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Unemployment: Outlook Grim For Jobs Bill Ahead Of Vote
Democratic leaders in the Senate have apparently failed to win enough support to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to help the poor, the old and the jobless, despite making a series of cuts to the measure over the past several weeks to appease deficit hawks.
"It looks like we're going to come up short," said a senior Democratic aide on Wednesday evening. "It looks like Republicans are prepared to kill aid to states, an extension of unemployment benefits, and ironically, the Republicans are prepared to kill efforts to close loopholes that allow companies to export jobs overseas."
The legislation, known as the "tax extenders" bill, would reauthorize extended unemployment benefits for people out of work for six months or longer, would protect doctors from a 21 percent pay cut for seeing Medicare patients, and would provide billions in aid to state Medicaid programs.
Come Friday, 1.2 million people will lose access to the extended unemployment benefits, a number that will grow by several hundred thousand every week after that. Fifty million Medicare claims from June are currently in process at the reduced rate, which the AARP says has already caused some of its members to have trouble finding a doctor. And the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that dropping the $24 billion in aid to states will cause 900,000 public- and private-sector layoffs in 2011.
Both chambers of Congress had already passed the measure, deficit spending and all, but when it came time to combine the bills in May, conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans lost their previous will to help the economy and forced party leaders to begin the nickel-and-dime process of trimming the bill.
"I've never been involved in anything that's been revised so often and in so many different ways," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who worked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to try to win support for the bill.
The House shortened the Medicare physicians' fix, dropped the Medicaid money, and also $7 billion in subsidies for laid off workers to buy health insurance. The Senate cut $25 per week from every unemployment check and shortened the so-called "Doc Fix" even further, to six months, and on Wednesday Dem leaders trimmed another $8 billion by reducing the Medicaid assistance. The bill has shrunk over the past few weeks from $190 billion, to $80 billion, to $55 billion, to just over $30 billion in the current Senate version.
"Sen. Baucus and Sen. Reid did everything they can to try to pick up the handful of votes needed to overcome the Republican filibuster" said the Dem aide. Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson has said repeatedly he would not vote for the measure unless its cost was completely offset, so Reid and Baucus focused on moderate Maine Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, who demanded more cuts to the bill, apparently, than the Dem leaders were willing to make.
"Remember, Republicans voted for legislation that both extended unemployment insurance and reduced the deficit," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "Democrats, on the other hand, introduced and voted for legislation that increased the deficit. There was bipartisan support for ours, bipartisan opposition for theirs."
The Republican alternative to the tax extenders bill, which Ben Nelson supported, would have extended unemployment benefits and offset the cost with budget cuts so steep it "would essentially shut down much of the federal government for the last two and a half months of this fiscal year," according to the CBPP.
Democrats also softened a provision that would raise taxes on investment fund managers by closing a loophole that allows some of the richest people in the world to pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries. The debate has largely focused on the deficit, however.
The process has been infuriating to employment and labor activists.
"Let Senator McConnell, let Senator Senator Collins, let Senator Brown and every other Republican explain why one of their own constituents doesn't deserve to keep their job, shouldn't be able to send their kid to college, can't put food on their table without maxing out their credit cards," said Lori Lodes of the SEIU. "Rooting against America, Republicans are taking pride in keeping families out of work as their only strategy for winning elections."
The Senate will vote on Thursday or Friday.
29 Comments so far
Show All"... ironically, the Republicans are prepared to kill efforts to close loopholes that allow companies to export jobs overseas"
What's ironic about that? It's all part of the class war. The senior Democratic aide who said this is, intentionally or inadvertently, helping with the class war by implying that the complete lack of concern for the non-elites by members of Congress is surprising.
The same Congress that has been dismantling the US working class for more than a quarter century.
I am SO SICK AND TIRED of hearing our Congress insist that they can't help the American people who are out of work or need ongoing Medicaid assistance that I'd like to drum everyone in Congress out of work!!!!
HOW ABOUT WE STOP SPENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE TRAVESTY IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT THE CONGRESS AND THE MILITARY CALL A "WAR?"
AND THEN LET'S GIVE CONGRESS A HEFTY PAY CUT!!! God knows, they already have as much money as they can spend due to that outdated system of political bribery called lobbying!!!!!!!!!!
Then we'd have plenty of money to take care of needy American citizens. What a farce America has become!!!
I get very frustrated when bloggers call on Obama to do the right thing. Here's two new ones from HuffPo, one on small business, a total deja vu on the BS healthcare reform town halls.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-chapman/obama-administration-smal_b_621862.html
The other one is on the severely-neutered finance-reform bill. In this one the author asks Obama for a veto (ROTFL)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymond-j-learsy/obama-needs-raise-specter_b_621996.html#comments
I am 48 years old and have been looking for a job, any job, with no results and only one interview. I have gone back to college and in my 4th quarter of Pharmacy Technology. My unemployment check is my only source of income. I had worked 18 years at my employer when I got laid off. I didn't choose this and I don't want to draw unemployment any longer than necessary, but right now there is still nothing to be found. I just hope that the people of Washington can wake up to reality and see that they need to pass this ASAP. We are not some dollar sign somewhere, we are Americans.
