Posted on 03/02/2010 10:41:34 AM PST by Chi-townChief
The dysfunction of the Senate has now reached cruel depths. First we watched as Republicans systematically chose to filibuster every major vote, effectively ending majority rule by requiring 60 votes to get anything out of the Senate. Now, one Republican senator, Kentucky's Jim Bunning, who is not running for re-election, employed this power of obstruction to block a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits, aid for COBRA health insurance payments and a range of other key programs.
Even while his Republican colleagues admitted that eventually -- perhaps soon -- they will renew the program, one senator ended unemployment insurance extensions for millions of unemployed. In March alone, 1.2 million people will lose their unemployment benefits if the program is not renewed.
Bunning was aggravated that the Democrats forced repeated votes to try to get the measure passed. He complained that he was missing the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game.
This is an utter disgrace. Bunning may have missed a basketball game, but state unemployment offices had to send out millions of letters informing people that their unemployment support was terminated, that they wouldn't have continued aid to help make COBRA payments to extend their families' health insurance. Doctors were informed that they would suffer 21 percent cuts in Medicare reimbursement. Some 2,000 federal transport workers were furloughed. Federal reimbursement to states for highway programs -- about $190 million a day -- was suspended, as well as some small-business loans.
There are 10.7 million people unemployed in Bunning's Kentucky. Does the senator have any idea what it is like to struggle with unemployment in this economy? There are six applicants for every job. Every member of the family looks for ways to sustain the home. Every dime is counted, every bill an agony. Harsh decisions are forced. Parents skip meals to ensure their children can eat. Credit cards are maxed out and rolled over so mortgages can be sustained. The tension goes up as more creditors are owed, more bills missed.
Under the pressure, marriages are strained. Depression, anger, a sense of failure too often lead to drinking or worse. A constant search for jobs leads to repeated rejections.
Twenty-nine million people are unemployed or underemployed in America today. And in the midst of this, one arrogant senator -- irritated at being forced to miss his basketball on TV -- ensures that millions get suspension notices. And worse, that state agencies bear the increased costs of shutting the programs down and starting them up again.
Bunning's complaint was that the unemployment extension was not paid for, but was an emergency appropriation. Not only have unemployment extensions traditionally been special supplemental appropriations, but the senator's economics makes no more sense than his arrogance.
Unemployment insurance and food stamps are the best jobs programs in any recovery plan; they have the biggest return on the dollar. The reason is simple: The unemployed spend every cent on their expenses, and use the food stamps to buy needed food. Every dime spent helps to boost demand and create jobs. Borrowing the money to spend on unemployment insurance is not only humane, it helps the economy recover. That's why unemployment insurance is built in as an automatic "stabilizer," and why extensions of unemployment insurance, when the recession is deep and long, have generally had broad bipartisan support.
Last month, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby put a hold on all of Obama's nominations to extort funding for pet projects. This month, Bunning adds more uncertainty to the most vulnerable American families to make an ideological point. These senators don't get it. Our country is in trouble. Homes are being lost. Millions are without jobs. This isn't about missing a basketball game. People are in pain. It is time for the games to end; there is work to be done.
mailto:jjackson@rainbowpush.org
shutting down my company this month and moving it offshore (put it off as long as i could).
20+ estonian jobs 0bama doesn’t want Americans to do
What really gets me is that there are Republican (RINO) Senators that are trying to undermine him; anybody have a list if those idiots?
It's to continue unemployment payments until December! This guy simply can not tell the truth from the get-go and he wonders why so many simply see him as a flim-flam man.
In fact, there has almost been no successful filibusters, and there have been multiple votes that were under 60.
The fact is that Reid continually abuses the normal process for major bills, so he has had to use cloture to get things to the floor of the senate. But those cloture votes virtually always succeed.
The only one they had trouble with was the Health care destruction bill, and that was because they had to pay off democrats to vote for it.
