#unemployment #hr4213 #economy #s3520 #hr5618 #paygo
June 29, 2010 – Today, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NB) issued this statement on the need for additional unemployment benefits, and said that they should be paid for and not add to the high federal deficit and national debt:“Recently, Nebraska state officials estimated that our unemployment had improved slightly and was down to 4.9 percent. I am very sympathetic to the many Nebraskans who remain out of work and recognize that the federal government should extend unemployment benefits to help them.
“Before the vote last week on the tax extenders bill, which provided unemployment benefits, I informed Senate leadership that I was willing to vote for new spending as long as it is paid for. I believe this can be done and that the votes are there to pass it.
“The bill has been revised several times already and each time the deficit spending was less. Tough choices are possible and necessary to not add to the deficit.
“Some also say we need more emergency spending now to keep the recovery going. But in my view it could jeopardize the recovery and would add to our already enormous deficit, likely to be around $1.4 trillion for the second year in a row.
“I’d note that on April 13, 2010 the Nebraska Legislature adopted LR538, a resolution noting that the national debt has continued to grow, generating concern from economists, legislators and taxpayers across the country and that stated, ‘The Legislature remains committed to seeking a federal balanced budget.’
“Further, $1 billion of the $1.5 billion Nebraska is to receive from the Recovery Act hasn’t yet been spent, according to the state’s recovery website. That includes about $250 million in state fiscal stabilization funds that will be spent in fiscal year 2011.
“It’s important to note that the state of Nebraska delayed using Recovery Act funds for unemployment benefits for a year, and then only after the Legislature took the initiative to act on it.
“So, Congress should provide additional unemployment benefits but not as a bailout to the states that worsens the deficit and passes the bills onto our children.”
Source: Senate (Ben Nelson)
Senator Ensign (R-NV -- 2:24 PM 6/30) on Senate floor: "Well, a lot has been said on the issue of extending unemployment benefits. And while this issue has become one of political fodder and partisanship, the facts on this issue have been left out in favor of high-strung rhetoric and political opportunity. Let me take a moment to explain to my constituents the real debate on this issue. I, along with my Republican colleagues, believe that extending these benefits for the unemployed should be a top priority here in the Senate. I think both sides of the aisle agree on that. And I know that we can pay to extend these benefits now by cutting spending in other areas and redirecting some stimulus funds which have had little impact on the economy in my state and across the country.
Despite what some of my other colleagues may say here on the floor, there is no debate on extending the benefits for those who have fallen victim to a downturn economy. The debate on this issue actually lies with the fact that those on the other side of the aisle would like to take the easy way out, and they would like to avoid paying for this important legislation because it's tough to make cuts. Instead, we're going to add another $30 billion on to our record-breaking national debt. I know the $30 billion is just another number to those on the other side of the aisle, but it's one that could easily be paid for now by just adhering to their own policy of pay-as-you-go."
Source: Senate Floor updates
Both parties want your unemployment extensions continued but democrats insist that the costs of the extensions be added to the national debt.
Republicans are not only concerned about your unemployment. They are concerned about your kid’s future unemployment. If you have been listening to the news, you know Greece is having a serious economic crisis because of their government’s overspending. Greece’s unemployment increased 15.6% this year. If Obama’s and the democrat’s spending spree doesn’t stop, we will be in the same situation as Greece. We will have a continuing unemployment problem for years to come so your kids may not find a job after high school or college.
When versions of the unemployment extension bill with the costs totally paid for were voted on, republicans voted YES. Most democrats voted NO for continuing your unemployment extensions.
You can contact the Senate GOP and tell them to ignore the Paygo law, risk your kid’s future and pass S3520 or HR5618 with the cost added to national debt.
Or you can contact the Senate democrats and tell them to obey the Paygo law, protect your kid’s future and pass S3520 or HR5618 with the cost of the extensions paid for now.
Regardless of which bill is passed, it has to go thru the other congressional body and be voted on. It will not get done before the July 4th two week recess.
