rssSens. Reed and Brown Lament GOP Obstruction on Unemployment Benefits Extension
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 4:27 pm
- 32 Comments
Tomorrow, the federal extension of unemployment benefits held up for two months in the Senate should pass. On a call with reporters this afternoon, Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lauded the extension but bashed Republicans for holding up the bill and causing the loss of benefits for 2.5 million Americans. Lawrence Mishel, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, also participated in the call, explaining the economics of the unemployment insurance extension.
Reed stressed the importance of having Carte Goodwin sworn in as Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) replacement. (Byrd passed away at the end of June at the age of 92, and Goodwin will provide Senate Democrats with the crucial 60th vote for cloture.) “Tomorrow, after our new colleague from West Virginia is sworn in, we will have an opportunity to vote for a bill to extend a lifeline to millions of Americans,” he said, noting, “Historically, even under [the presidency of] George W. Bush, extending unemployment insurance was a bipartisan endeavor. Congress never declined to do so” with joblessness above 7 percent.
Reed also argued that Republicans have “cavalierly dismissed [the need to offset] tax cuts for the wealthy” while insisting on paying for unemployment benefits. “We’ve got to be able to provide for people who have worked their whole life,” he said, so that Democrats can “get on with the business of creating jobs.”
Brown noted that he has gone to the Senate floor virtually every day to read letters sent to him by unemployed constituents. And he and Mishel stressed that unemployment is not just good policy for families, but good for the economy. “We are now in the midst of just really a catastrophic situation,” Mishel said, “where we have had rising unemployment for three and a half years. That is the steepest rise since the Great Depression.”
Mishel argued that unemployment benefits, by fostering additional economic activity, will support 800,000 for the rest of the year. And because unemployment insurance is so stimulative, he said it usually ends up costing the government only about 40 percent of the sticker price.
Both Reed and Brown pushed back on the suggestion that Democrats could have pushed unemployment benefits through faster, had they only passed them separately rather than as part of the extenders package. (For a complete history of how Congress has struggled to pass unemployment insurance for the past year, see here.)
Brown argued, “We tried to [pass a more long-term, standalone extension]. And we weren’t getting any Republicans. I think there were some Republicans who wanted to vote for it, but didn’t because [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell was putting so much pressure on it.”
Reed agreed. “Every time we’ve tried to get unemployment compensation through it’s been a struggle.” He said that the Senate used to “routinely” pass longer-term extensions, with bipartisan support and relative ease. This time, he noted, Republicans forced Senate Democrats to hold three or four cloture votes, and to winnow the time frame down. “We’d finish one extension, and we’d immediately have to start the other one,” Reed said. “We’ve had separate votes on unemployment insurance that have taken repeated weeks — weeks! — to get through. This has been flying in the face of the legitimate need” for benefits.
Reed also lauded Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, for continuing to seek Republican votes. “He does a remarkable job of trying to reach consensus and compromise. This isn’t take it or leave it.”
Correction: The headline of this post initially stated that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was on the call with Reed; in reality, it was Sen. Sherrod Brown. We regret the error.
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32 Comments
Pingback posted July 19, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
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Trackback posted July 19, 2010 @ 9:15 pm
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Comment posted July 19, 2010 @ 9:03 pm
we need tier 5 please do not send us away we do not want to loose much needed help
Comment posted July 19, 2010 @ 9:05 pm
without wxtensions we are not able to buy food, much less endure an emergenvcy. i wish the people in congress had a heart instead of money
Pingback posted July 19, 2010 @ 11:16 pm
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Pingback posted July 19, 2010 @ 11:20 pm
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Comment posted July 19, 2010 @ 11:57 pm
Is obama Insane!!?? lets keep punishing the producers of wealth in this country and give there money to the people who arent doing anything but sitting on there asses. give me a break! secondly he wants to do this not by cutting unnecessary spending but rather by borrowing MORE MONEY! but two weeks ago at the G-20 he said he reiterated his promise to cut the deficit in half. Pay attention people obama is not the savior we all were hoping! he is a delusional socialist! http://jkeets.blogspot.com/
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 12:07 am
If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject.
