Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy: Both Parties' Economic Plans Favor Big Business
November 15, 2001
Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy: Both Parties' Economic Plans Favor Big Business
November 15, 2001
While the House and Senate haggle over how much money to dole out to big business in the name of economic stimulus, more than 600,000 people have lost their jobs in the wake of September 11 terrorism and the worsening recession. Instead of decisive action to help displaced workers and spur the economy, the bill passed by the House of Representatives hands out billions of dollars in corporate welfare. And Senate Republicans are blocking a Democratic plan that does offer some help to low-wage and laid-off workers, but still packs in the economic pork.
The travel and tourism industries have been hit hard, and among the most seriously affected are women in state Welfare-to-Work programs who were trained in large numbers for work in the hotel industry. These women, the sole support of their families, have been laid off in huge numbers — but neither party's plan addresses this urgent concern.
What happens to one of these women when she is laid off? What does she find waiting for her at home? Will she receive the unemployment benefits that her co-workers get? Will she be forced to reapply for welfare assistance, or will her 5-year clock run out? Tick. Tick. Tick. Every tick of that cruel clock bringing her and her children closer to despair, and not a job in sight. Only the Congress can stop the clock and stop this heartless threat to poor families — as long as we are in this recession. Furthermore, many women who are still receiving welfare assistance have been unable to find jobs — they, too, cannot reasonably be held to a time limit that is set to expire, when there simply are no jobs to be found.
The Senate must create a plan to help both the people and the economy - not just big business. This includes reforming unemployment insurance to include more workers, especially part-time workers, extending benefits and giving them directly to the unemployed (not block-granting to the states, creating another level of bureaucracy), ensuring health benefits for the unemployed, stopping the welfare time clock, and rejecting any tax breaks for corporations that are not directly tied to new investments and job creation.
If Congress wants to stimulate spending, then it needs to get money into the hands of low-income and laid-off workers who, by necessity, will put it right back into the economy - while feeding their families. Economic pork is the wrong answer for our ailing economy.
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