Carly Fiorina Continues Her War On The Unemployed

Appearing on Good Morning America, California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina told host George Stephanopoulos that, were she in the Senate, she would vote against the extension of unemployment benefits.

Watch:

Several things stand out about her comments.  For one, Fiorina, who has taken heat for firing thousands of workers during her disastrous tenure as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is feigning concern for the unemployed.  For instance, she told a local radio station last month that if given the opportunity, she would, "of course," lay off thousands of workers again.  As Zaid Jilani highlighted, "Fiorina has a long history of having callous views on the job security of working-class Americans. During her time as HP CEO, she was a fierce defender of off-shoring American jobs, referring to the practice as 'right-shoring.' In 2004, she proclaimed that 'there is no job that is America's God-given right anymore.'"

Second, yesterday, Senate Republicans (and Ben Nelson) successfully filibustered a standalone bill that would have extended unemployment benefits, complaining that the bill will increase the deficit.  But it's questionable if Republicans are guided by what is best for the deficit.  Fiorina, like all other Republicans, is building her campaign around opposition to the Affordable Care Act and wants to repeal the bill in its entirety.  But according to the Congressional Budget Office, health care reform will reduce the deficit by an estimated $143 billion in the next decade and significantly more thereafter.

Ryan McNeely nails it when he observes that Republican "opposition to health care reform shows that blocking measures that help lower-income people — not deficit reduction — is actually their primary concern."