Originally posted at American Thinker. Blog
After being pounded into salt during the mid-term election and betwixt bidding tearful adieus to every level of employee from schedulers to attorneys, sixty Democrats are presently packing for home. As a result, unemployment lines are about to lengthen as 1,800 Democrat congressional staffers will soon be out of a job.
Todd Jurkowski, Alan Grayson’s (D-FL) spokesperson, spoke about his devastating loss on Election Day saying: “Tears were shed. We were absolutely disappointed that this is going to end…We were good, and we were getting better.” “Good,” as in Grayson’s accusation that the “Republicans’ health-care plan was for ill Americans to ‘die quickly,'” and “getting better” as in calling Daniel Webster “Taliban Dan?”
Either way, experience dictates that nothing helps a person relate to the suffering of others better than living through a similar situation. So, after wrapping family pictures in bubble wrap and placing Obama snow globes in corrugated moving boxes, Democrat staffers are poised to get in touch with the issues everyday Americans struggle with when relegated to unemployment lines extended by the Democrats they worked for.
Heading out the door, assistants to Democrat representatives shared that after Election Day “counselors” advised pink-slipped staffers on résumé writing and job hunting. The comprehensive advice included grief counseling for those traumatized over the fact that indestructible Democrats actually lost.
“It was like it was about death,” one staffer said. “It was bizarre.” There must have been a high level of peculiarity at congressional therapy sessions, because those counseled worked directly with politicians who physically embodied the word bizarre.
Nevertheless, “It was a terrible shock,” said one longtime late-career Democratic aide. After the election, “The first thing I did was call my wife to give her the news.” Staffers shared every range of emotion, saying things like: “We’re not rich. I’m not as young as I used to be. I was not prepared for this personally; I was prepared for it happening to other people,” which are all sentiments similar to those that 9.6% of Americans have been verbalizing since Barack Obama’s and the Democrats’ one-party rule wreaked havoc on the American job market.
As Washington DC makes way for a Republican majority in the House, “About 500 jobs could be shed from House committees, where Democrats currently control 66 percent, or two-thirds, of the budget and have about 1,000 committee staffers.” Ouch! Depending on the state, there’s no denying that 500 to 1,800 unemployed workers could make unemployment line waiting times more tedious.
Most outgoing Democrats employed “17 to 26 aides on their payroll.” The situation is disconcerting, as Democrats who gleefully signed onto Obama’s economy-busting policies probably never imagined congressional staffers would be among the depressed, pajama-clad jobless, shuffling to the mailbox in anticipation of a monthly unemployment check.
Another unexpected election upset is Democrat leaders being forced to “adjust to fewer perks.” Fewer benefits and pared-down staff are tough nuts to swallow for politicians like the mollycoddled Nancy Pelosi who, come January, will have to purchase a going-away cake for a large portion of her 55 staffers.
However, there is an upside. Out of concern for the jobless, a gavel-less Nancy will now contribute to keeping the airport security workers at San Francisco International employed by counting herself among the throngs being zealously frisked before boarding a commercial jet. Ms. Pelosi will join forces with unemployed Democrat staffers who, by passing the baton, also save jobs and personally provide job security for civil service workers hard at work in unemployment offices nationwide.
