What is the mindset of our representatives who vote against the unemployment benefits extension?

[LeftyFingerPop]

1) If the jobs are not there....then they are not there. Period. End of story.

2) People are not sitting at home getting fat and happy off unemployment. These benefits pay you barely enough to scrape by, maybe.

3) The non-extension of benefits is a game changer that will literally put many out on the streets.

I have no idea what these representatives are thinking. It appears that they are not "representin'" too good.

[LibDemAlways]

1. Our "representatives" for the most part do not represent us. They are

wealthy people who have no idea what it's like to be depending on that meager unemployment check to put food on the table and keep the lights on. Furthermore, they don't care.

The idiot who "represents" my Congressional district never holds a townhall meeting, doesn't respond to his mail, and keeps getting reelected because the average boob out there isn't paying attention.

If the American public woke up and started throwing these bums out, things would change in a hurry.

[LeftyFingerPop]

3. Agreed. And the thing is...

many of these individuals could not hold down a regular job if their lives depended on it.

[roguevalley]

17. they think its a winner. they don't care because they never met a

dollar bill they didn't want to lick.

[Enrique]

2. bosses like the labor pool to be as desperate as possible

unemployment benefits make workers a little less desperate, so bosses and their tools in Congress want them to go away.

[Sparkly]

4. Their "thinking" (if you can call it that) is that it's a zero-sum game

... meaning that if Obama "wins," they "lose." So ANYthing the Democrats are for, they will be against.

They're pretending it's about "fiscal discipline," which is a crock considering their zeal for tax cuts for fat cats and wars without end.

[LeftyFingerPop]

6. Except for the Dems who voted against the extension. n/t

[valerief]

5. They're torturists. nt

[Robert DAH Bruce]

7. "I've got mine!"

[grilled onions]

8. When You Live In A Glass House With Unbreakable Glass

you don't worry about stones. These selfish,heartless individuals are secure in their lives,their jobs,their financial comfort zone so it's just a bill--it does not represent people or putting their lives on the brink of ruin. They must dash along to more important topics like what to wear to that golf outing or arrange for tickets to some exotic isle. Having to fret over such MUNDANE issues is not a high priority in their insulated lives. Perhaps we need to peel a bit of that insulation away so they could FEEL some of the pain being unemployed means!

[leftstreet]

9. Campaign season! They've always been able to get us to turn on each other

They've been floating the anti-working class talking points lately, especially the "unemployment compensation just makes people lazy!" one. They've relied on these tactics for eons.

They won't change their behavior until we change ours.

[agent46]

10. Their mindset seems nihilistic to me

It's almost as if they expect to completely jettison the lower classes in America altogether sooner or later anyway - and maybe some of them just want to get it over with. Give the small people their guns and lots of corporate friendly statist religion and let 'em fight it out for the scraps.

You want a job? Join the military meat grinder. After that you can become a non-union corporate charter school spokes-teacher or a cop. Plenty of opportunities for the unemployed!

[liberal N proud]

11. Who are they really representing?

It sure isn't us.

[stray cat]

12. How about lowering requirements for welfare to cover those who

are not eligiable for unemployment? Otherwise we discriminate against those who didn't meet work requirements for unemployment.

[gratuitous]

13. They've suddenly discovered we're running a deficit

And so, and benefits extensions must be paid for by concomitant cuts somewhere else, or by raising taxes. Even though the tax burden is the lowest it's been for decades, nobody wants to invoke the wrath of the nincompoop Tea Baggers by asking the system's winners to pay a little more to support the system that's been so good to them. And, while practically every last one of the "no" votes was enthusiastic about launching two elective invasions that are a far bigger and more enduring drain on the Treasury, they haven't done jack shit about paying for that.

It's one of those "hypo" words. Hypochondriac? Hypodermic? No, "hypo" hard "c", I'm thinking. Hmmm.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. "Our" representatives are heavily outnumbered by the corporate representatives.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

15. Its a war on the poor...........

We don't contribute enough, so they're cutting us loose.

[City Lights]

16. They answer to a higher being...

...their corporate masters.

[Urban Prairie]

18. How many have and will turn to crime in an effort to survive?

Some if not most, will likely get caught, convicted, and end up in jails or prisons, where they will ultimately cost taxpayers much more than those legislators in DC merely extending their unemployment benefits. Prison or jail may also become preferable to being or becoming homeless, freezing, and starving for many, since many homeless shelters already are overwhelmed in many locations, especially those in the cold-weather states during the winter.

[LibDemAlways]

19. An unemployed man robbed a bank in my area not long ago. Another

shot his young son and then turned the gun on himself. Desperate people resorting to desperate actions - and I don't expect it will stop anytime soon.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. Not my problem.

That's what they're thinking.

[Hosnon]

21. Senators are almost by definition members of the elite economic class.

I truly think they just can't comprehend why it is so important.

Does that excuse them? To a degree. But it also means that the Senate itself might be broken for the same reason that "Separate but Equal" was rejected.