Politics. Yes, I'm Going There.

Here's a little quote from Newt Gingrich regarding unemployment benefits - “Unemployment compensation should be changed, so that in order to get unemployment compensation you sign up for a business led training program, so we are modernizing our workforce. Never again should we pay somebody 99 weeks for doing nothing. In 99 weeks, you can earn an associate degree. I mean, think about the total waste of human capability when you teach people to sit at home for 99 weeks. It’s fundamentally wrong and a violation of the Declaration of Independence commitment that we have the right to pursue happiness.”

I agree with you, Newt.  I believe that if you don't have a job, then your job should be finding a job.  I don't believe that people who are too lazy/hooked on drugs/used to "working" the system/(insert social ill here) to get out and look for a job should be compensated for sitting on their asses and watching Swift Justice reruns every day.

But I dare say that those people who have been laid off by their employers aren't "doing nothing" for 99 weeks.  I would almost guarantee you that the average working-class American who suddenly finds himself or herself out of a job (because Mexican labor is cheaper than American labor and robotics are cheaper than human labor) is spending the bulk of his or her time actively seeking a new job.  Because they have NOTHING to fall back on - no savings, no investments, no wealthy relatives, and no government to bail them out.  I mean, sure, if we were all wealthy enough to live off of what our investment portfolios earn, then sitting poolside at our vacation homes for 99 weeks, while drawing a 378.00 (if we are Virginia residents and top earners) weekly check from the government wouldn't be such a bad gig.  But that's not how most of the country - you know, the country you are trying to become the next President of - lives.  Middle-class Americans make barely enough to pay their bills each month.  Middle-class Americans have to decide between taking their children to the dentist and replacing their broken refrigerators.

Now, I understand that we as a nation have fallen on hard times.  To be downright frank, the economy SUCKS.  Boy, it sucks big ones.  But I do believe that a lot of the blame for our economy's suckiness falls squarely in the laps of you and all the politicians and lobbyists like you.  Oh, yes.  I did just call you a lobbyist.  And I think that it is an absolute disgrace that the only people who can run for President of this (once) great nation are people like you.  Millionaires who are career politicians who have made a name for themselves kissing the asses of the corporations who screw the average, everyday voters in this country and by doing so, have run the USofA straight into the ground.

And don't even get me started on Rick Santorum's "snob" comment.