(Morristown) – July 22, 2010 – Yesterday, Douglas Herbert who is running for Congress visited the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morristown to see the firsthand impact of the economic crisis on people of the 11th District. Talking with staff and volunteers at the Pantry, Doug commended their work on behalf of those who have been hit the hardest by the rising tide of job losses.
In Morris County alone, unemployment more than doubled to 7.5% since March 2008, and the number of people seeking assistance was up 17% in the first six months of this year. Doug McMahon, the Volunteer Director of the Pantry, spoke with Doug about the “new invisible poor,” Americans who were living from paycheck to paycheck until they lost their jobs to the economic downturn and who are now in an even greater crisis.
The Morris County Sheriff’s Office also said that in the last six months foreclosure sales increased by 111% from 2009 with 523 scheduled foreclosures.
Over the past month, temporary services such as the Pantry have seen a marked rise in requests for assistance. In June alone, 4,574 of our friends and neighbors had to ask for help from Morris County’s Office of Temporary Assistance. Mary Jo Buchanan from the Department of Human services attributed the increase in requests for help in part to Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen’s party blocking passage of the unemployment relief act in Congress.
Nevertheless, this afternoon at 2pm, the eight-term incumbent Frelinghuysen voted for the second time against extending unemployment benefits to our friends and neighbors who have been unable to find work.
Douglas Herbert believes strongly that “Frelinghuysen’s vote was the wrong one for America, the 11th District and our economy. At a time when there are 5 job seekers for every 1 available job, our present representative has chosen to ignore the people he was elected to help. Now is not a time to play politics with people’s lives. Frelinghuysen had an opportunity today to help hardworking Americans who, through no fault of their own, are in a severe economic crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, and instead he turned his back on them.”
“By putting money in the hands of those who will use it,” Doug continued, “we will create an economic recovery one dollar at a time. Let’s get America working again. Then, we can reduce the deficit and return our country to economic prosperity.”