Since after the Memorial Day, Reid has been insisting your extensions be passed as part of HR4213. The House first passed HR4213 back last December. The democrats themselves could not agree on HR4213 in the past seven months. But Reid, rather than voting on a standalone extension bill, wasted time with HR4213. Now you will have to wait at least two or more weeks to get your extensions. And don't bet on Reid cutting their vacation short to work on passing your unemployment extensions.
UPDATE: While I read the Senate was taking a two week recess, SENATE.GOV says the next floor session is Monday July 12th. July 1 Sen. Byrd will lie in repose for six hours in the Senate chamber. They are taking Friday 2nd off. Since the democrats refuse to vote on your extensions that are paid for now, they know nothing would happen so they will go home early and hid from their voters. .
#senate #burris #obama
A little-noticed federal appellate panel ruling may trigger two elections for an Illinois Senate seat on Nov. 2 -- one to fill a new six-year term and, in a stunning development, another to elect someone to finish the remaining days of Barack Obama's original Senate term.
"There is still time to do it right," said Marty Oberman, the former Chicago alderman who is the lead attorney on the case. He argued that the 17th Amendment was violated by not having an election.
Oberman's lawsuit was not aimed at Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), but would have the practical effect of slicing a few weeks off of his Senate tenure, which was set to expire when a new senator from Illinois is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2011.
You may have thought the matter of filling the Senate vacancy created when Obama was elected president was settled when then-Gov. Blagojevich, with much controversy, appointed Roland Burris.
Source: Chicago SunTimes
#unemployment #hr4213 #economy #s3520 #hr5618 #paygo
Camp Floor Statement: H.R. 5618 Federal Unemployment Extension -- Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Here we go again. Another month, another bill extending unemployment benefits and extending the federal deficit.
Only this time the Democrats have now waited almost an entire month since these programs last expired to come up with a plan for how to extend them, leaving hundreds of thousands of long-term unemployed people without needed benefits. And, it is all because Democrats refuse to pay for these benefits despite record federal deficits.
Mr. Speaker, I am one of many on this side who support helping long-term unemployed people. I have voted for these benefits. Even though my home state of Michigan recently ended its four-year run of the highest unemployment rate in the Nation, the pain suffered by our residents remains real.
But the American people know it isn’t right to simply add the cost of this spending to our already overdrawn national credit card. They want to help those in need but also know that someone has to pay when government spends money. That assistance must not put our fiscal house as a nation in even worse shape. And we are already in terrible shape, thanks to the other side. The Democrats’ trillion-dollar stimulus plan created millions of unemployed workers instead of millions of promised jobs. We can and should cut that ineffective stimulus spending to pay for extending UI benefits, as my colleague Mr. Heller of Nevada has proposed. Stimulus hasn’t worked – in its wake nearly 3 million private sector jobs were lost, unemployment soared to 10 percent nationwide, and 48 of 50 states lost jobs. The only thing we stimulated is more government jobs.
Even Democrats now question the wisdom of all that spending, as evidenced by the fact the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee proposed last week to cut some of it to pay for extending other expired policies.
But instead of that common-sense approach, our colleagues on the other side have brought up this unpaid-for bill under a process that prevents any amendment, including any effort to pay for this spending. So this bill will be defeated, and they know that. Not because Members on both sides oppose helping the unemployed – but because Members, reflecting what they are hearing from their constituents, oppose adding another $33 billion to our $13 trillion mountain of debt.
Look around the world. Countries are sinking in debt. Yet the Democrat leaders of this House seem among the last to understand this reckless spending cannot go on forever. I urge my colleagues to oppose this deficit extending bill today, so we can bring up a real bill that allows us to pass and actually pay for these benefits for the long-term unemployed. That is the only road out of the policy dead end into which the other side’s spendaholic ways have driven us.
Source: Ways and Means (GOP)
Sen. Alexander (R-TN) on Senate floor:The Democrats' runaway spending and debt is a serious crisis ruining the future of our children. That is why we do not want to pass even an unemployment compensation bill that adds to the debt. We want to pass it, but we want to make sure it does not add to the debt.
All the Presidents combined from George Washington to George W. Bush took 232 years to build up a $5.8 trillion debt. President Obama's budgets will double that debt in 5 years and triple it in 10.
The PAYGO or pay-as-you-go rule compels new spending or tax changes to not add to the federal deficit.
