Will we let job seekers be scrooged?

Last Wednesday, word came from Washington that the Congressional committee negotiating a federal budget had reached a deal, thus avoiding another government shutdown. Hallelujah!

Like most compromises, this deal makes no one happy. Radical right conservatives were unhappy the sequester and deficit reduction were scaled back. Progressives, myself included, were unhappy it raises no new revenue.

But perhaps most distressing was the fact unemployment benefits were not extended for the long term unemployed. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This disregard for the poor and jobless was the subject of Charles Blow’s Thursday column for The New York Times, in which he reports: “Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said Sunday on Fox News: ‘I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they’re paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.’”

As Blow notes this attitude about job seekers illustrates the divide between conservatives and liberals. Conservatives believe individuals must go it alone with little government support, while liberals believe government intervention helps advance the whole society. So conservatives often claim unemployment benefits are a disincentive to work.

Blow writes about his own experience among the poor and notes this conservative attitude indicates not only a lack of experience with poverty, but a lack of empathy. “Most people want to work. But sometimes, bad luck comes calling. Sometimes you have a job, but you lose it. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, a new one proves elusive. “And following the Great Recession, that is a particular problem.”

Coincidentally, an article on ThinkProgress the same morning highlighted it. Bryce Covert reported on a new study showing growth in the number of low wage jobs, while high wage jobs continue to decline. He writes: “The report also notes that there is a huge number of people vying for the jobs that pay better. It calculates that there were seven job seekers for every projected job opening that paid above $15 an hour in 2012 and 17.9 million more job hunters than higher wage jobs.”

His article further notes the movement among states and municipalities to raise their minimum wages and for low wage workers to organize. Yet current political dialogue portrays the workers behind these efforts as lazy and unworthy. Case in point: a Facebook post by Sarah Palin “Liked” by a friend last weekend. This infographic showed combat soldiers with the text: “We get paid less than minimum wage and you’re demanding 15 bucks an hour to slap a burger on a bun.” Way to distract from real issues, Sarah.

As my husband asked, how many soldiers left a job flipping burgers to join the military in hopes of a better career? And why shouldn’t they all earn a living wage? Is it working that’s important, or are only certain jobs worth a living wage?

I was disappointed my friend fell for Palin’s distraction, especially given her own family’s recent employment experiences. But like Senator Paul, too many of us separate ourselves from the poor and jobless and simply choose to blame them for their situation. It’s easier than working to fix the system. So now who’s lazy?

Until Congress can develop policies that create jobs, it must ensure job seekers can eat and pay the rent. And that means we the people have to make them do it by demanding they extend unemployment.