Dems May Limit Unemployment Benefits
[Guest post by DRJ]
House Democrats are considering winding down unemployment benefits:
“The House has extended unemployment insurance approximately three times this year, but discussions have begun on how to wind down the benefit.
“There is a sense that the economy is recovering and this is not a new entitlement,” Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) told The Hill, adding, “We need to get down to the business of hearing some congressional deliberations in terms of winding down the long-term extensions of unemployment.”
The House on Friday passed a jobs bill that extends unemployment insurance through November, which adds approximately $40 billion to the deficit. Pomeroy said the measure’s cost created more anxiety for members when compared to April, which was the last time Congress extended the benefit.
“Support for this extension of unemployment compensation relief had a different level of support this time,” he said. “There was a lot more discussion.”
Members from districts with high unemployment are not supportive, plus the current extension expires in November. Maybe there will be more jobs during the holiday season but, if not, I doubt Congress will cut off benefits just before Christmas.
— DRJ
i doubt they can drag the senseless out that long, and, since nothing else in the economy shows any signs of life, other than in the MFM’s reports of “recovery”, there won’t be any improvement to hang the elimination on.
does anyone *really* believe the Dems will kill an entitlement?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 5/30/2010 @ 12:53 pmJust posturing by the Democrats prior to the November elections. So they can point to this “intention” as evidence of their fiscal responsibility and economic savvy. Then, on November 3, the benefits will be extended again.
It reminds me of the phony savings from Medicare cuts during the Obamacare debate. Exactly the same sort of bait and switch one can expect from Democrats and the lapdog press.
iconoclast (bbd5ee) — 5/30/2010 @ 1:31 pmand in our world of plenty we can redistribute a smile of joy
throw your arms around the world at Christmastime I think
happyfeet (c8caab) — 5/30/2010 @ 1:36 pmAll is focused on Election Day. Anyone who thinks otherwise, I have this solid gold watch for sale, cheap.
Mike K (67e8ce) — 5/30/2010 @ 2:41 pmUnemployment benefits in more normal situations actually extend unemployment by reducing the consequences of not accepting employment. This results in people holding out for “better” jobs longer.
Given just how poor the recovery has been so far from this recession, and how utterly ineffective the faux “stimulus” was, it is harder to make the difficult choices of eliminating extended benefits to encourage people – not knowing just how many employment opportunities are there.
SPQR (26be8b) — 5/30/2010 @ 3:13 pmJust posturing by the Democrats prior to the November elections. So they can point to this “intention” as evidence of their fiscal responsibility and economic savvy. Then, on November 3, the benefits will be extended again.
It’s the other way around, isn’t it? I mean, the only way people believe the Dems have a chance to win in November is if they turn out the liberal base, and I don’t see how they can do that if they are dialing back benefits just before the election. I think it is far too late and they are far too gone down the path of big government and high spending to try and craft an appeal to independents and moderates.
JVW (36eb17) — 5/30/2010 @ 7:55 pm..not knowing just how many employment opportunities are there.
For the handful of opportunities that do materialize, there’s likely to be a large surplus of qualified individuals for an employer to choose from.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (78c9e7) — 5/30/2010 @ 8:06 pmInstead of more deficit spending to extend benefits perhaps we could reduce unemployment by sending home some of the foreign workers, both legal and illegal, who make up at least 10% of the US workforce. In other words, make a last-hired,first-fired policy mandatory for foreign worker hiring.
JSR (a83fd8) — 5/31/2010 @ 11:21 amI agree that under “normal” circumstances, spending more on unemployment benefits gets you more unemployment. That is probably true even now, but to a much reduced extent. The bottom tier of our labor force — the “floor” of the wage structure — consists of illegals. An “overqualified” worker can’t even get near a lower tier job, let alone accept such a position. Simply, the position will never be offered. Get rid of the illegal workforce. A bunch of people will accept inadequate jobs just to get back into the workforce. The economy will contract of course, but that has to happen to put the fiscal house in order.
Arizonadan (718f66) — 5/31/2010 @ 12:24 pm