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CONTACT: Congressman Dennis Kucinich Nathan White (202)225-5871 |
Kucinich Challenges Linking Unemployment Benefits to War Spending: 'War Spending Will Cost 2 million Jobs'
WASHINGTON - December 10 - Following a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today released the following statement:
"According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the sharp increase in war spending is taking up a greater portion of our Gross Domestic Product, which will cost the U.S. about two million jobs because such spending ‘is a direct drain on the economy, reducing efficiency, slowing growth and costing jobs.' Contrary to popular assumptions, massive spending for war does not create jobs. It costs jobs. War spending is capital-intensive, not labor-intensive. War creates unemployment.
"The current plans to make extension of unemployment benefits contingent on Congress passing a war spending bill raises serious questions about basic decency and common sense.
"We are telling people that as long as we are at war, they will get their unemployment benefits. And, of course as long as we are at war, there will be more people unemployed.
"Instead of unemployment benefits, people need work. Instead of war, people need work. War drives up our deficit. War takes away money from job creation. War results in unemployment. War is a weapon of mass destruction."
1 Comment so far
Show AllCicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
They will pair unemployment benefits with war spending until they can achieve their ultimate objective of liquidating all remnants of the New Deal and Great Society social programs: Social Security, Medicare, labor protections, the works. Until Bush II American life expectancy had been going up. It has been dropping for several years now--except for the wealthy who have the best health care. The PTB want to take the average American's life span back to 1950 levels as fast as they can. The more older workers they can eliminate from the economy the better for them. The younger working-class people can either join the military, suck the minimum wage tail-pipe, be part of the domestic Police State enforcement apparatus or get their protesting asses rounded up and shipped to privatized prison labor gulags to work for corporations for less than a Third World sweatshop pittance.
"Das war einmal ein Leichtglaubiges Volk was glaubt an ein Weinachtsmann, aber der Weinachtsmann war, in wirklichkeit, DER GAS MANN!!"
(Lit. "There was once a credulous people who believed in a Santa Claus, but the Santa Claus was, in reality, the GAS MAN!!" -- Oskar from The Tin Drum)
All our Gas Men are interchangeable now regardless of Party affiliation.