Nation may have clung to for help from congress in order to survive. The article reads in part:
Representative Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) said that the cost of H.R. 589, the unemployment extension so many millions of 99ers are desperate for is “cost prohibitive”.
The blog provides a detailed description of Rep. Cleavers exchange with President Obama reportedly detailed by Representative Cleaver:
“It was what I expected because my staff had done a lot of research on it. And we found that the cost of that program would be between $14 and 20 billion dollars which is cost prohibitive. So there was no point in the President saying, ‘yeah I support it…’ when I laid it out I said to him, ‘Mr. President, I’m going to raise this, and this is one of our issues because this is one of our issues — it’s an issue among our members…’ I ended it by saying, however, I understand that the cost is enormous. He (President Obama) said (to Rob Nabors sitting on the sofa) ‘Rob how much is it?’ And Rob said, ‘between 14 and 20 billion’ and I said, let’s move on. Because there was no point — that’s not going to happen”
....with Representatives Bobby Scott and Barbara Lee set to meet with the Republican leadership in the coming days doesn’t Representative Cleavers lackluster advocacy for this bill throttle any chance of bi-partisan support or was this just another political game played at the expense of people running out of air?
99ers are exhausted, their energies overdrawn by the battle to merely survive. “Cost prohibitive” is a term that slashes at the soul of someone comprised of breath, blood, and bone who is withering away. Is their existence “cost prohibitive”?
So it is NOT too “cost prohibitive” to BOMB Libya - just too “cost prohibitive” save millions of Americans from hunger & Homelessness. Where are Obama’s Humanitarian principles when it comes to the suffering of Americans?
This President and most every current member of Congress has GOT TO GO! The 99er Nation should be committed to making that so unless they get the help they desperately need to survive. Don't tell me that 7 million people, plus the additional 4 million that will be 99ers by next year (plus all the friends and families they can influence) cannot vote OUT this terrible President and every "Do Nothing House & Senate member" with their skewed priorities! The 99er Nation surely out numbers the Tea Party. We can and we MUST. Then again that will depend in part what other choice we have come Election Day 2012. If the 99er Nation, the Unemployed and the Under Employed would just join together we would have an enormous and undeniable constituency no politician could ignore or defeat. But will we?
Either way, it looks bad for the once “last Hope of the UI exhaustees” (HR 589) and the 99ers - now without any UI Lifeline for well over a year and going hungry and homeless at an alarming rate. Alarming for real humanitarians, that is, but apparently since that suffering is on America’s shores - Washington could care less.
This President and most every current member of Congress has GOT TO GO! The 99er Nation should be committed to making that so unless they get the help they desperately need to survive. Don't tell me that 7 million people, plus the additional 4 million that will be 99ers by next year (plus all the friends and families they can influence) cannot vote OUT this terrible President and every "Do Nothing House & Senate member" with their skewed priorities! The 99er Nation surely out numbers the Tea Party. We can and we MUST. Then again that will depend in part what other choice we have come Election Day 2012. If the 99er Nation, the Unemployed and the Under Employed would just join together we would have an enormous and undeniable constituency no politician could ignore or defeat. But will we?
Either way, it looks bad for the once “last Hope of the UI exhaustees” (HR 589) and the 99ers - now without any UI Lifeline for well over a year and going hungry and homeless at an alarming rate. Alarming for real humanitarians, that is, but apparently since that suffering is on America’s shores - Washington could care less.
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