Jill, thank you! I don't like being in this situation, I feel worthless and despair. I had to borrow money yesterday from my mother just to buy a gallon of milk, now that is sad. I would love nothing more than to be able to go back to work! I hope and pray daily for things to get better! I just wish those in Washington, the one's that can afford to take a vacation, could just live with us in the "real world", then maybe they would understand what it's like to try to live on nothing.
Ben Nelson is a jackass and represents the interests of his constituents quite well. Who would re-elect this boot-licking skunk and fat, phony statesman? Oh, that's right! The same people who would recruit illegals to their packing plants and then vote to lynch them, figuratively speaking. Does anyone know the state bird of Nebraska? I think it's the albatross but I'm not sure. Maybe the turkey vulture?
Looking at all the Democratic politicians who post their rants on FluffyPost, I strongly suspect that there are secret meetings between the owners of that site and the politicians to post all their political crap along with the other celebrity garbage to keep the site's audience distracted. The distraction is similar to the rightwinger hosts and sites keeping their kooky base as distracted as can be.
With regards to the drones, the telephone companies are also connected to the operation and they are working hard on improving their remote connectivity. Since I work as a network operator, I was able to get access to finding out why they really wanted to test their network ranges and extensions and it isn't pretty. I tried to question the meaning of this and after tough dispute, I was punished by being assigned to noon to late evening shifts only for 6 weeks. I guess my company feared ending up like Qwest did when that company refused to spy for NSA so they took the cowardly route. I'll be out of my punishment by mid July. Most people are unaware of the connections between Big Telco and Big Military even on drones. We might be too late to stop these companies and the military from carrying out their drone attack plans.
How can they be "deficit hawks" and (war) hawks at the same time? One hand open, the other tight-fisted. You'd think their heads would explode; mine is about to. What a wonderful chance to help so many people, and they openly oppose it, tearing away large chunks until very little is left, and clearly wishing that nothing be left in the bill.
Who will pay the taxes when there are fewer and fewer jobs? The economy is already too far in the hole; we can only conclude that Congress contains some really dumb people and that the PTB are truly going to run the country into the ground, turning it into a wasteland while they continue to pillage and rape globally. Sociopathic megalomaniacs. Labelling them gives me no pleasure. I just want to understand what's really going on and further, what we can do about it.
Thank goodness there won't be any problem passing a $33 Billion dollar budget "supplemental" in order to keep killing nine year old girls in Afghanistan. Just a matter of priorities, you understand. After all, some of those "contractors" aka mercenaries get up to a thousand dollars a day. Killing children ain't cheap.
Former General Barry McCaffery is on MSNBC right now. He just stated that the USA is spending $25.4 Billion a month on Afghanistan. That's over $300 Billion a year. Killing children ain't cheap. Oh, Barry just said that it's all necessary because Afghanistan has strategic interest for the USA. So we are strategically killing children. Now it all makes sense.
Money is made up from thin air (fiat), then values are attached to it as well as an instantaneous debt.
There's no problem at all in creating literally trillions of imaginary money and then handing that to the banks, and to give billions for the USA's military (the biggest military in the world even larger than all other countries combined), and of course there's literally pallet loads of physical money that's able to be shipped to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan where it's used for bribes and payoffs.
Money flows like wine into the mouths of politicians and anyone else with their bloated bodies wallowing in the public gravy train taking it all and demanding more.
And yet the poor honest Joes and Janes, the people actually physically working and slaving away, those who barely can get by these days but who are offered a look up at a carrot dangled every so often in front of them to keep them slogging away, those are the people who are actually suffering, not the office-johnnies playing roulette with their money who sit back and laugh at others sufferings and desperate situations just as long as they're still richly living it up.
It's expected that the sooner those Joes & Janes can die off then the sooner their children can step in to take their place as wage slaves without a pause, or perhaps they could fervently sign into the military with such damaged ingrained thoughts as 'patriotism', serving ones country, and such other utter propaganda.
And just remember what they say, that anyone who's lost their job has only themselves to blame. Besides, there's plenty more jobs for willing workers and not layabouts, jobs for people who REALLY want to work.
They'd suggest that if you feel down then invest in some religion which is something completely cheap, intangible and meaningless, used by governments worldwide to keep the masses placated. With religions built-in factor of conditioning minds especially to believing in fairy tales and not asking questions, it's a worthy tonic and much cheaper than producing vodka for the same purposes.
