Posted on 07/06/2020 4:41:31 AM PDT by Kaslin
In March, a so-called “drafting error” in the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill led to laid-off workers receiving an extra $600 in federal unemployment benefits on top of the state benefits they were already slated to receive. It was left as-is despite the protests of a few GOP senators, mainly because Schumer & Co. were quick to use the bad optics of seemingly ‘taking money away’ from people purposefully forced out of work to their advantage. Also, outdated and technologically inept state unemployment systems weren’t equipped to handle individual situations, making a one-size-fits-all approach the only way to make sure people were made whole - and then some.
It’s the “and then some,” however, that’s been the rub for at least the past month or more as America tries to get back on its feet. Sure, if the government was going to unjustly take away people’s livelihoods to fight a virus that mostly kills people in nursing homes (without protecting those nursing homes) and has a death rate only slightly higher than the flu, said government certainly has the responsibility to ensure those people don’t go under. But in giving many of them an actual raise, they created a whole other set of problems that are now playing out in factories, restaurants, and thousands of other employers that typically employ a lower-skilled segment of the U.S. population.
As it happens, most people seem to prefer getting paid to do nothing over taking a pay cut to do actual work. Shocker, right? I’m not judging them, because this isn’t a character flaw so much as it’s a feature in humanity. Were I in the same position, and most of us very easily could have been, I might likely feel the same. If the government is going to pay me to landscape my yard and rearrange my basement, I’d probably be all-in too, at least for a time.
But as things have picked up, companies have experienced severe difficulty making the case that workers should come back, ironically resulting in a severe hiring crunch in the midst of one of the greatest economic turbulences in U.S. history. It’s not what you’ll see in the mainstream media, of course, because we’re supposed to be panicking about a coronavirus “case surge” and a cratering economy all the way until the election. Nevertheless, it’s the grim reality these days for countless hiring managers.
As a 20-year staffing industry vet with contacts all across the country, I hear the same story from everyone, whether it’s a factory in southwest Virginia trying to hire assembly workers or a staffing industry in Minnesota hiring forklift drivers for a warehousing client. They all need people, desperately, and they all are having a hard time convincing anybody to come on board. This despite the fact that even with an improved June jobs report there are still tens of millions of people on the unemployment rolls.
Predictably, Democrats want to extend the federal unemployment benefits through - wait for it - January 2021. Now who could have possibly seen this coming? Democrats obviously have a two-staged strategy here. Keep the economy tanked by keeping production low and causing businesses to fail, all the while accustoming Americans to socialism by keeping as many people on the government dole as possible for as long as possible. It’s brilliant, actually, but if Republicans end up falling for it they are signing their own death warrants, not just in November, but in every other coming election. Because once we’ve gone full-socialist, there isn’t any going back, ever.
Thankfully, there are signs that Team McConnell is fighting on this hill. "Unemployment is extremely important. And we need to make sure, for those who are not able to recover their jobs, unemployment is adequate," the Senate majority leader said last week. "That is a different issue from whether we ought to pay people a bonus not to go back to work. And so I think that was a mistake. And we're hearing it all over the country that it's made it harder actually to get people back to work. But to have the basic protections of unemployment insurance is extremely important and should be continued."
NBC confirmed similar sentiments from almost a dozen Republican senators as well as Trump himself, who called it a “disincentive to work.”
“It certainly does not have the backing that it had before because of many small businesses that have come forward and said that people just don't want to come back — that they were making more than they did when they worked,” said Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott said “we’re never going to see our small businesses open” if people are incentivized in such a way indefinitely.
“In interviews with nearly a dozen GOP senators Tuesday, a consistent theme emerged: They are certain they don't want to extend the $600 per week in emergency jobless compensation because they widely agree that it is motivating people to stay out of work,” NBC reported. “But they have little clarity on what ought to replace it.”
Um, here’s a thought. How about replacing it with … nothing? Nothing extra, at least. Regular state unemployment benefits are designed to provide a percentage of wages, not the entire amount, in order to incentivize the recipient to look for work and accept suitable employment when it’s offered. Remove that incentive, and we’re no longer talking about unemployment benefits, but welfare payments.
Were the CARES Act provisions to extend until January the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that “roughly five out of every six recipients would receive benefits that exceeded the weekly amounts they could expect to earn from work during those six months."
"If we fail to renew the $600-per-week increase in UI, millions of American families will have their legs cut out from underneath them at the worst possible time — in the middle of a pandemic when unemployment is higher than it's been since the Great Depression," Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said via statement.
Obviously, not continuing to give laid off workers a raise is hardly cutting “their legs out from underneath them.” Instead, Schumer & Co. are trying to continue to cut the legs out from beneath struggling businesses desperate for workers. In other words, they’d rather stick it to Trump than see America on its feet.
If Republicans give in, it’ll be game over both for Trump and for any hope of keeping a GOP Senate majority.