New proposals must either be "budget neutral" or offset with savings derived from existing funds.
Both parties want your unemployment extensions continued but democrats insist that the costs of the extensions be added to the national debt. Not only are the republicans concerned about your current situation, they are concerned about your children’s future by having the Paygo law obeyed and have the extensions paid for now.
You can contact the Senate GOP and tell them to ignore the Paygo law, risk your kid’s future and pass S3520 or HR5618 with the cost added to national debt.
Or you can contact the Senate democrats and tell them to obey the Paygo law, consider your kid’s future and pass S3520 or HR5618 with the cost of the extensions paid for now.
Both parties are being hardnosed and consider their position as helping them in the mid-term election. Whether you believe the republicans or you believe the democrats, you should contact Washington.
S3520 is the Senate standalone unemployment extension bill.
Unfortunately, the Senate will have to pass HR5618 in order for the unemployment extensions to get sent to Obama. Or unfortunately, the House will have to pass S3520 or HR4213 in order for the unemployment extensions to get sent to Obama. I doubt it will get done before the July 4th two week recess.
#crime #violence #guncontrol
The Supreme Court struck down Chicago's ban on hand guns today and extended the reach of the 2nd Amendment as a nationwide protection against laws that infringe the "right to keep and bear arms."
The 5-4 decision voids the 1982 ordinance, one of the nation's strictest, which barred city residents from having handguns for their own use, even at home. The ruling has both local and national implications.
Two years ago, the high court ruled in a case from Washington, D.C. that the 2nd Amendment protects the rights of individuals to have a gun for self-defense. Since the District is a federal city and not a state, the court did not decide then whether the 2nd Amendment could be used to challenge other municipal ordinances or state laws.
In today's decision, the court said the constitutional protection of the 2nd Amendment extends to city and state laws, not just federal measures.
The City Council could consider new gun-control measures as soon as Wednesday, Mayor Richard Daley said last week.
Source: Chicago Breaking News
Chicago had the most restrictive gun control laws in America. Those laws didn’t stop 50some people getting shot in one weekend.
Daley says that just proves the need for more gun control laws. One idea Daley may do this week is to require insurance to own a gun. Of course that discriminates against poor people. And like gang bangers are going to buy insurance for their guns.
When will liberals start treating the problem, not the symptom (guns)? They should ask “Why did people feel the need to shoot fiftysome people in one weekend?”. Instead Daley and liberals focus on how the shooters got their guns.
One of the problems in Chicago is unemployment. Daley, the unions and the city council are finally allowing a Walmart be built in a poor Chicago neighborhood. It will create jobs and should lessen the crime in the area.
#border #ice #dhs #immigration
S. 3522
To protect children affected by immigration enforcement actions, and for other purposes. This Act may be cited as the `Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act' or the `HELP Separated Children Act'.
When conducting any immigration enforcement action, the Department of Homeland Security and cooperating entities shall notify the Governor of the State, the local child welfare agency, and relevant State and local law enforcement before commencing the action, or, if advance notification is not possible, immediately after commencing such action, of the approximate number of individuals to be targeted in the immigration enforcement action and the primary language or languages believed to be spoken by individuals at the targeted site.
In any immigration enforcement action, the Department of Homeland Security and cooperating entities shall ensure that any parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of a child in the United States receives due consideration of the best interests of his or her children or wards in any decision or action relating to his or her detention, release, or transfer between detention facilities.
Source: Thomas LOC
With the kids in mind, why didn’t the criminal (illegal) alien give due consideration before breaking our border laws?
And if ICE has to notify people before conducting a raid, they will have few successful raids to capture criminal aliens. But then isn’t that real purpose of this bill?
#kopps #custard #economy #biden
Would you call it a disastrous trip?
Maybe not disastrous, but memorable. You will hear about Vice President Joe Biden's trip to the Wisconsin custard shop many times over the course of the next five months. The simple campaign-like stop will give conservatives even more ammunition in an upcoming midterm election season that already looks ominous for President Obama.
Walking into a custard shop and asking where the ice cream is isn’t a huge offense. Homer Simpson would do it. Joe Biden did that when visiting a Kopp’s Frozen Custard store in Wisconsin on Friday.
