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GOP Senator Blocks Jobless-Benefits Extension
Washington - As Congress raced to leave Washington for its Easter recess, a Republican senator blocked a stopgap bill to extend jobless benefits, saying its $9 billion cost should not be added to the national debt.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, march 23, 2010, prior to the weekly caucus luncheons. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg) As a result, some people who have been out of work for more than six months will at least temporarily lose benefits. Newly jobless people won't be eligible to sign up for generous health insurance subsidies.
At the center of the battle is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who is insisting that the measure be "paid for" so as not to add to the nation's $12.7 trillion debt.
"What we are doing is stealing future opportunity from our children," Coburn said Thursday.
Republicans offered legislation to finance the monthlong extension of jobless benefits by rescinding unspent money from last year's economic stimulus bill. The effort was killed on a party-line vote.
Democrats repeatedly sought speedy Senate approval of a House-passed measure that would extend jobless benefits through May 5, but Coburn objected. Republicans said Senate negotiations produced a compromise that didn't pass muster in the House.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate would attempt to retroactively bestow the jobless benefits when it returns from its spring recess April 12.
The practical effect of the lapse in benefits would be limited if they are awarded retroactively. But labor advocates say it produces bureaucratic nightmares for state labor departments, and that trying to restore the lapsed benefits is easier said than done.
The clash comes less than a month after Republicans abandoned a similar battle that led to an interruption in unemployment benefits eligibility for some people and a two-day furlough for about 2,000 Transportation Department employees.
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82 Comments so far
Show AllSo, Congress is going on vacation any way? Those Democrats are all about the working men and women of America, except if it is vacation time.
You would think by now they would pass these bills, and have a way to pay for them all figured out before hand. You would think that if you really thought the Democrats gave a hoot about hourly workers. The truth is...they don't. Except when we are real close to an election.
My first reaction also. Retroactive benefits don't get the rent paid on time. My guess is that if Congress stayed in session, rather than go on vacation, the Republicans would fold very quickly; however, the Democrats aren't that concerned. And what happened to all the Democratic euphoria after passing a "healthcare" bill. Yawn, back to business as usual.
The Democrats worked on the POIS HCR for over a year, stuck around for days and days to get it done for the Health Insurance industry.
The American people. Irelevant pawns in a sociopathic game to see who serves their corporate masters more, and how many Americans must suffer to achieve their goal,
Anyone who thinks Democrats are working for them needs to snap out of the trance and step back and understand that both parties are an enemy to the American people.
Obama is a Conservative's dream, better than any good Republican.
The Republicans hate him because Obama's master public deception while drowning in corporate cash. Besides, it's all part of the game to keep Americans distracted divided, and off balance.
Check out below the most spot on assessment of the Obama Presidency. Best thing I've read anywhere to date.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/37191
It is a Republican blocking the compensation.
But, it is true with the War economy the government can't afford good government.
If they just cut off the free 3 billion to Israel this year, that alone will pay for 3 extra years of unemployment compensation.
shit - even during election time the democrats don't care about hourly workers......which is why they continually talk about "the middle class" but nothing about the POOR laborers.....
and the best way to help the middle class remains to help the poorest ENTER the middle class......
Tax the rich at 90% on incomes over 3 million a year....
The Democrats tried to extend this session,push back leaving until this issue was taken care of.But unfortunately the Party of NO used their power to block the motion
The US House passed on March 24 and Senate passed on March 25 a Conditional Adjournment, which would allow the recess to begin and allow the House and Senate leaders to reconvene Congress for urgent matters (such as the unemployment bill). If a bill doesn't get passed and Congress leaves for recess, the blame will be on the Democrats.
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Its time to put a war tax and unemployment tax on all working citizens, we need to pay for this mess, a sales-commerce tax on all goods , one penny.
How much will that raise, and if its not enough more.
We all need to start paying for the war, until we done.
By the way, where were these politicians when Bush raised our national debt from 4 to 11 trillion over his 8 year rule.
Its ok, as long as the good old boy network is receiving their payoffs.
Pay to help the sick and jobless, no.
Pay for costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and wars on drugs, yes.
Stupid.
It's not just the cost of these wars, it's the fact that the greedy rich in this country are not paying for the privilege of profiting off of them. We need to return the tax rate on war profits to 95%, like it was after WW II. _THAT_ would put an end to the ever-increasing national debt.
