Those patriotic House Republicans have yet to introduce a serious jobs bill (they've been way too busy fighting the culture war and figuring out how to punish women). Maybe they should take a bit of time out from trying to invent legislative chastity belts and spend a little time fixing this.
(Reuters) - More than 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were unemployed in January, far higher than the national jobless rate and the highest since the government began collecting data on veterans in 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday.
That rate could go even higher if the U.S. military begins winding down operations in Afghanistan and a flood of veterans return home looking for work, a veterans' advocate said....
The government said 15.2 percent of veterans were out of work in January, up from 12.6 percent the same month a year ago. This compares with a overall U.S. unemployment rate of 9.0 percent seasonally adjusted and 9.8 percent without adjustment. The government data for veterans is only presented without adjusting for seasonal differences.
That's some thanks for going to war--no thanks. Hopefully some of them are at least able to take advantage of the educational benefits in the GI Bill. And hopefully by the time they get out of school, there will be a job for them. In the meantime, this is a travesty. The utter lack of urgency in our government about unemployment has been baffling and disturbing. Reports like this make it a complete travesty.
If Democrats want to make 2012 better than 2010, they'd better start talking about this, and trying to do something about it, now. Start with a "Jobs for our Warriors" plan, and just watch Republicans try to fight it. It might even end up actually doing some damned good and get people back to work.