At a time when more than one in six Floridians are living in poverty and highly-skilled workers are tripping over themselves to look for work across the county, how are our politicians responding to the rampant joblessness and bad economic news? By axing more jobs and, in South Florida recently, holding cushy fundraisers for the GOP.
More than 100 Miami-Dade residents and community leaders held a soup line protest last week to call out lawmakers for their lack of action around the jobs crisis going on in their own backyard and demand more good jobs in Miami. Inside the $10,000 per-plate Coral Gables fundraiser headlined by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Republican Florida U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart, David Rivera and Allen West were rubbing elbows with the elite and noshing on gourmet foods. Outside, protestors were lining up to receive a meager amount of soup.
"There are no jobs, I've been looking for months," said Anna Kleinholz, an unemployed teacher who attended the protest.
"These politicians only care about the rich and maintaining their cushy D.C. jobs, while we're out here starving for work and daily necessities!" Anna continued. "We are tired of hearing about tax breaks and bailouts for the county's largest corporations. D.C.'s lack of focus on real job creation is beyond frustrating."
View more photos from the protest like the ones you see here at 1Miami's Facebook page.
For more details on the protest, check out NBC's news coverage of the event and watch video.
