John Breaux Quotes

Immediate relief for the unemployed was the first essential

Extending federal unemployment insurance is vital for millions of Americans laid off through no fault of their own, and it serves as an important economic stimulus.

Democratic priorities remain clear: to provide a tax cut for working families, to promote policies that produce jobs and economic growth, and to assist millions of our fellow Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Every proposal I'm making, every idea I'm advancing has a single, central purpose: to revive a failing economy and give working Americans the help and security they need.

Not only do unemployment benefits help families who are hurting; they also put money into their pockets that they'll then spend - and their spending will keep other Americans in jobs.

The American people know the economy is too weak. Too many of them are suffering. So the question for Washington is, are we going to continue to play political games and - and - or are we going to say, we can do something right now to create jobs, to put money in the pockets of the middle-class, hire construction workers, teachers, veterans?

The Recovery plan will put money in the pockets of the American worker, create and save millions of new jobs and invest in crucial areas such as health care, education, energy independence and a new infrastructure.

I would give relief from the first $10,000 of the payroll tax. I would allow small businesses to accelerate depreciation so they would have an incentive to buy now rather than defer. I would also give to the states $40 billion of relief.

We've got people, our friends and neighbors, who are losing their jobs, factories being closed. We have to get America moving again.

Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders.

Without in any way minimising the economic and psychological blow that people experience when they lose their jobs, the unemployed in affluent countries still have a safety net, in the form of social security payments, and usually free healthcare and free education for their children. They also have sanitation and safe drinking water.

Unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcy - the cure is not more government spending, but helping businesses create jobs.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have been working hard to help middle-class families make it in America.

Our businesses can't create jobs when they're losing revenue, and the unemployed can't apply for jobs when they can't pay their phone bill.

Extending emergency unemployment benefits isn't just the right thing to do for our families - it's the smart thing to do for our economy.

Unemployment relief from The CARES Act - a popular and bipartisan solution - was a key lifeline not just for our families but also for small businesses.

The worst thing about losing this job: I’m no longer covered by NBC. I have to sign up for ObamaCare.

You are not going to revive the unemployment of 26 million Americans with tax cuts.

No, I’m not one (of those) people who votes for something then writes to the government to ask them to send us money. I did not request any stimulus money.

Thanks to President Obama for joining a unanimous Congress and signing S 2195 into law.

The most important social welfare program in America is a job.

And so whether it's failing to move forward on the Dream Act, failing to move forward on putting teachers back to work, failing to do all the things we could do right now to help the economy and middle class, this Congress is just saying no.

When President Obama entered the White House, the economy was in a free-fall. The auto industry: on its back. The banks: frozen up. More than three million Americans had already lost their jobs. And America's bravest, our men and women in uniform, were fighting what would soon be the longest wars in our history.

And people talk about the stimulus package and the jobs that it was supposed to create, it certainly didn't have the intended effects that everybody was hoping for or that the president and administration certainly was hoping for. So I think it's time to lay some new solutions on the table, some new ideas.

I want a society that provides decent jobs for those who can work and decent security for those can't.