Scott Walker is very sad that unemployed losers refuse to get a job

Scott Walker is very sad that unemployed losers refuse to get a job

by Jed LewisonFollow for Daily Kos

Walker: The only reason Obama wants to extend unemployment benefits is to distract from Obamacare

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offers his view on extending unemployment benefits:

I don't know about you, Candy, but if I was out of work, I'd be looking more than twice a week for a job. I'd be looking for every day except maybe today. I take Sunday off to go to church and pray that I could find a job on Monday, but I think there need to be reforms in that system.

It's not that Walker wants you to think he's a heartless S.O.B., it's that he wants you to think that the reason there are nearly 4 million more unemployed people today than before the Great Recession is that they just aren't employable:

One of the biggest challenges people have who are either unemployed or under employed is many of them don't have the skills in advanced manufacturing [...] Instead of just talking about extending benefits, we should talk about getting people the training they need to fill those jobs. That's much better off than just putting a check out.

If you're going to believe what Walker has to say, then the reason that unemployment skyrocketed in the wake of the financial collapse in 2008 was simply that people weren't looking hard enough for work and that even if they were, they weren't employable. That defies credulity. There is a specific, identifiable reason for today's unemployment level, and it's not because people have suddenly become less employable than they were five years ago. It's because of the recession. This isn't rocket science.
That's not to say that there is something wrong with wanting to help people improve their skills. But if you only talk about doing that in order to avoid paying their unemployment insurance benefits—the benefits they need to put food on their table, a roof over their head, and the stability to find another job—then no matter what you say, you aren't trying to help them. You're just being a heartless S.O.B.
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