Ayn Rand http://jkeets.blogspot.com
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 12:27 am
The extensions will pass this time, only because the unemployed have really started to push for this issue. As far as Jkeets comments, yes the money is there but BOTH parties were using the unemployed as a test case for power. now both parties lose. As far as punishing the wealthy, rethink this. If the rich were so concerned why have they stopped creating jobs? These are the corporations that are hurting small business. I have been a republican my whole voting life, I have spent 12 years working for the Chamber of Commerce and believe me it is the higher taxes put on smaller businesses that have allowed the large ones to walk away from the American worker. In the last year I have seen 17 small businesses close in a 5 mile radius. How can you approve the tax cuts for companies that are no longer on American soil? I don't know about you, but I would gladly spend $5.00 more on a toaster made in America then spend another dime in big box stores which only create wealth for the investors and China. If you are one of the investors of these large companies and banks, good for you. But stop complaining you haven't lost anything, the unemployed have lost their way of life. Sometimes you have to walk in another man's shoes before you feel the pain. there is real fear in the job place right now, so until you sit home knowing that by tonight you won't be able to feed you kids, or put gas for your car to go on interviews I would kindly ask you to remain quiet. Just a note I never think of any politician as a savior and if you do, get help….
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 12:51 am
Jkeets, you're a real jerk! Sitting on our azzes, huh? I bet I've done more manual, hard labor and have been working longer than you have, pal! I worked, constantly, every year of my life, since I was 15yrs old, even while in college. In case you haven't noticed, we're in the worst recession, since the Great Depression. The jobs a bit scarce right now. Don't you dare make a blanket judgment about people, when you don't know their specific situation. I guess you spit on every homeless person you see, too, not knowing if some of them may be decorated war veterans, who suffered physical and mental damage from the war, and were discarded by society and lost in the system. You are pathetic.
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 12:53 am
Jkeets, you need to walk in other people's shoes first, before you open up your mouth an pollute this board with more of your judgmental, callus filth. You might be next in the unemployment line. Beware of Karma.
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 4:11 am
Forget them, they're lost.
They haven't seen anything from actual economists except the shills on Fox noise or spurious websites.
They all want tax cuts for the rich, which haven't up till now, and won't be if they're in power, paid for. All that kind of thinking CAUSED much of the deficit as we know it today, but oh no, those unemployed won't get UI benefits because it will add to the deficit. Bulls**t.
Once the unemployed get those benefits, the economy gets better, because you are buying. Once you are on your feet and working again, it gets even better. They're not seeing that on Fox noise or hearing that on hate radio.
Let them go on. It won't make a difference. Come November, this argument will be moot, because the truth is, they want this country to fail, and more Americans are seeing it.
Karma. I like that (I know it works, because I've seen it in action, myself!)
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 8:55 am
You are an incredible idiot. One thing you might do is go back to school and learn how to spell and when to use capitals. Plus, your complete stupidity is so obvious to anyone who has a brain. Go back and lie in the cess pool you call life. Leave us who are trying hard to live, alone.
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 9:14 am
You speak the truth, monkey! At first I was upset that Governor Manchin's replacement wasn't being sworn in til Tuesday and the vote immediately thereafter, but it was so that President Obama could make his national speech on Monday to inform and eduacate Americans, especially the 3+ million unemployed Republicans and Democrats, exactly who is responsible for their suffering, and the motive behind their callousness. It also put all the Senators (mostly Republican and one Democrat), on the spot, for what they've been doing in the Senate for all the country to see. …very smart move! Remember come November!
Comment posted July 20, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
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Pingback posted July 21, 2010 @ 1:28 am
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Pingback posted July 22, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
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Pingback posted July 25, 2010 @ 6:54 pm
[...] Two more GOPers say unemployment benefits encourage folks to stay unemployedWashington Post (blog)Sens. Reed and Brown Lament GOP Obstruction on Unemployment Benefits ExtensionThe Washington IndependentDemocratic senator: GOP using unemployed people as pawns to make Dems [...]
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