"A COALITION OF THE HEARTLESS, THE CLUELESS AND THE CONFUSED"

From Paul Krugman at the New York Times:

There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness. It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do.

But that was then. Today, American workers face the worst job market since the Great Depression, with five job seekers for every job opening, with the average spell of unemployment now at 35 weeks. Yet the Senate went home for the holiday weekend without extending benefits. How was that possible?

The answer is that we’re facing a coalition of the heartless, the clueless and the confused.

Read the rest of the column and weep. It's not just Republicans.

But there are also centrist Democrats who have bought into the arguments against helping the unemployed. It’s up to them to step back, realize that they have been misled — and do the right thing by passing extended benefits.

Oh, yes indeed! As I've said elsewhere, "Oh, the heady days of 2008!" Those were the days when we had such hopes for our Democratic president and our Democratic majorities in Congress.

"But that was then."