Me I am still waiting for a single dollar from the initial unemployment funds..I filed all the paperwork received confirm from CA edd but no money..am in recovery following sugery..may have to go a go find me...if I can’t pay mounting bills I loose the house
They will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This should have been addressed in the first stimulus package. They have been painted into a corner, as usual, by the Democrats. I’m afraid it’s too late...
It wasn’t a drafting error. Mnuchin quashed that line of reasoning that came from Lindsay Graham.
Kill the unemployment money, make people go back to work, take the hit now rather than later.
So if they give in whose votes do they lose to lead to the calamity? And where do those votes go?
One could argue defacto Universal Basic Income is now the law of the land.
Because once we’ve gone full-socialist, there isn’t any going back, ever.
But it involves rivers of blood.
I was arguing yesterday on another thread that, while we now produce enough to house, clothe, and feed our surplus population, and pretty much are already, the moral rot that results from a population of idle hands is destructive, both the the eaters and the producers.
I'm happy to feed the poor via charity through my church, but having the government hold a gun to my head to rob me the fruts of my labors to give to deadbeats really grinds my gears.
I see it all over. People are loving the extra 6 bills a week.
My neighbor is on it and his wife is a nurse so he’s in no hurry to go back to work. His boss even fired him because he wouldn’t come back. He’s a 35 year old skilled tradesman who could get another job overnight.
There are no checks on this as far as making people either go back when called or show that they are actively seeking work.
This is heroin and its going to be very hard to stop it except with cold turkey. Its morphed into welfare payments not unemployment insurance.
The damage this insane lockdown has caused to our national psyche is going to be felt for decades.
If they don’t go back to work when a job is available, they lose their benefits already. Under current law. The thing you’re demanding already exists.
Stop the virus welfare train. People need an incentive to get back to work.
I am self-employed. So I had to file PUA as I was turned down for the SBA loan.
That extra $600 per week is more than I pay myself normally. So yeah...I can see why people don’t want to go back to work. I have maintained part-time level work though and am collecting unemployment minus my part-time wages, but plus the $600.
My plans for that extra $2400 per month since March?
It’s debatable given the current climate in the United States. The money is supposed to stop the end of July. But, the pandemic is raging again in a number of areas. Plus all the restrictions for me to go to work for someone else has me worried. I don’t think I can bring myself to head out into a crowd for a job that may ultimately kill me. My business, I get to work mostly alone with animals.
Suitable work, is the requirement that’s been waived too. That may change as well very soon. Employers are being told to report people who refuse to come back. Most employers I know...simply won’t. They are taking the stand the job was offered and refused...you’ll be replaced sooner or later.
So, that nearly extra $12000, is sitting in the bank. I have a feeling I am going to need it to live on in the back half of the year.
Absolutely
that depends where you live.
My daughter runs a restaurant in DC and they are short handed. People are staying on the couch to get their $$$, they DON”T have to come back to work if they say they are not ready or feel unsafe.
I’ve heard from several tradesmen in my area about difficulties getting people to come back to work because of this extra money.
If they call them back, they say they are making more now than when they were working. And they can always use the virus excuse (e.g., claim that they’re worried about spreading it to vulnerable family member)
They don’t want to lose a good employee over the long term, and in many cases people in these small businesses are friends with each other. And they operate in and among local people. So turning them in for turning down work is not going to be good for business or their friendships.
If you are having a hard time finding people to work now of all times then perhaps you pay more. That’s how income increase when companies increase wages. I know people want to get away with paying the lowest possible but that tactic doesn’t seem to be working.
Simply offer the Republican deal (back-to-work bonus and stimulus checks) and blame the House Democrats more loudly and widely for stalling the bill.
My business is custom printed and embroidered apparel for businesses and organizations.
Our Governor still has many restrictions in place. According to Wallethub, we are 50th in corona virus related shutdowns.
June is supposed to be one of our best months. We normally would have expected $32K in business. We did $7K.
My biggest customer, who provided us with 20% of our business, has closed. There are no events, so no shirts for events. Schools would start their fall orders about now, but they don’t know what is going on. Restaurants and bars are either closed or very restricted. I am allowed to be open, but without customers, what is the point?
I had to lay off my employees, including my wife. Even if I had the work, they don’t want to come back until the magic government money stops.
Every business owner I have spoken to has the same problem...how do you get people to come back to work when they make more staying at home?
The problem is that there really isn’t a Republican deal yet. The Senate is on recess until I think the 14th so, they’ll leave themselves two weeks to craft a plan, hondle with Pelosi, make sure Trump Kudlow and Mnuchin are on board. Pass it and get it signed probably at the last minute. While that’s all going on, people will be screaming about how they’re about to be thrown into the street by the heartless GOP. They could have gotten away with a smaller bill last month, but they got cocky that the virus was over.
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