However, it was the follow-up exchange that’s generating a lot of buzz.
After Biden gets his custard, he asks the store manager how much he owes him. “Lower our taxes and we’ll call it even,” the manager replied.
Biden didn’t acknowledge that. Refusing to even look at him, Biden turned and walked away from the manager, appearing to just blow him off.
A few minutes later, Biden is caught on video again telling the manager: “Why don’t you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time? Say something nice.”
The manager went on to tell a local TV reporter that the vice president went up to him later and whispered that he was just joking. The manager also said, however, it didn’t appear to him that Biden appreciated the comment.
Source: LA Times
Why is a comment about taxes being a smartass?
On my recent vacation, I went to check out the Butler Ridge Wind Farm. And since Kopps was nearby and was included in one of Food Channel’s best in the country specials, I made sure I eat lunch at Kopps.
The burger was dry. The fries were okay. The chocolate shake was good but not great.
#employment #hr4213 #paygo
The democrats and the partisan press have been trying hard to convince you the republicans don’t care about the unemployed. That just isn’t true. BOTH parties want the unemployment extensions to continue.
The republicans have created standalone bills and amendments to HR4213 that would continue unemployment extensions for a month, thru November or thru the end of the year. These bills and amendments pay for the unemployment extensions immediately.
When Reid allowed them to come to a vote, every republican voted to continue your unemployment insurance. For these bills and amendments, it was the democrats that were the party of “NO” and voted to not allow your unemployment insurance to continue.
Democrats in Congress and other liberals whine about money spent on Iraq, Afghanistan, other countries, Wall Street etc. Fine. Tell the Senate democrats to cut costs there and use the money to pay for your unemployment extensions.
There is also plenty of money from pork barrel projects that could be used to pay for your unemployment extensions. The National Institutes of Health has spent over $2 million on a study that, among other things, seeks to increase condom use among intravenous drug users in Kazakhstan. We are sending billions of dollars to foreign countries to do deep water oil drilling. A bunch of the $8,000 first-time homeowner credits went to prison inmates, 9 million dollars worth.
The House first voted for HR4213 and your unemployment extensions back in Dec. 2009. Since then, both parties have been hardnosed about your unemployment insurance. Both parties want the unemployment extensions continued.
But republicans insist the Paygo law is obeyed which means the unemployment extensions must be paid for immediately. The democrats insist the cost of the unemployment extensions must be added to the national debt.
Sen. Alexander on Senate floor:When it comes to jobs, the difference between our friends on the other side and the Republicans on this side is that we are focused on creating an environment for growing private sector jobs. They are focused on creating more government jobs. About the only place the job creation plans and stimulus plans they have enacted are working are in Washington, DC, where incomes are up and jobs are up. But not in the small towns of Tennessee and not in the small towns across this country, people are out of work. They are out of work because of higher taxes, higher debt, higher spending, too many Washington takeovers, too much focus on more government jobs, and not enough focus on an environment in which to create more private sector jobs.
Let's be very clear. The Thune amendment, which every Republican voted for and attracted a Democratic vote but Democrats voted it down, would have extended the expiring employment provisions until November. It would have extended for 1 year dozens of tax provisions. It would have extended the State and local tax deduction, the tuition deduction, the various disaster relief credits, the flood insurance provision that was just objected to. It would increase the payment the government makes to doctors for treating Medicare patients. The American Medical Association said a little earlier this week that 30 percent of doctors, family physicians, will not see new Medicare patients. This would have taken care of that.
The Democrats' runaway spending and debt is a serious crisis ruining the future of our children. That is why we do not want to pass even an unemployment compensation bill that adds to the debt. We want to pass it, but we want to make sure it does not add to the debt.
Why do I say it piles up a debt on our children? In January of 2009--if you divide the national debt across each child under 18, in January of 2009 each child's debt was $85,000. By June of 2010, it was $114,000. By January of 2017, it will be $196,000. Because of budgets--and these are the budgets proposed by a Democratic President--during the next 7 years, each child's share of the national debt will more than double, going from $85,000 to $196,000.
