Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it has been almost 1 month since Senators and House Members went home and failed to extend unemployment insurance, a lifeline for 1.6 million Americans. In my home State of Ohio, 52,000 have lost their unemployment benefits--people who were working, lost their jobs, were looking for work, and have had their benefits ended. Another 76,000 in my State alone--from Toledo to Chillicothe to Cleveland to Dayton--will lose their benefits by the end of the year. This insurance program is not called unemployment welfare; it is called unemployment insurance. People pay into it when they are working and get the benefits when they are laid off, and they only receive these benefits if they are actively seeking work. This is why it is called unemployment insurance. This is a program which has worked. This not only hurts the families who aren't receiving the unemployment benefits of about $300 a week. It is also money which goes into our economy and helps our economy grow. A new report shows that because we didn't have an extension of these benefits, we have lost $1.76 billion in economic activity just in this 1 month alone. Ohio has lost tens of millions of dollars. What does that mean? It means people don't have $300 a week in their pocket to go to the grocery store or to fix their car which they need to look for work. They don't have money to go to the local store or to buy clothes for their kids.…”