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I didn’t really think much of writing about the vote, which just wrapped up now, to extend unemployment benefits in the Senate, because the vote was decided last week. With the swearing-in of Carte Goodwin, everyone knew that Senators had 60 votes to pass cloture, and eventually the underlying bill. I’m not terribly interested in writing about things not in doubt.
But let’s actually look at what the Senate passed. It does not include any of the other elements of the tax extenders bill, include state fiscal aid or tax extensions of key business credits or job creation measures like a summer youth jobs fund or increased infrastructure bonds. It does not include the extra $25 added to unemployment benefits for the last year-plus through the Recovery Act. It does not include a fifth tier of benefits, so anyone who has exhausted 99 weeks is out of luck. It does not include anything for anyone out of work in a state with lower than an 8% unemployment rate.
Because of the perilous state of the economy, this circumscribed measure will nonetheless help 2.6 million people get their benefits restored. And because they’ll get retroactive benefits, probably in a lump sum, it could be a mini-stimulus for late July/early August. But this is the bare minimum that Congress can do to cope with the jobless crisis. You’re helping people already down, not necessarily giving them more opportunity to stand up on their own. And future stimulus, even paid-for stimulus (which defeats the purpose)? Forget it.
This extends benefits through November, only four months away. The White House has said they would fight for an additional extension if, as expected, unemployment does not recover significantly. So we’ll have this fight all over again soon. But Democrats basically lost this round by not engaging until it was too late, and only engaging on the bare minimum of what would be tolerable.
UPDATE: Just to clarify, it’s true that deficit-neutral stimulus is possible, by re-routing badly targeted dollars to more useful purposes. But it certainly lowers the stimulative effect of dollars entered into the economy.
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your initial post on their flat-footedness really stayed with me David – much to the ire of many now former FB friends X~o
The Dims. dragged this out as close to the end of the summer as possible for their own political benefit. So, saying the rethugs are using these folks as political pawns is BS. Both parties couldn’t care less about the millions out here without jobs or hope. So much for Mr. Hope and Change. Instead, of wasting enormous amounts of political Capital last yr. on what turned out to be little more then a Health Ins. bail out, he should have been working 24/7 to get the economy moving. If he thinks the stimulus did that then why are we having these fights over unemployment a yr.& a half on? This entire political kabuki dance is just another example of how craven and weak this Pres. is and how hollow he’s sounding. In short Barry’s an empty suit.
I can’t agree. The dems – - loaded with so many Blue Dogs as they are – - are not a significant force. They have to fight among themselves to get things done. If you think things are bad now, wait until the repugs take over.
It runs benefits until November of a mid-term election year … how convenient … and, by no coincidence, the head pr man for the establishment has begun his campaign-style rhetoric and victory lap for the unemployment extension bill, which he did very little to help pass, and he’s started bashing the republicans about it, which they DO deserve. However, the cynicism is pretty thick: holding people’s survival as ransom for their votes instead of insuring those benefits for much longer so that people that need them to SURVIVE wouldn’t be dependent upon the dems doing well in the upcoming mid-terms. Why not do that while you know you can … while you have the votes? Well, IMO, for obama and the dems that answer is simple: becoz it doesn’t benefit him politically. Am I being too cynical? Is there some reason that they couldn’t extend it for longer? Well, if they do lose seats in the senate in the mid-terms, I guess they still should have the votes to pass another extension between the elections and the swearing in of the new senators and house members.
But these political tactics are about what I’ve come to expect off of a piece of garbage who set the parameters of the health care bill such that it wouldn’t go into effect into 2014, which will likely indirectly lead to tens of thousands of people dying from lack of insurance before then, so that he can run in 2012 on the threat of a republican repeal of it w/o giving citizens a chance to judge the bill.
Z
The same could be said of the original “stimulus package,” not to mention financial reform, HCR, the wars, climate change, etc, etc.
We been had, and if the Repugnants pick up significant numbers in November, it will very probably get worse. As I see things, we’re just…um…pretty much fucked. And I sincerely hope I’m wrong about that.
I will be astonished if the employment situation is significantly improved by November, particularly in light of what you mentioned about the Democrats doing the least they possibly could. I will be much more astonished, perhaps to the point of a coronary infarction if congress passes another tier of benefits no matter what the employment situation looks like.
Yeah there’s a big diff between the Rs and the Ds. The Ds are now Rs and the Rs are now batshit crazy.
“UPDATE: Just to clarify, it’s true that deficit-neutral stimulus is possible, by re-routing badly targeted dollars to more useful purposes. But it certainly lowers the stimulative effect of dollars entered into the economy.”
Um, can I remind you that there is another way to make spending deficit neutral? It’s also possible to TAX THE RICH!
Seriously, it’s the ONLY answer for both long and short-term deficit reduction. And considering that the financial industry caused these problems in the first place, shouldn’t the oligarchs pay the price?
Too bad neither party (or even FDL) can even IMAGINE it. I’m so glad my social security benefits will be cut to ensure that George Steinbrenner’s heirs don’t have to pay taxes. Great.
But Democrats basically lost this round by not engaging until it was too late, and only engaging on the bare minimum of what would be tolerable.
Well, actually the Democrats lost because they are, like, TOTAL LOSERS.
Occam’s Razor applies.
And just wait until the Catfood Commission pronounces from on high…that will be an epic democrapic fail right there as they all throw up their hands and say, “what are ya gonna do?”
What is the political benefit?
Yep, that sums it up.
Although I can’t help but wonder how the R’s would now behave if they were in the drivers seat. I think thier policy would be different than thier current crazy talk. They’d prolly stimulate the economy to produce full employment. But it would be an evil stimulous, designed to kill people and keep all the $$$ in the top 1%. Sort of like how Bush ran something close to a full employment low wage economy. War and mortgage fraud were GW’s stimulous package.
Making the Gopers look even worse then they are. they could have passed this months ago with recon.
This is a time of great sadness. The American worker is being relegated by both the Republicans and Democrats to the dustbin of capitalistic history. We now have the answer to the question of what will happen to the American worker as the result of the outsourcing of American jobs and the voracious greed of the American corporations: They are expected to be good Americans and just die and disappear as a result of starvation and privation, and stop being a burden on the corporate state. Well, we have two choices: 1. the American worker will disappear without a whimper, or 2. the American workers will rise up and throw off the yoke of tyranny. It’s high time for another 1776. There is no other choice.
I agree.