PDA

View Full Version : Unemployment benefits expire for thousands



JJ.G0ldD0t
7th April 2010, 05:54 AM
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-04-05/news/sc-biz-0406-jobless--20100405_1_unemployment-benefits-national-employment-law-project-senate-democrats




Senators debate funding as extension hangs in the balance
April 05, 2010|By Clement Tan, Tribune Newspapers
Even as unemployment benefits expired Monday for thousands of Americans, Democrats and Republicans renewed their haggling over whether to approve an extension when Congress returns from its spring break next week.

In the latest round of skirmishing, Senate Democrats rejected Republican claims that they had backed away from a GOP proposal to give quick approval to a one-week extension that would be paid for with budget offsets.

"There were a lot of conversations going on and things were moving very quickly, but no deals were made," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

At the heart of the dispute over extending jobless benefits is the question of how to pay for them.

Two weeks ago, when the Senate took up the question, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., objected that the $9 billion measure that had been approved by the House would add to the federal deficit.

Coburn's objection was similar to the one Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., raised earlier in the year over another extension that was not offset. But unlike before, failure to extend the benefits that expired Monday meant 212,000 unemployed people will lose benefits this week, according to data provided by the National Employment Law Project.

The GOP objection raised the specter of a filibuster, and Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Democrats in both the House and Senate want the extension to be classified as "emergency spending," which can be added to the deficit and does not have to be paid for with specific cuts or new revenue.

Republicans have objected.

"The American people and the rest of the world understand that our debt and deficits are as much of an emergency as our unemployment rate," Coburn said in a recent statement. "An economy with as much debt as ours simply can't create jobs at the rate we need them."

Manley argued that agreeing to pay for the temporary extension would lock the Democrats into a long-term commitment to cut the budget. "You can't expect these things to be paid for in the short term and then expect them not to be in the long run," he said.

The Senate is set for a cloture vote when Congress reconvenes Monday.

Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in a statement that the "long slog of looking for work and surviving on jobless benefits is going to continue for millions of Americans."

"It's Congress' job now to take effective and aggressive steps to create jobs and extend unemployment through the end of the year, so that the economy can get back on its feet," she said.

cltan@tribune.com

Spectrism
7th April 2010, 05:58 AM
Sounds like a great way to make the unemployemnt numbers look better. Just put 212,000 on the ignore list and suddenly we have 212,000 less unemployed.... its like magic!! Yippee! Green shoots!!

JJ.G0ldD0t
7th April 2010, 06:02 AM
Sounds like a great way to make the unemployemnt numbers look better. Just put 212,000 on the ignore list and suddenly we have 212,000 less unemployed.... its like magic!! Yippee! Green shoots!!


bingo... :(