There comes a time in a person’s life when you give up on that dream of replacing the decently paying job you lost with another decently paying job. Rand Paul, Republican nominee for Senate from Kentucky, believes that time is now.
In an interview with WVLK-AM in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday, Paul told host Sue Wylie he supported the Republican filibuster last week of more than $100 billion in emergency spending that includes extended jobless benefits. Paul said the bill must be paid before the extension is voted into law — and if that can’t happen, it’s time for America’s unemployed to face facts and stop holding out for jobs similar to the ones they’ve lost.
“As bad as it sounds, ultimately we do have to sometimes accept a wage that’s less than we had at our previous job in order to get back to work and allow the economy to get started again,” he said. “Nobody likes that, but it may be one of the tough love things that has to happen.”
Paul also suggested that regardless of whether the benefits could be paid for with cuts somewhere else, it might be time for some people to just stop asking for government aid.
“I think the issue is bigger than unemployment benefits.” Paul said, referring to government spending. “It’s all about priorities, what is the priority. And sometimes tough decisions will have to be made.”
“I’m not sure what the answer is,” Paul said. “In Europe, they give about a year of unemployment. We’re up to two years now in America.”
Check out the audio. It starts at 2:48:
Audio of the entire show is available here, here, here and here.