If all else fails, or you think you're failing or a failure, then all those people way above you expect you to do the honorable thing and kill yourself but do so cheaply and don't damage the infrastructure or take down too many other wage slaves which are needed to perpetuate the system. -- Better yet, join the military and they can kill two birds with one stone.
Yes, it's an amazing system and bunch of systems, mental conditioning and perceived mindsets beavering away to keep the system alive and working no matter what, even to the utter detriment of those who serve it.
Perhaps it's time you thought about letting all that crap go once and for all?
http://thevenusproject.com/
Disgusting - Totally Disgusting !
Trillions for Wall Street - Trillions for the MIC - Unemployment and Benefit Cuts for Millions of Americans.
Congress is a Sham - Democracy is an Illusion - We are Fucked !
We must UNITE! I voted for Obama. He had an impossible mission: to stop the self destruction of our country that began with NAFTA and continued with poor, non-existent, or reduced regulation and monitoring of: jobs leaving the country, financial time-bombs like derivatives, greedy big business, banks, credit card and mortgage companies, health insurance companies, and oil companies.
Why must we still change health insurance companies every time we change jobs? Lots of work for everyone and no benefit from it! It was OK back when a job could last most of your life, but it doesn't make any sense NOW. It's time for a change!
Why is our present government not doing things when they are needed, but wait until after it is too late to be effective? Every time my unemployment benefit is delayed or I get that partial payment between tiers it causes some bills to be paid late and then I owe even more money for the late fee! If I don't pay my rent by July 5 I'll have to pay a $50 late fee that will just reduce the effectiveness of my unemployment check. Multiply the late fees by several million people and you can see that waiting to pass the unemployment extension is probably costing our government tens of millions of dollars in our late fees!!
I don't want our government run by Democrats or Republicans! I want to elect AMERICAN CITIZENS who care about our country! And yes, I think they should have a 1 term limit! (Maybe 2 terms for the President.)
Right now I think the only thing we unemployed can do to get a message across to our government is to make ourselves physically visible by encouraging ALL unemployed people to make an UNEMPLOYED sign and go out in public wearing it on a certain day of the week (or every day of the week) so everyone can see just how many of us there are! THAT'S IT!!!!
So even though the news agencies are ignoring us maybe they will notice if we do this! I'm sure if I saw someone wearing an UNEMPLOYED sign on their shirt in public I would do it too! Maybe I'll be the first to do it!
Apparently this bill has been starved down to about 30 billion from a reasonably healthy start of 190 billion. At this point, I have serious doubts about whether this will be of much use... passing more half-measures and 5-minute fixes is not what people need right now.
I used to ask myself what is wrong with conservatives (mainly Repubs but certainly also the Repubs-in-Disguise ConDems) that they simply do not understand why extending UI should be an emergency action, regardless of any debt/deficit hysteria. I think I finally figured it out, though: The reason that this is simply not of any importance or urgency for them is that they all have the utmost disdain for any serf who needs a job/paycheck to survive. They have no idea what it is like to work for a wage, and to really need the pay, because they are part of the permanent aristocracy that maintains a stranglehold on wealth, and simply live off of their 'investments,' or more appropriately, their Ponzi Scheme racketeering profits. They have no respect, or concern, for those without the kind of wealth that makes such things as 'having a job, looking for work, earning a living,' obsolete. They and theirs have been so long in this permanent aristocracy now that they have completely forgotten about the concept altogether.
All good posts below. Having been unemployed for nearly 2 years, here in Florida, where more jobs are leaving everyday, the number of resumes I have sent out have netted me one interview in that time. Having worked 25 years in new home construction, the prospects are not good. I'm 63 years old and no one wants an old person, when they can get a young one for half the wages. My unemployment ran out, but I have friends who are still trying to hang on to their homes, and now the end is in sight because of the loss of benefits. The more who lose their paltry benefits, the less money goes into our already faltering economy and the gulf tragedy only makes things down here worse, if that's possible. My county, Marion Co., has unemployment at 14%, which translates to about 28% when you add all the ones who have already fallen off the records. Damn the deficit, we need work and soon, people are desperate and want to work. I can't even afford to move. I want to wring their fat necks and watch their eyeballs bulge out!
face it the CONservatives want the US to fail so they
can make slaves of us all
Not a word about this congressional criminality on this evening's CBS Evening News. There was a "human interest" followup story on how the recession is affecting the lives of a couple of teenage girls, but nothing tying their problems to the political failures of Washington.
I guess Wimbledon is more important.
Another aspect of this debacle is the cutback on Medicare payments to doctors, some of whom will stop taking Medicare patients. Around ten percent of my Social Security check is deducted for Medicare premiums. Looks like a back-door way to increase Medicare coffers while denying access to medical care. Neat! (Unaswered in the article is whether these doctor cutbacks include "fee-for-service" providers like overcharging x-ray units...)
