Let's Help The Unemployed!!!

[Dan Moadus]

Congress passed the "Pay Go" bill mandating that every new spending item be "paid for" with a corresponding spending cut. All the Republicans are asking is that they "pay" for the extension by cutting other spending, or at least, as Rick pointed out, use the so  called stimulus money to fund it. Is that too much to ask?

That's the major problem with the Democratic leadership; they talk a good game but don't follow through. How could you just vote for the "PayGo" legislation then turn around and violate it.

There is absolutely no problem with passing the extension without increasing the debt.

[Rick Rowlands]

Almost half of the stimulus money has not been spent, so taking some from that to fund the unemployment should not be an issue.  Democrats screwed up on this issue.  They could have agreed to the compromise, helped the unemployed while making it look like they are budget hawks.  Why are they so hell bent on increasing the deficit? Its almost as if that is their goal.

BTW, Republicans are not standing in the way of this. The Democrats have all the power.  They could pass this without a single Republican vote.

This is not about unemployment benefits. The Dems are using this to play games.

[irishbobcat]

Two national polls released Tuesday revealed that registered voters think it's more important to help the unemployed than to reduce the deficit.

Voters are generally wary of government spending to boost the economy, but they nevertheless told ABC News and CBS News that the deficit is no reason not to help the unemployed.

Fifty-two percent of voters told CBS that Congress should extend unemployment benefits "even if it means increasing the budget deficit," including 35 percent of Republicans. Sixty-two percent of registered voters told ABC Congress should extend benefits despite concerns that doing so "adds too much to the federal budget deficit."


In a Bloomberg survey, 70 percent of voters said reducing unemployment is more important than reducing the deficit. But only 47 percent said Congress should reauthorize extended benefits, which in some states provided the unemployed with up to 99 weeks of checks.

A poll commissioned by the National Employment Law Project in June found that 74 percent of voters think helping the unemployed is more important than reducing the deficit.

Extended benefits for the long-term unemployed lapsed at the end of May because Republicans and some Democrats in Congress insisted that the cost of the jobless aid not be added to the deficit.