Here is another way to think about it. All the Presidents combined from George Washington to George W. Bush took 232 years to build up a $5.8 trillion debt. President Obama's budgets will double that debt in 5 years and triple it in 10. What that means is all 43 Presidents combined, from George Washington to George Bush, ran up a $5.8 trillion debt in 232 years. In 8 years, President Obama will add twice that much to the national debt, tripling the debt.
Source: Senate Floor Updates
Congressional democrats and liberals whine about being stopped from adding the cost of your unemployment extensions to the national debt considering the spending spree of Bush and the republicans. Well, the voters kicked many of the spending spree republicans out and the democrats gained control of Congress and the White House.
Now it is Obama and the democrats that are on a spending spree. Will the voters kick the democrats out for their spending spree?
To those unemployed and those that are concerned about the unemployed, you have two choices:
Write to the Senate republicans and tell them to go ahead and add the cost of the unemployment extensions to the national debt.
Or write to Senate democrats and tell them to stop endangering your children’s future and find money to pay for your employment extensions immediately.
And remember once enough senators from one party gives in and the Senate passes HR4213 or a standalone extension bill, the House will have to vote on it. So you may want to also send your letter/email to your House member and Pelosi.
Unfortunately for those of you unemployed, I doubt that the House will deal with it before the two week 4th of July recess.
UPDATE (from The Hill): Reid blasts Republicans as tax extenders bill sinks in the Senate. The Senate's tax extenders bill, which includes an extension of unemployment benefits, appears on death's door.
If it is on death’s door, Reid is as much to blame for refusing to consider obeying the Paygo law.
John Cornyn (on facebook/twitter): 3 times Senator Reid has tried to pass a "tax extenders" bill with bipartisan support, but for the deficit spending and higher taxes. Senator Thune offered a "paid for" alternative that was rejected. A mystery to me?
#renewable #green #energy
Investigators haven't been able to determine why a 187-ton wind turbine toppled over in northern New York last December.
The Fenner Wind Farm's 20 turbines have been turned off since the incident as the owner, Enel North America, investigated the collapse.
Top industry analysts hired by Enel found no problems with the foundation supporting the turbine. Enel Spokesman Hank Sennott said the foundation was built to specifications and no corners were cut on materials or construction.
Sennott anticipates the wind farm will be up and running by fall. No projections have been made on how much money the company has lost in the nearly six months it has gone without harnessing any wind energy.
Source: WCAX
Wind and solar are supplementary power not primary sources of power.
Turbines only generate power when the wind is strong enough. Wind doesn’t blow 24/7. Recent reports I have read say wind and solar storage is still in the experimental stage. You need a regular power plant to pick up the load when solar and/or wind is lacking.
The Obama administration has said wind farms on the east coast will replace ALL coal-fired power plants in the US. This is example why that statement is false.
The question I have about this collapse is why the entire farm is down for nearly a year?
Kudos, Mr. President
#terrorism #muslim #islamic
Fighting homegrown terrorism by monitoring Internet communications is a civil liberties trade-off the U.S. government must make to beef up national security, the nation's homeland security chief said Friday.
As terrorists increasingly recruit U.S. citizens, the government needs to constantly balance Americans' civil rights and privacy with the need to keep people safe, said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
But finding that balance has become more complex as homegrown terrorists have used the Internet to reach out to extremists abroad for inspiration and training. Those contacts have spurred a recent rash of U.S.-based terror plots and incidents.
"The First Amendment protects radical opinions, but we need the legal tools to do things like monitor the recruitment of terrorists via the Internet," Napolitano told a gathering of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.
Napolitano's comments suggest an effort by the Obama administration to reach out to its more liberal, Democratic constituencies to assuage fears that terrorist worries will lead to the erosion of civil rights.
The administration has faced a number of civil liberties and privacy challenges in recent months as it has tried to increase airport security by adding full-body scanners, or track suspected terrorists traveling into the United States from other countries.
"Her speech is sign of the maturing of the administration on this issue," said Stewart Baker, former undersecretary for policy with the Department of Homeland Security. "They now appreciate the risks and the trade-offs much more clearly than when they first arrived, and to their credit, they've adjusted their preconceptions." Source: Fox News
Until I heard Gen. McChrystal's comments, I have been giving Obama a grade of A- on national security. I wonder about the handling of Obama’s Afghanistan war. I give thumbs up on this story.
