Growing Tensions in US

Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World

But it now!

Unemployment predicted to rise further

By Patrick Martin

Most economists assume the unemployment rate will resume its upward march in coming months, with the social “safety net” for the unemployed entirely shredded. There's an increased nervousness among the political elite over growing social tensions.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell claimed on Sunday that he would support the extension of unemployment insurance if it was “paid for” by budget cuts elsewhere. Both Obama’s speech and McConnell's comment suggest a growing nervousness among the political elite over the growing social tensions in the United States.

In his Saturday radio and Internet speech, Obama seized on the opposition of Senate Republicans to an extension of jobless benefits to strike a false and demagogic pose as the defender of the unemployed.

The White House has been virtually silent for the past six weeks as the deadlock in the Senate has caused extended benefits to expire for more and more unemployed workers. An estimated 2.5 million workers have been cut off since June 1, and the toll mounts by 50,000 every day.

Obama’s embrace of populist demagogy is a transparent effort to position the Democrats for the upcoming congressional elections, under conditions where persistent long-term unemployment has discredited his administration and allowed the Republicans to posture, with equal falsity, as advocates of “job creation.”

One news analysis described this cynical contest as follows: “As the election approaches, each party is battling to depict the other as more heartless.”

The disputes between the Democrats and Republicans, however bitter rhetorically, are arguments over what tactics and methods can best be used to serve the interests of the ruling elite.

Both parties defend the profit system and the interests of the financial aristocracy, which are completely incompatible with the needs of working people.

Under conditions of the deepest slump since the Great Depression, the US government cannot carry out even the minimal measures to alleviate mass suffering that were commonplace in past recessions.

According to one study, in previous recessions since World War II, extended unemployment benefits continued for an average of 23 months after the unemployment rate reached its peak.

In the current slump, the peak official jobless rate was reached eight months ago—assuming that official unemployment figures accurately reflect reality—and extended benefits have already been cut off.

There is good reason to believe that the unemployment rate will resume its upward march in coming months, with the social “safety net” for the unemployed entirely shredded.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell claimed on Sunday that he would support the extension of unemployment insurance if it was “paid for” by budget cuts elsewhere. Both Obama’s speech and McConnell's comment suggest a growing nervousness among the political elite over the growing social tensions in the United States.

One right-wing commentator, former Bush speechwriter David Frum, voiced this concern openly.

“The most surprising thing about this recession, at least to me, has been the total absence of an economic protest movement by the unemployed and the foreclosed.”

“Time and again in American history, the hard-pressed and dispossessed have spoken loudly, fiercely, in the public square. Not this time.

"There are no Populists or Wobblies, no Bonus Marchers or sit-down strikers. Perhaps, as we settle more deeply into our long stretch of joblessness, the Tea Party is only the first wave of popular discontent. It could be another storm is yet to come.”