Long-term unemployment is a cancer in the jobs market, but unlike some cancers, we know how to begin to treat this. We know that unemployment benefits help several million people in destitution, since the long-term jobless are 5X more likely to be living in poverty than somebody with a job. We know that extended benefits keep them attached to the workforce by paying them to look for work. We know we can hire them. We know we can pay businesses to hire them. We know we can pay them to move closer to businesses that will hire them.

We know we have options. The first step in this diagnosis is caring. Too many Republicans simply don't.