By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
We are all familiar with the storyline in the Christmas classic ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ by Dr. Seuss. The Grinch, a mean-spirited and conniving hermit, decides to steal Christmas from the Whos in Whoville because he gets enormous pleasure from making the lives others miserable. Does this sound vaguely familiar?
It now appears that the Washington obstructionists are currently auditioning for the leading role in their own version of this Christmas tale. The Party of Nay has been adamant in its refusal to extend the payroll tax holiday or grant an extension of emergency unemployment benefits.
In response to this latest GOP stonewalling, President Obama has been busy crisscrossing the country in a desperate effort to make the case for an expansion and extension of the payroll tax holiday that is due to expire at the end of the year. The payroll tax holiday was implemented in 2011 and lowered the payroll tax rate from 6.2% to 4.2 percent.
If the tax holiday was extended, 160 million hardworking Americans would stand to benefit. The average working middle-class family would have roughly $1500 more in their pockets to spend on good and services, which would definitely be a boost to this stagnant economy.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment numbers for November was a tale of two ethnicities. White Americans saw their unemployment rate decline in every demographic (women, men and teens), while Black Americans saw their rate rise in every single category. Moreover, white men saw their unemployment rate decline the most, dropping from 7.9 percent to 7.3 percent, while Black men endured a spike from 16.2 percent to an especially disturbing 16.5 percent.
With this being said, the Grinches in Washington are playing their usual games. They have been dragging their feet by refusing to extend emergency unemployment benefits but now, at the 11th hour, House Republicans are proposing a plan that would gradually cut extended benefits from a maximum of 73 weeks to 33 weeks. Unless an extension is passed, there will be no federally funded extended benefits programs in place and 2 million unemployed workers will run out of employment benefits starting January 1, 2012.
Christmas is a time for giving. However, if Boehner, McConnell, Ryan, Newt and Romney have their way, the entire country will be transformed into Whoville following the Grinch’s Christmas caper.