by Doug Foote - Reposted from Working America's Main Street Blog
Welcome news out of the White House: Obama Administration spokesperson Jay Carney issued a veto threat to Rep. Dave Camp's disgusting unemployment bill, H.R. 3630, which passed the House yesterday.
"The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3630. With only days left before taxes go up for 160 million hardworking Americans, H.R. 3630 plays politics at the expense of middle-class families. H.R. 3630 breaks the bipartisan agreement on spending cuts that was reached just a few months ago and would inevitably lead to pressure to cut investments in areas like education and clean energy. Furthermore, H.R. 3630 seeks to put the burden of paying for the bill on working families, while giving a free pass to the wealthiest and to big corporations by protecting their loopholes and subsidies," the administration said in a statement of policy.
Added Carney definitively:
"If the president were presented with H.R. 3630, he would veto the bill."
Cue the feigned shock and anger from Speaker John Boehner, whose office said the veto threat was "legislative malpractice," based on “fictitious reasoning.”
We’re going to once again disagree with the Speaker: there's nothing “fictitious” about the economic pain and suffering that will result if H.R. 3630 becomes law.
With the average length of unemployment at a record high, it is cruel and selfish to cut 40 weeks off of federal unemployment benefits.
With millions of Americans out of work through no fault of their own, it is cruel and selfish to require applicants to be tested for drugs just to get the funds to buy groceries and fill their gas tanks.
With the unemployment rate in states like Michigan still over 10 percent, it is cruel and selfish to end Tier IV unemployment compensation and cut aid from states that need it most.
With state governments faced with impossible budget choices, it is cruel and selfish to override their ability to make decisions on unemployment benefits – and from the same Congressmen who were elected on the promise of “smaller government.”
With 80 percent of Americans begging the two parties to work together for solutions, it is cruel and selfish to treat unemployed Americans as pawns in the Speaker's political chess match with the President.
Memo to House Republicans: It's not a game to those outside the Beltway. It's not a game to the people at home having to decide between food and medicine. We aren't fooled or amused by Rep. Dave Camp writing a bill that insults our dignity and hurts our wallets, and then putting a bow on top and calling it "The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act."
Why don't they get it? Why do they think less money in the pockets of Americans translates into "job creation?" Why do they think the inability to pay for food and housing is good for the economy?
We're far from agreeing with everything the Obama Administration does. But if this bill gets to the President's desk in its current form, a veto is the least he could do. If I was President, I might rip it up, or set it on fire.
Photo of the White House by Tom Lohdan on Flickr, via Creative Commons.