AFSCME president Gerald McEntee appeared on the Bill Press show and sounded a frightening alarm:
“If we don’t get aide to state and local governments…we stand to lose by the fall 1 million people. That’s one million back in the pool of unemployment. So that figure will stay up. The American people get upset when the unemployment figure is up. These people will lose jobs; they’ll receive unemployment compensation. I mean it’s a bad deal all around. And if the federal government would pass some money for state aide, local government aide then we’d get out of this mess, at least for a while and start to build back. We’ve done it before.”
Considering that the Republicans are still holding up the vote on unemployment, I'm not particularly optimistic. You can hear the whole conversation here.
Oh, in case you were wondering what the Republicans have planned, John Boehner shared their program today:
House Minority Leader John Boehner outlined the top three measures he'd pursue if he becomes Speaker of the House next Congress to create new jobs. But, those who thought he'd outline specific programs and how they would create jobs were disappointed with a familiar litany of wish-list items: repeal health care reform, eschew climate legislation, and renew the Bush tax cuts.