It probably would also stop the war, because the taxes would put a drain on the budgets of all those greedy executives and stockholders, who might have to lead a less extravagant lifestyle and sell a couple of their houses. Did you know that the cost to the British upper class of fighting against the colonists was coming close to ending our American Revolution? It was a huge drain on their economy, and they no longer had us from whom to collect more taxes. There were discussions starting in Parliament when the word came that Cornwallis had surrendered. When the cost of war starts to be a burden on the incomes of the rich, that is when wars are ended. As long as they are making a profit, the rich don't care about the loss of life, or the destruction. They just see more dollar signs.
An interesting fact that I read a while back is that, generally, unemployment is lower when taxes are higher. That government income creates jobs. With low taxes, governments struggle to keep the jobs that exist, and the private sector suffers, too. In places where there are government jobs, there are more private sector jobs to support those government workers.
I don't know why people keep electing Republicans. They are the ones who have been working overtime for decades to destroy the Middle Class that was created by the social safety net that was created in the 1930s and the growth after WW II.
I also do not understand people who think they have been better off since Reagan cut taxes on the rich and started his trickle-down economics. Trickle-down economics never created any jobs for the Middle Class.
I call it "trickle-down stupidity".
'Trickle down' is an oxymoran. The truth is it is more like a 'Tinkle Down' in other words we have been p***ed on.
Golden Showers indeed.I remember the hype and hypocrisy well. On and On.
Not just stupid: DEMONIC
The problem is not about Republicans and Democrats. It is about a legislative body, the Senate, which is unable to perform its function. One senator should not have the power to stop legislation like unemployment benefits. Pressure should be placed upon both parties to fix this undemocratic, inefficient, and anachronistic institution.
This article explains it quite well:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/20-6
Somehow I missed it when it was posted, and just saw it yesterday.
no filibuster for haliburton or aid to goldman-sachs, but woe be unto the workers, as there are no lifeboats on this ship of doom for those swept off their moorings by the tidal wave of corruption that inundated wall street and drowned main street in a sea of red ink. kick the victims, especially when they're down. never investigate larded military contracts, and keep voting to build 2 billion dollar submarines, so they can float out of joe's connecticut harbors in search of imaginary sea monsters. maybe it's the one ancient chinese aircraft carrier that haunts them, or maybe they want to cruise the black sea and wave to the sea critters attached to the russian fleet as it rots in odessa's salt water port. or, did our sonar detect john's yellow submarine creating an ecological disturbance around ringo's octopus's garden in the sea? these republicans are idiots, but they must think that a majority of americans will, at some time, buy into their philosophy.
Unfortunately,the Party Of NO blocked a motion to extend the session.
The US House passed on March 24 and Senate passed on March 25 a Conditional Adjournment, which would allow the recess to begin and allow the House and Senate leaders to reconvene Congress for urgent matters (such as the unemployment bill). If a bill doesn't get passed and Congress leaves for recess, the blame will be on the Democrats.
Don't you just love it folks! Our crime family called Congress always complains we cannot afford this; we cannot afford that; we are spending too much for this; WE CANNOT AFFORD A FEW BILLION FOR THE UNEMPLOYED; this tax and spend has to stop; but you almost never,never hear: WE CANNOT AFFORD THIS EGREGIOUS WAR SPENDING! Not much different than the rest of the military, dictatorships around the world. I would like to see someone start a website, with a petition that could be signed by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, in other words, Americans of all political persuasions, that we pledge to vote against all incumbents...and that includes Kucinich,Paul and Sanders. That just may send a message to the people that take their places.
you sir, are not supporting the troops with talk like that. I mean they are DYING over there for YOU! Isn't that worth a billion or two per day? Just where is your PATRIOTISM?
[sarcasm off]
but really, where are the unemployed republican voters? they have rent to pay and kids to feed. I can't really understand how this could't piss them off too.
WHY DON'T YOU BE THE ONE TO START IT? "EXCUSES BEGONE!"
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EVERY obstructionist Republican that is up for re-election this year should be replaced by a Progressive. The "let me sell you some insurance" Democrats in the Senate need replacing, too.
Coburn's politics are about two millimeters to the left of being an out-and-out fascist. He also strikes me as being one of the more truly stupid members of the Republican party in congress. His success within the party, and in Oklahoma politics, is assured.
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My thought exactly, Mordechai!
I expect that Coburn will be hailed as a hero and welcomed like the Prodigal Son when he returns to the hinterland. And most likely a few of the victims of his backwards demagoguery will be in the cheering crowds; that's how the cycle of abuse works.
It was depressingly easy to correctly predict that Jim Bunning would be cheered by HIS troglodytic homies after he similarly spiked an unemployment extension in a fit of supposed "fiscal-responsibility" pique.
This is one of the better comments group I have seen on the politicians lately.
