Those of you who are unemployed – and there presently about 1 million unemployed in Massachusetts and many thousands in Everett – are sitting on the edge of your chairs praying the US Senate and the House will agree to reinstate the Federal $600 a week stipend that ran out on July 31.
Republicans try to make the case it is simply too much money to pay to the unemployed, that is disincentivizes people from going back to work.
This is where the disconnect between working people and our national leaders reaches a wide divide.
Most Republican senators, nearly all of whom are millionaires, complain that by giving the unemployed a chance to survive without sweating like animals hunting for their next meal, that the nation is hurt.
But where are the unemployed going to get jobs these days?
In restaurants or small businesses or in many larger businesses which have already gone bankrupt?
There is no where to run and nowhere to hide for many milions of the nearly 30 million Americans now unemployed. That $600 stipend every week has allowed them to sustain themselves and to shore up the economy.
Without it, there is pain and suffering and financial want. The US Senate and the House should reach an agreement to re-up the added $600 a week stipend or at least to make it $500.
Without this, things are going to get very nasty very fast. There is no need for this in 21st Century America