Budget deal will not help us
The recent budget deal (Murray-Ryan) reached in Congress should be closely scrutinized to assess its impact on our stagnant economy.
While there is some reason to celebrate anything our divided government can move forward, there is more reason to be skeptical as to whose interests are being served. Recent college graduates, the working poor, middle-aged employees downsized out of a job and the long term unemployed are all painfully aware of the cruelties of our anemic job market.
Instead of focusing on this short term and vital priority to start us down the road to recovery, Congress has continued the misplaced obsession with the long term deficit reduction. As a consequence, 1.3 million people lost their unemployment benefits three days after Christmas with up to an additional 3.6 million by the end of 2014.
Tax loopholes that benefit the super-rich and multi-national corporations go untouched sacrificing billions in debt-reducing revenue.
In place of a budget plan that restores some measure of fairness in our tax code and which seeks to strengthen employment opportunities, we have settled for a kick-them-while-they’re down philosophy that will perpetuate the economic malaise that has strangled us for more than a decade.
So, whose interests are really being served by the Murray-Ryan budget?
The Republican interests in prolonging unemployment to damage the president and Democrats politically and to appease their big money donors who have spent so much to buy our government.
Robert R Mason
Levittown