To have people intelligently question motives of our government is refreshing. Intelligently is the key word.
How can they deny the people of this country help and ignore the fact that we can spend spend on wars, Israel, and so on.
I just read a story about a new born baby with a heart defect that was denied coverage for a pre existing condition.
Isn't this going a little far.
Ye who believe Ron Reagan's trickle downs worked need their heads examined. Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. But by all means do the research yourself. There are too many blind followers.
Tell a lie big enough, loud enough, and often enough and it is true. Enjoy your day.
Don't tell the insurance companies, but LIFE is a preexisting condition.
What is the unemployment rate in Oklahoma? You think some of his constituents might have something to say about their unemployment benefits being cut off? Or are the rest of those Okie hicks as stupid as he is?
"What we are doing is stealing future opportunity from our children," Coburn said Thursday.
Oh really? What about the welfare of those CURRENT children hurt by this maneuver ya filthy bastard.
What is it about Oklahomans that they keep electing these creepy fake christians?
By the way, watch how quick he signs on to the next war supplemental bill.
What about all the new toys just offered to Netanyahu?
Who is going to pay for that?
And the 33b supplemental for the occupation of Afghanistan?
Who is going to pay for that?
But for the unemployed - ah no - they are just American citizens, second class citizens in Oklahoma, that state where they send the brain dead to represent them in Congress.
We are nearly the sole support of Israel. And, I have read that they have universal health care. Go figure.
We Give Israel $2 Billion dollars which 80% must be spent on Arms made in the USA. Just to be clear. They are also one of the only countries to ever pay back it's Debt to the USA. What about the monies we give to Egypt, Jordan and Fatah of which we will never see a dime. And it is much more than we give to Israel.
Without the presence of Israel in defense of the area we would have to recommission the Mediterranean Fleet at a cost surpassing $220 billion dollars since the fleet is in the Persian Gulf.
Is it really the money you are carping about?
Much of the deeds done by the republicans show us that they are mere tools in a greater chess game. That these elected official,corrupte as they are, keep on keeping on is a sad commentary on the state of the republic. Shut off The damn t.v. and pull your heads out of your bums. Your country has been stolen from you by deceit and swindle. You allowed the election of 2000 to be stolen from you by the SCOTUS and pretended not to notice. You allowed the 2004 election to be stolen again by voter surpression and theft of democratic votes in OHIO. So now what to do. the Right divides and conquores and yet the people remain silent. Fascism comes with those wrapped in the flag and waving their crosses and bibles. And yet there are those fools who blame the victims and continue on with lies and deceit. All the while you looked the other way as your rights and liberties and livelyhoods were stolen from you. ALL BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID TO ORGANIZE AND UNITE WITH YOUR BRETHERN. HAD ENOUGH? I CERTAINLY HOPE SO.
Marian Cole
This move is so disgraceful that I am having trouble finding the correct adjective to describe this persons behavior.
I guess there are no folks in Oklahoma that are out of work and having trouble putting food on the table for their families.
Mr. Coburn needs to be recalled ASAP.
... and for this so-called "Christian nation," with so many of these senatorial clowns putting on pious faces for Easter services [and presidential prayer breakfasts too], pulling unemployment benefits on struggling families, single moms, and singles in general will cause hardship of all kinds. When you can't come up with the rent, you get evicted; if you don't pay your utilities, you sit in the dark and can't cook; if you don't have enough money for food, your kids get hungry and sickly. Then there's just plain old stress that does a number on blood pressure and heart.
Don't these guys ever think of anyone but themselves?
I don't think so.
Words are not enough. We have gone so far past just basic decency, we have to get serious about getting rid of this government and beginning again. And I don't know how we are going to do that. Violence I don't think is an answer because people will just get mowed down in the streets.
Perhaps it will be that families and communities get tighter, in the best sense, and begin helping each other, and every community will be like a world unto itself.
Or ... the United States in many areas will become slums, larger and larger slums. India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico ... so many others ... are loaded with slums. We always have had them here too, but maybe we'll end up with a lot more.
You see, those who govern us seem so detached from The People and the Real Business of government for The People, and it seems we are divided now by The Aliens and The People. Too many of our "leaders'" minds and hearts do not seem to function anymore. They are shallow, unconcerned, uncaring, out-of-touch, egocentric and often just plain ignorant to really stupid.
I forgot. The MSM has a lot to do with this, spewing out porridge and pap and leaving out just about all the truth of things.
