Political Quotes

“Mr. President, tomorrow evening, I think at about 5:30, we are going to have a vote that is going to immediately impact over 1 million people across the country, and millions more after that, if we do not extend unemployment benefits as we have done in every recession, Democratic or Republican President, throughout our history. Anytime we have seen the unemployment rate, I believe at about 7.5 percent, above 7.5 percent or so, we have extended unemployment insurance benefits--insurance benefits--because you pay in and then when you are not working, you receive benefits. We have done that throughout our history for two reasons: No. 1, because we acknowledge what happens to a family when someone in the family loses their job, when the breadwinner can't bring home any bread; and No. 2, because we know it stimulates the economy. Every economist, from the right to the left, has agreed that the best way to stimulate the economy is to provide dollars to people who are forced to spend it, because they don't have a job. So someone who receives that $250 or $300 a week--it is not enough to do much on, but it is enough to pay the rent, enough to buy some food, enough to pay the electric bill; maybe get the kids some clothes, maybe put some gas in the car so they can continue to look for work. So we know it not only stimulates the economy, but it is the right thing to do from the standpoint of ethics, morals, values.…”