1.3 million Unemployed won't get benefits restored

Bad news for the millions of unemployed people across the nation. Congress failed to reach any agreement on unemployment benefits extensions before the 4th of July holiday. According to an article from the Associated Press, that leaves more than 1.3 million laid-off workers without benefits.

Each week that Congress pushes off a decision on this issue, an additional 200,000 people is left without unemployment compensation, which is disastrous to families, communities and the weak signs of economic stabilization. So, what’s the holdup?

Evidently Senate Republicans have filibustered three times in three weeks to keep the bill that would have extended these benefits from coming to a vote.
Senator Harry Reid stated, “We will vote on this measure again once there is a replacement named for the late Sen. Byrd.” Byrd’s successor will be named by Democratic Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin.

The unemployment bill would have provided up to 99 weeks of unemployment compensation, averaging $335, to people whose state benefits have expired. The benefits would be available through the end of November, at a cost of $33.9 billion. The money would be borrowed, adding to the budget deficit.

Read the full article here. And tell me your thoughts @ronideutch/Twitter or on Facebook.

Unemployment Bill Dealt Senate Defeat

After a vote in the Senate, the new unemployment extension bill came short of the 60 votes necessary to pass. In fact, only 52 Senators voted in favor of the legislation. I have included a brief article on the bill’s failure below courtesy Forbes.com.

Republicans and a dozen Democratic defectors in the Senate have dealt a defeat to President Barack Obama just days after he pressed Congress to renew pieces of last year's economic bill.

After coming out on the losing end of a 52-45 test vote, Obama's Democratic allies have been forced back to the drawing board in their efforts to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and provide $24 billion in aid to cash-strapped state governments.

Democrats seeking to reduce the measure's deficit impact are looking at rolling back last year's $25 a week increase in unemployment checks and giving doctors just a short reprieve from scheduled cuts in their Medicare payments.

The Unemployed Held Hostage

From NYTimes.com:

Since June 1, when federal unemployment benefits began to expire, an estimated 325,000 jobless workers have been cut off. That number will swell to 1.25 million by the end of the month unless Congress extends the benefits. The Senate, so far, has failed to act.

Some senators, including Democrats, have balked at an unrelated provision that would begin to close a tax loophole enjoyed by some of the richest Americans. You heard right. Desperately needed unemployment benefits have been held hostage to a tax break for the rich, and the Senate’s Democratic leadership has had to delay and finagle to get its own caucus in line.

State-provided unemployment benefits generally last for 26 weeks, and the federal government picks up the tab after that, provided Congress approves the extensions. There is no disagreement over the need: 46 percent of the nation’s 15 million jobless workers have been unemployed for more than six months — a higher level than at any time since the government began keeping track in 1948.

There is not even any genuine debate about how to pay for extended benefits. An extension through November would cost about $40 billion. But unemployment benefits are correctly considered emergency spending — they are a vital safety net, and the money is crucial to supporting consumer demand in a weak economy — and exempt from pay-as-you-go budget rules.

Nonemergency provisions in the bill do need to be paid for, including renewal of several generally useful business tax breaks, like the research-and-development tax credit, totaling $32 billion over 10 years. To help cover those costs, Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate started out with the sound idea to close an egregious tax loophole that allows wealthy fund managers at private equity firms and other investment partnerships to pay a top tax rate of just 15 percent on much of their earnings — versus a top rate of 35 percent for all other higher-income Americans.