On everything else, I give Obama a grade of F. While I want his presidency to be seen as a success, his domestic policies are a disaster and must be defeated.
#employment #hr4213 #paygo
Yesterday, after seeing the huge tax extenders bill, which includes an extension of federal unemployment benefits, go down in defeat on a cloture vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) tried to pass several of parts of the bill on a standalone basis.
Reid tried to move components of the bill by a process known as unanimous consent. One of the components Reid tried to pass on its own was an extension of federal unemployment benefits, but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) objected, saying the provision had to be paid for.
McConnell wanted to have a unanimous consent vote on a Republican "paid-for" bill that would be funded by unused stimulus money. Reid objected.
In order to get enough votes to pass the tax extenders bill, Senate Democrats will need to cut the bill even further to win votes from Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut — both who voted against cloture — as well as at least one Republican.
The Senate is expected to take up the bill again next week. Democratic leaders say they hope to be able to pass something by the July 4 holiday.
Source: MLive
Senator Reid: (2:03 PM) "Victims of the recession who have been out of work for a long time are struggling to make ends meet while they're looking and searching to find a job. This bill extends the emergency unemployment assistance they need, critical help that for many has expired and dried up. Every day we don't act, those families in Nevada and across the nation continue to suffer unnecessary pain. This will be the eighth week since March the Senate has debated the tax-cutting, job-creating bill currently on the floor. That's two full months, two full months we've been waiting and they have been waiting. The people in our states, for us to respond to an emergency. That's really unacceptable. The richest corporations continue to get richer while the unemployed remain out of work. Every minute we waste gets worse for them. It's our job to debate, not to delay. It's our job to legislate. It's our job to do something about the plight of the people in America."
Senator McConnell: (2:07 PM) "Republicans offered a fully offset 30-day extension of this bill that didn't just cover its costs, but actually reduced the deficit in the process. Democrats rejected it. We offered an amendment that would have provided a long-term extension of the expired provisions and lower the deficit by $55 billion over ten years. Democrats rejected that too. This should be an easy one, but Democrats are making it difficult because they just can't seem to bring themselves to pay for legislation. But the American people aren't conflicted on this issue, and they want us to show that we're serious. That we're willing to make the same kinds of tough choices they themselves have been forced to make in this recession."
Senator Reid: (2:12 PM)"I realize very much the financial situation our country finds itself in today. Everyone on this side of the aisle recognizes that. We also recognize the fact that problems dealing with the economy were not created by the Democrats over here or even President Obama. The problems were created, Mr. President, by virtue of eight years of wild spending by the prior administration, a war costing $1 trillion that was unpaid for, tax cuts amounting to more than $1 trillion unpaid for, causing this huge recession. And President Obama has been doing his best working with us to get our way out of that financial situation we find ourselves. So I'm very amazed at the logic of my friends on the other side of the aisle, suddenly see fiscal austerity as the way to go when the wild spending went on for eight years without a word having been spoken."
Senator McConnell: (2:15 PM) "Our good friends on the other side still don't seem to get it. They're twisting and turning not to cut the debt, but to borrow with as much as they can with the minimum votes to pass this bill. The best part of all is their justification. You guessed it. They want to blame President Bush for their own unwillingness to pay for the bill. They say that they're immune from increasing it themselves. Well, I've got some news for our friends on the other side. Nobody's buying that anymore. Because there just isn't any comparison. When President Obama took office, the deficits he inherited were projected to be $4.3 trillion over the next 10 years. One year later -- one year later -- one year after President Bush left office, the Congressional Budget Office had to put out a revised estimate, after just one year of Democrats controlling Washington, estimated deficits over the next decade had nearly doubled to $8.1 trillion in the middle of a recession. In other words, at a time when projected revenues coming in are actually decreasing."
Source: Senate Floor Updates
The article says both leaders tried to submit standalone unemployment extension bills and the other party leader objected but this article and most partisan press stories say republicans blocked the standalone bill.
