UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

As charges and counter-charges float across the airwaves and newspapers between Democrats and Republicans, the real intent is not to inform, but to confuse the electorate.

One of the debates in the Halls of Congress these days is the politically charged statement from the Democrats that the Republicans are denying the poor unemployed workers in this country a vitally needed helping hand by not further extending unemployment payments, which are already at 90 weeks…nearly 2 years! Your Commander does not think that is the real question or the specific problem.

Certainly I have great concern and sympathy for anyone who has lost their job and cannot pay their bills. This country has a long justified reputation for helping those in need, and we must find a way to do that again. BUT!

I understand the anguish of unemployment, because after 29 years with one company I found myself on the beach when the company shuttered its doors. Being in my mid-fifties the job prospects were dismal, but I never received one unemployment check and never applied for one. It became necessary to move across the country, but I found a job. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary requirements to find a viable job.

There is another even more important question confronting the American electorate and politicians. Where is the money coming from to pay extended unemployment payments? Currently the government continues to pass legislation causing additional borrowing and debt, which every single knowledgeable economist contends to be unsustainable.

Considering federal, state, and local financial obligations, we must determine where we can cut expenses or how we can increase the revenue coming to government. Those goals must be the first priority, not additional unsustainable expenditures. An honest objective appraisal will clearly indicate where the waste can be found, but we have to take the political considerations out of the investigation or nothing will ever be truly accomplished, and the country will just go bankrupt. That is not an acceptable alternative, and it is about time that we all recognize that proven fact.

I am not standing up for the Republicans on this charge, but let’s be honest. We cannot continue to feed an endless wasteful welfare and entitlement system to satisfy political considerations only. Charging Republicans as heartless, big-business prone people is simply a bogus argument. It is time to be both honest and objective on both sides of the political spectrum.

Taking the above into consideration there is another vital question that we must put into the national conversation, and that is: Is it the job of government to pay unemployment support; and if it should, just how long a period of time is justified? Do we want our country to become a “womb to the tomb supported society?” In an effort to initiate the debate, I do not think that is what the majority of Americans want this country to become. Do you?

America cannot carry two gallons of water in a one gallon bucket.

COMMANDER GRANGER