Conservative Policies Set to Destroy Millions of American Lives

The Conservatives have again held up the extension of unemployment benefits for the unemployed. This will immediately result in 1.7 million people being cut off of their only source of income. A total of 2.5 – 3 million people may be cut off during the month of July. There is something to remember here – and that is that these aren’t just numbers. We are talking about real flesh and blood human beings.

The people receiving unemployment compensation benefits are not people who have done something wrong, for which they should be punished, they are the victims of a bad economy. And these numbers hide an even larger issue. These are not just single individuals who will be affected by this villainous assault – each one of these people is a member of a family, and this means that children are involved. What we are really talking about is having 3 million American families lose a significant means of support this month.

How are these millions of families going to feed themselves, and especially their children? How are they going to get any food to eat? Are they supposed to starve and die? Will the supermarkets be giving away groceries, or are Conservatives mobilizing to open soup kitchens to help feed their fellow Americans?

Are we really a great nation if our people are left to go hungry? I don't use this phrase lightly - but of all the things I have heard called "Anti-American," certainly starving millions of Americans qualifies! It’s not about flag waving, supporting wars, or saying the Pledge of Allegiance that determines whether one is a patriotic American. What matters is how we treat our fellow citizens. It is clear that the Conservatives are endorsing policies that harm, and could even destroy the lives of millions of other Americans. This is "Anti-American" in the most visceral sense. How can a Conservative look a hungry child in the face and say we can't afford to provide unemployment compensation for their families so they can survive?

Have the faces of our hungry children become the faces of a 3rd World country?

If we can't afford to extend unemployment compensation to millions of our fellow citizens, we certainly can't afford any foreign wars, Wall Street bailouts, or tax loopholes for big businesses! Shouldn’t we be taking care of our own people? The Conservatives are always willing to spend more money on wars, but if you are an American citizen, you are on your own.

If we really wish for our country to get back on its feet financially is it really a good idea to deny so many families the means they need to keep their children fed and a house over their heads? Wouldn’t it be better if all of our citizens, and especially the unemployed, could provide food and shelter to their families? Wouldn’t that do more to help stimulate the economy than putting these families out on the street?

As a consequence of this Conservative blockage of the extension of unemployment benefits, how many more homes will go into foreclosure? How many more families will be broken up? How many more people will become homeless? How many more people will end it all in their desperation? The Conservatives in the US Senate will have American blood on their hands if even one person dies as a result of their refusal to extend unemployment benefits.

How can these selfish, hypocritically self-righteous Conservatives sleep at night, knowing that they are personally responsible for increasing the misery of millions, taking food out of the mouths of children, and taking shelter away from families, pushing them out onto the street? How can they eat dinner knowing what they have done? How can they even look at themselves in the mirror with even a shred of self respect? What a disgrace – trashing the lives of American families in the name of deficit reduction!