Senate Kills Off More Job Opportunities

It seems that lately, investing in our future isn't a high priority for Congress. If it were, the amendment to extend funding for emergency TANF and thousands of summer jobs would have cleared the Senate this week. Instead, the proposal only got 55 votes out of the 60 needed to provide states with $2.6 billion -- money intended to help families in emergency financial situations and to support youth employment. The proposal set forth by Sens. John Kerry and Patty Murray would have created at least 500,000 jobs for teenagers this year, and simultaneously could have provided impoverished families with much needed subsidies.

Does congress want people to work or not? How can Sen. Scott Brown, who spent a good portion of his campaign talking about job creation, vote against this proposed amendment? It's so confusing to me, because just the other day Brown was quoted by MSNBC as saying, "Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and many more jobs are in danger." Apparently, that stance works fine when he's fulfilling his promise to Republicans to vote against the health care bill -- but as for making jobs available? Not quite as important, actually.

At first glance, employing a 16-year-old for the summer might not seem like an issue that should stand front and center. It isn't even summer yet anyway, and maybe if poor people weren't so lazy in the first place they wouldn't need the government to spend money on them.

What about the long term? What happens when these teenagers enter the workforce in a year or two and there is no viable market for unskilled, minimally educated employees? There is no way America can continue to push people with zilch for job experience into the pool and expect the unemployment rate to decline. Not only are we robbing them of a head start, we are robbing ourselves of the money teenagers can (and will) pump into our economy each week (Megan Fox movies, etc.).

Sen. Judd Gregg's Bunning-inspired rhetoric holds little weight in real-life emergency situations that over 14 million people are falling into. He argued against the Kerry-Murray amendment because it would take 10 years to repay. "Why do we keep passing on to our children these debts?" Well Senator, why are our children at risk now more than ever of growing up in poverty? If you wanted to keep this monkey off their backs, you all should have told AIG and the others to shove it. Transitional Assistance for Needy Families provides government subsidies for necessities such as child care vouchers, SNAP benefits and Medicaid enrollment. Without extended funding, TANF can't stop people from sliding further into poverty -- and can't help them recover from a situation the American banking institution created for them.

It's impossible to not notice that our politicians are working against each other for the sake of their egos and special interests. The next time Congress votes on this proposal, our representatives should be voting in our favor -- which is to create the jobs we depend on and extend the support we need. We deserve our own bailout.

Photo credit: vonShnauzer