Whatever happened to President Bush's promise to work for a "kinder, gentler America"?
It's hard to discern those traits in a recent White House decision that the public seems to be ignoring because the abortive coup in Moscow has virtually monopolized international attention.We're referring to Bush's decision to sign a bill that would authorize additional unemployment benefits to jobless Americans but refuse to declare the budgetary emergency required to provide the necessary funds.
The White House move came just a day before Soviet leader Gorbachev was deposed. Consequently, not many Americans may be aware of this presidential gesture, let alone its sad hollowness.
The bill would extend up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work half a year. At this point, 1.6 million people would qualify.
The president claims that the $5.2 billion needed to fund the extension would bust the budget, ignoring the fact that the runaway federal budget already has been busted by new projections of record high deficits.
Likewise, the White House claims that the country is coming out of the recession, ignoring the fact that more Americans are applying for unemployment benefits. For the week ended Aug. 10, the number of first-time claims for jobless benefits rose to 430,000 - up 22,000 from the prior week and more than five times the increase anticipated by most economists. For the week ended Aug. 3, 8,000 more Americans applied for unemployment benefits than did so in the week before.
Even if the economy rebounds more strongly than it has been doing so far, recent job losses have been severe. High-paying jobs in manufacturing have been evaporating due to everything from greater efficiency to defense cuts and cheap imports. Also, the financial industry has been suffering in a big way, losing thousands of jobs in thrifts, banks, and brokerage houses.
Though Democrats are trying to make Bush's stance a campaign issue, it should be above partisan politics. To some extent, that's already the case - since five of the eight Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee have joined the panel's 11 Democrats in supporting the bill to extend jobless benefits.
In any event, until it shows more compassion for the unemployed, the administration will have a needlessly tough time convincing the country that it aspires to a kinder and gentler America.