Ellmers Op/Ed: Foster Policy That Will Sustain Employment
There is an old saying that goes: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." America is a nation of creators, innovators and dreamers - hardworking men and women who do what it takes to live a better life. This is the history of our forefathers and brings with it the pride of our earned successes.
But freedom and prosperity require sacrifice, risk and action.
With Congress back in Washington, D.C., a conference committee will be tasked with negotiating another extension of unemployment benefits. When the current economic crisis first began in 2008, Congress voted to extend federally backed unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 99 weeks. This has continued as each deadline comes and goes with little to show for it. But as the economy continues to remain stagnant, we are left with the responsibility of asking, “where does this end?” and “what sort of precedents are we creating?”
