Grassley: Unemployment Extension Will Pass If Dems Can Pay for It
The jobs bill, which includes an extension to unemployment benefits among other provisions, could be passed if Democrats would be willing to pay for it with
Jul 31, 202010.7K Shares974.3K Views
The jobs bill, which includes an extension to unemployment benefitsamong other provisions, could be passed if Democrats would be willing to pay for it with stimulus money and offset other spending, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in an interview with TWI sister site The Iowa Independent.
“Ninety percent of the bill isn’t controversial,” Grassley said, concluding that the big problem is that he and many other lawmakers don’t want to add to the federal deficit. He chided Democrats for refusing to pay fully for the legislation with offsetting savings, revenue increases or the remaining federal stimulus funds. Even though Democrats repeatedly cut the billin an effort to win Republican backing, the latest version would have added $55 billion to the nation’s $1.4 trillion deficit over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Grassley said he’s heard from his constituents that they are tired of the government running up huge debt, and that the message is starting to get through to Democrats as well.
“It wasn’t just Republicans who voted against the bill in the U.S. House,” he said. “There were plenty of Blue Dog Democrats who don’t agree with this type of spending either.”
He added that in February, he and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) put forth a billthat would have extended unemployment benefits and other important items in the jobs bill, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) killed the measure.
“It was paid for,” Grassley said. “We could have passed that in three days instead of wasting three weeks.”
Reid said at the time that the Baucus-Grassley bill wouldn’t do enoughto show voters that the Senate was serious about addressing the unemployment problem, focusing too much on tax cutsand not enough on job creation. Critics also pointed out that extensions of both unemployment and COBRA benefits would have run only three months in Grassley’s legislation.
Hajra Shannon
Reviewer
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