Why Do Republicans Hate America?

Daily Kos had an article covering the 13 Republican Senators who oppose extending unemployment benefits. As usual, it is a study in Republican hypocrisy and Republican willingness to sacrifice the good of Americans to preserve their twisted ideology.

The first thing to note about the 13 anti-American Republicans is that they are voting against their own constituents. Daily Kos had a list of these 13 Republicans and the unemployment rates in their states. Clearly their own constituents are hurting during the ongoing Bush Recession, and their vote is hurting their own constituents:

Here are the Republicans who voted against cloture. with their state's official (U3) unemployment rates in brackets:

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) [6.8%]
Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO) [9.5%]
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) [10.9%]
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-OK) [6.7%]
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) [8.2%]
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) [11.6%]
Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) [6.8%]
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [11.6%]
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) [6.2%]
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)[6.7%]
Sen. Jefferson Sessions (R-AL) [10.7%]
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) [7.4%]
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) [9.2%]

It seems like these Republicans hate their own constituents. Or, at least, are willing to let them suffer in the name of some vague, long disproven conservative ideals. Republican extremism refuses to recognize the realities working Americans have to face. That is how Bush got us into this recession and these 13 Republican Senators seem to want to keep us in the Bush Recession as long as possible.

The second thing to note about these Senators is their blatant hypocrisy. They always say they oppose government programs, not matter how often government programs are proven effective. They go so far as to denegrate nations like Sweden for being too socialist, as if somehow Sweden is a bad place to live. Yet when any government program goes through, they are among the first to grab all they can. From the same Daily Kos article:

Sen. Byron Dorgan noted in today's cloture debate: "Some of the people who are stalling the unemployment extension benefits were the same ones who rushed to the starting line last fall to see if they couldn’t hand hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks that ran this country into a ditch."

Many of the states that complain the most about government actually receive the most subsidies from the government. Conversely, NYC, one of the most liberal cities in the country, pays far more in taxes than they get from the government. So one wonders why these conservative Republicans hate NYC so much when many of their states are being subsidised by our taxes. Republican hypocrisy again!

I will end with one more quote from the Daily Kos article, this one from Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan:

As of October 16, more than 44,000 Michiganders have exhausted much-needed unemployment benefits and by the end of this year, this number will rise to almost 100,000 people. Since the beginning of this year, Michigan has been losing on average 27,000 jobs per month. Our people need help.

Every day, constituents call my offices with a simple request – please act so our benefits don’t run out. These people are eager, even desperate, for work. ...

Economists tell us that direct payments such as unemployment insurance are also the best, most efficient way to boost economic activity in a downturn – more efficient tha[n] tax cuts, for example. In fact, economists estimate that for every dollar we provide to Americans in extended unemployment benefits, we generate $1.64 in new economic activity.

Carl Levin is showing he has some real common sense and a good grasp of what middle class and working class Americans are actually going through. Too bad those 13 Republicans have no clue and are so willing to hurt their own states because they are so out of touch.