They had a deal for a 1-year “doc fix” last year, but Reid rejected it on behalf of the doctors lobby, who wanted a permanent fix. Reid also stripped it from his health care bill because it destroyed the fiction that the bill paid for itself.
The Democrats are the ones who put together a medicaid program that cut the doctor’s pay by 21%. They could have fixed this years ago, but it would make it obvious that the plan was going bankrupt.
A person who believes that taking money from one pocket, and putting it in another pocket, somehow makes it "more money". And who doesn't understand that spending a dollar is the LEAST effective way of using the dollar to build the economy, other than the stupid plans of the democrats that actually get LESS than a dollar's worth out of a dollar.
What we NEED to do is leverage the dollar to get more than a dollar's worth out of it. Buying someone food isn't going to help, and paying people to be unproductive isn't a good way to stimulate the economy.
the problem with what Bunning is doing is with the public perception rather than the reality. Rush is 100% right that they can take the money out of the stimulus bill. But this is handing the Dems a propaganda weapon at precisely the wrong time. (otherwise why would they not AGREE to take it out of the stimulus and move on?)
They are saving that to buy votes this summer.
Oh, okay. Fine, use it to buy votes but do explain that to people that have no income anymore. I’m sure they can understand the true priority here. /s
A nation of whiners, dependent on the public trough. Just digusting. I am for Bunning, but he and the GOP will lose on this because America the proud and strong as it once was, is gone forever.
Kentucky has a 248% unemployment rate? What a national disgace! Give them the wealth! Keep hope alive!
The states used to administer their own unemployment insurance funds, then the feds took that over, requiring every business to pay 6.2% of each employees payroll up to the first $7000.00 ($434.00) for each worker. Once all the bureaucrats skim off the top, what is left goes back to the states. Most states also have their own funds which require more money from employers. The unemployed today receive up to $350.00 per week for 99 weeks. The $434.00 per worker goes nowhere near funding the millions of unemployed who I am sure would rather be working at a meaningful job.
They had no income from the day they lost their job or atleast should’ve realized that! Now we are up to 99 weeks unemployment and should continue to give even though the states funds are dry? Are you sure you are a conservative?
Whoa, there bucko...my husband is on unemployment and he is not union or Government. In addition, we were just notified that his unemployment ended Feb 28th because of this and he has only been on it for 5 months, not the 2 years that everyone is bitching about. Therefore, unless someone can point me to evidence to the contrary, it is my conclusion that this affects everyone's unemployment whether they have been on it 2 days or 2 years.
And no he is not lazy, nor does he want to stay on unemployment, there are just no jobs for Journeymen Electricians here where we live. He has contacted every company in three local cities in the phone book and checks the want ads every day although there have only been a total of 2 ads in 5 months. I personally do a job search on-line for him every day at work (no computer at home) at the Texas Workforce Commission and on craigslist and call him with any leads, which are few and far between, which he follows up on. I respond to craigslist ads via e-mails with his qualifications, which are 35 years in the business, mostly as a supervisor, therefore I KNOW he is looking. We are praying every day that something opens up.
We have been told by numerous employers that the banks are just not lending or if they do, they want a 20 - 25% retainer on the value of the contract. Most small businesses cannot afford that and are barely able to keep their doors open, some in our area have even had to file bankruptcy. We also have an EEOC discrimination case pending with his prior employer, which is affecting his job search, construction companies are notorious for "blacklisting" workers in cases such as this. They have already been found at fault by TWC and the EEOC, we mediate next week.
I am not saying JJ is right...I abhor that race baiter...it's just that in your zeal, you and some others here have stepped over the line in painting everyone with a wide brush.
It depends on what the unemployment numbers are in the state youare in.States who have an over 10% unemployment rate get up to 99 weeks others only get the 26 weeks.
Sounds like Zero talking about, what was it, tens of thousands killed in the Greensburg, KS tornado a few years ago.
Don’t think you understood the question.
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