The average 8 to 18 year old watches 7.6 hours of television a day or is hooked up to some kind of electronic device. The non-governmental, PRIVATE Federal Reserve Bank, which prints and takes care of OUR money, just made its biggest profit in 2009, its best year ever, to the tune of 46 billion 100 million dollars, while people across the country struggle to keep their homes, have enough food money, manage their heating bills, find some way to get cared for in a health crisis.
Our current administration is committing more international crimes and violations of human rights than ever, and so is its partner Israel. Ho-hum.
When do we get really mad? When do we say ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ENOUGH! or are these people who govern us, including what they do and don't do, just a reflection of who we are as a People? That's a genuine question.
I don't know anymore. All I know is that the direction of this country is DOWN. Maybe one has to really get flattened first in order to really feel again and then rise up and see the sky for the first time in a long time.
Maybe all of this will inspire us to be alone with ourselves and go within and examine ourselves and our own values and who we are and what we do and don't do, and where we've come from and where we are going that can make a difference.
It won't stay the same. That's for sure. But the outcomes are as much our responsibility as those of our "leaders," with this current crop evidently incapable of doing the right thing for The People.
What are we going to do? We'll find out eventually, won't we?
/cm
P.S. The irony is IT'S EASTER, the Christian celebration of a man who died on a cross and spent his life preaching love, preaching caring for each other, feeding the poor, caring for the sick and the vulnerable, forgiving and being non-violent and seeking peace with "enemies," and so forth. He got killed for it. But then he demonstrated that the Material Reality is really an illusion and the Spiritual Reality is a far stronger, more important dimension than that and it is within us and available to and for us all the time. Maybe that is still too way out of a notion, but it might be something to consider that The Only Way Out is In.
"The Only Way Out is In." THE BEST COMMENT YET!
I agree: Excellent comment!
Oh, those poor, poor Democrats! First they need a majority. Then they need sixty. Now they need ALL ONE HUNDRED, because the only holds Saint Harry will block are those from his own caucus.
then tack the money from the DOD
or
TAX THE HELL OUT OF THE IMPORTS
THAT PUT THESE PEOPLE OUT OF WORK !!!!
there is no way in hell to balance the budget
on the backs of the unemployed
The wars this government is wagering in far away lands on the other side of the Globe are stealing the future opportunity from our children, not this social legislation for jobless-benefits extension.
sorry sorry sorry. picky picky me.
I do not want to get bounced from CD so to be nice I recognize your moniker EuroDan so assume you may not have English as first language.
"are stealing the future opportunity from our children"
This needs to be past tense or "have stolen the future...."
Well, since republicans don't care about the deficit when a war is involved (see Afghanistan/Iraq) the President should declare a new war on poverty and say that the extension of unemployment benefits is the opening salvo.
He should be waving the flag during the announcement.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
With "Big Labor" unions marching lockstep with the KIND of nonsense Team Obama are talking about with respect to "job creation" this is a moot issue. Tax incentives, scattered urban job training program initiatives (with no guarantee of actual jobs at the end of them) and other kickbacks that ideologically avoid New Deal (or, preferably Green New Deal) government job programs will do nothing substantive.
These people who cry 'national debt' really mean they want the generations who will pay for it to do so while undereducated (ignorant) and without health care (sick). They are mostly responsible for the national debt in the first place. Clinton left a budget surplus and W left us with a grossly reduced tax base (taxes lowered for rich), plus two wars and an unregulated banking system which poisoned it's nest by encouraging greed.
This country needs to put politicians on the "unemployment" rolls. That should solve some of our problems. Most of these dickheads don't have a clue or don't care how the 21 Million unemployed are suffering right now!
""At the center of the battle is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who is insisting that the measure be "paid for" so as not to add to the nation's $12.7 trillion debt.
"What we are doing is stealing future opportunity from our children," Coburn said Thursday.""
***************************
Wonder how this malcontent bastard voted on the bailouts to his no doubt corporate friends who ARE so deserving of corporate welfare which is the REAL MAJOR source creating that dreaded $12,700,000,000.00 debt; but no doubt OKians think him just fine for the job and he will be re-elected.
Yeah, but that pales in comparison to the estimated 300 trillion $ in derivatives on the books of the major financial institutions. No wonder they are in a panic! And they will not divulge how much of this debt is toxic and I certainly cannot blame them!
Let's put Coburn on UNEMPLOYMENT! When is his term up? My benefits will be cut off! I just managed to get a contract part-time job 3 days a week but don't know how long it will last! The Republicans are selfish people because they only care about being re-elected. The insurance companies and drug companies support them and that is why we didn't get a PUBLIC OPTION! Then the insurance companies will have to lower their costs and make less profit! Do you know how much the executives of these companies make? A LOT! UNBELIEVABLE!