Both leaders have repeatedly said they want the unemployment extensions. The republicans want the Paygo law obeyed which says bills like this must be paid for now. The democrats are equally hardnosed saying the extension costs should just be added to the national debt.
Part of the reason the GOP lost their majority in Congress was Bush and the GOP went on a spending spree. The GOP sees Obama’s and the democrat’s out of control spending as an election issue so they are insisting the extensions are paid for.
If Reid and Pelosi really want to prove the republicans are against the unemployed, they should bring a standalone unemployment extension and COBRA bill that extends tier 1-4 thru the end of the year. It should be paid for by cutting unneeded pork programs. The GOP wouldn’t have an excuse for not voting for the bill by saying the Paygo law must be obeyed.
The democrats don’t plan to bring HR4213 to the floor for a vote today. Without paying for HR4213, Reid is looking for something that they can add or cut to get one or more republicans to wimp out and break the Paygo law. Tier 5 will most likely not be included.
Since the Senate amended the bill, the House will have to vote on HR4213 for a third time. Unfortunately for those unemployed, I doubt the House will pass it before the July 4th recess.
Note: The House took a three day weekend this past weekend. The Senate adjourned 2pm Friday and is coming back at 2pm today.
While the House wouldn’t be dealing with HR4213, Pelosi scheduled a busy session today. They apparently convened at 11am. They heard the daily prayer. They said the Pledge of Allegiance. They adjourned at 11:03am to reconvene tomorrow.
#employment #hr4213 #paygo
Unemployment Benefits and Claims Suffer after HR 4213 Woes. The Senate is hung up on the Tax Extenders Bill (HR 4213). The unemployment extension that is much needed after the June 2nd cutoff for benefits still has not been passed. Cited are fears about deficit spending on the behalf of the US government.
Many think that the concern over deficit spending comes at a very strange time. Why all of a sudden when Americans need money does Congress all of a sudden grow a heart and start worrying about the country’s propensity for overspending?
The Tax Extenders Bill that failed in the Senate would have extended federal emergency unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies to the unemployed until November 30, 2010. Now, those who have exhausted their state’s benefits and are sitting in the tiers of federal emergency unemployment are sitting in limbo.
Source: CNM News Network
In Dec. 2009, HR4213 was proposed. It was a big bill that included stuff like Satellite TV changes. It also included unemployment extensions thru the end of 2010. The House passed it then.
Rather than the Senate passing it, Reid and Pelosi decided to do the unemployment extensions in a series of month extensions. Before Memorial Day recess, they decided to go back to HR4213. Senate had passed it in March with amendments. The House passed it again before the recess with more amendments so the Senate had to vote on it again.
Because of Bush’s and the GOP’s spending spree, republicans didn’t vote for many of the GOP incumbents so they lost control of the Congress. So the GOP has been trying to do what they can to control Obama’s and the democrats out of control spending. As part of that, they have been insisting the unemployment extensions obey the Paygo law and the extensions are paid for with unused stimulus money. The democrats have been equally hard nosed that the unemployment extensions cost just gets added to the national debt. Both parties want the unemployment extensions.
The partisan press has been whining that the unemployment extensions were being held up by a GOP filibuster but are they? The Thune amendment tried to pay for HR4213 now. Republicans voted for the amendment and therefore voted for extending the unemployment extensions. The democrats voted against the amendment and therefore voted against extending the unemployment extensions. So why isn’t that considered a democrat filibuster since they stopped HR4213 from being passed?
Some liberals are whining that the Thune amendment would shut down the government. Why don’t the democrats come up with alternatives so the Paygo law is obeyed and HR4213 gets paid for now? The GOP would then vote for HR4213 and the extensions.
To cut some costs, the unemployment extensions would end Nov. 30th not end of the year. No tier 5.
Senate.gov says there will be no roll call votes today. HR4213 apparently has been spent back to committee to be rewritten. Once passed, the House will have to vote on it again.
Note: While the House wouldn’t be voting on HR4213, I thought you might like to know that the House is taking today (Friday) off so they have a three day weekend.
The Senate adjourned at 2pm today and will come back 2pm Monday. Apparently, there will be no votes on HR4213 Monday.
#unemployment #hr4213 #economy #s3520 #hr5618 #paygo 
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