"First kill all the (Congressional) lawyers."
(---Shakespeare)
-30-
CBS was already going the way of CNN once Dan Rather got replaced by Bob Shieffer a long time ago. I thought that other than ESPN, Wimbledon gets shown on the weekends only. I might have to ask to have a TV at work just to check CBS out in the evenings since I do noon to late evening shifts.
The Republican plan is coming together.
Step 1: GWB runs the debt to staggering proportions tying the hands of any future president.
Step 2: GWB cuts taxes. Starve government until it can be drowned in the bathtub.
Step 3: Deregulate the 20th Century Robber Barons so they can get mega rich while bringing down the economy.
Step 4: Watch it all burn, all the while taking delight that the only tool that can save us - deficit spending - is almost out of the question.
Obama will go down as a failure.
American Citizens will become wage slaves to service the public/private/corporate debt that has been run up. (Think Tiny Tim begging for another scrap... that is where we will all be!)
The filthy rich walk away with a pile of money that will make 19th Century Robber Barons look like pikers.
Their plan is coming to fruition and they were helped by Republicans AND Democrats who are all complicit in the dismantling of the American Middle Class.
Vote them all out.
"Democratic leaders in the Senate have apparently failed to win enough support to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to help the poor, the old and the jobless, despite making a series of cuts to the measure over the past several weeks to appease deficit hawks. "
To hell with filibuster excuses. Just use the blithering simple majority thing and quit worrying about "looking too extreme". But why should they bother when they probably have lucrative job offers after they leave, courtesy of their corporate masters? Time is up Democratic Party. No more excuses and I'm voting for Midge Potts, Green Party candidate for US Senator of MO and if they results in Roy Blunt getting elected, then too bad because I'm not going to be one of those to let the Democratic Party make asses out of us.
"Both chambers of Congress had already passed the measure, deficit spending and all, but when it came time to combine the bills in May, conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans lost their previous will to help the economy and forced party leaders to begin the nickel-and-dime process of trimming the bill. "
Pure baloney ! They didn't have a will to help the Main Street economy in the first place. They were just playing "arrange and pretend". They have a bloody "heart" for Wall Street but are none for Main Street. They had this nickel-and-diming all planned out ahead of time and I think they knew what was happening just like business. It was all an insider's job all along and they know it. Blithering crummy political dogs in Washington just waiting to get their corporate "juicy steak" once they're done abusing power to wreck what's left of Main Street and make Wall Street a bigger corporate welfare queen !!
Whether it was planned out or not is not the question. What is true is that the reconciliation rules outlining the parameters of the bill and its' passage were written down months ago, voted on and agreed to. They required 60 votes for passage. The Dems and Obama are lying as usual about obstructionists on the Republican side. The real story is the Dems, with Ohbummer, set the bar artificially high. The rules could of been set to require only a simple majority of 51 votes. This is just another example of The Establishment confusing and screwing the citizens over. Their continuing agenda is quite simple: steal our minds and money and then bending us like willow branches any way they want. Do you feel like a chair yet?
"Do you feel like a chair yet?"
Last year in August, my niece brought me to this site and Alternet to correct my naive understanding of politics. Last year at this time, I still thought that the Democrats were liberal and still trying to work things out and believing that people were being too harsh with Obama. It was only when I finally decided to listen to her and stop putting her in tears with my stupid remarks on Nader being unelectable and Democrats being our only hope for liberal that I slowly came to realize that I and millions of us clinging to the Democratic Party are just as much a bunch of asses just like the conservative asses clinging to the Republican Party. The last time I voted for a third party was 1980 for John Anderson but my next time will be this November for Midge Potts, Green Party candidate for Senator of MO, thanks to getting it. I used to be neutral minded and too easily bendable on the mind but I think it's time I let my heart do some of the thinking for a change. I can only hope that millions of others will consider do likewise.
I never thought I would see the day when the government would sentence its OWN people to death. Cause that is what they are doing. When U take away EVERYTHING and that is what they have done. It is the end of the month and I have no money for bills. I'm afraid everything will be cut off in a week or 2. The only thing I believe I will be ok with is food. I guess I will need to apply for stamps now.
U know I have sent out at least 10 applications and resumes every week for almost 2 years. Its seems like the longer u are out of work the less interviews u get called for. But out of almost 1024 applications sent I was called for maybe 3 interviews. College Grad with over 15yrs experience.
Wow. I gotta figure something out and fast. Or I will be livin in the street in about a month.
Good luck everyone. Were gonna need it.
I have faced similar hell with unemployment in the past and feel terribly sorry for what you are going through. It disgusts me that people in this country make a big hoot about America having lower unemployment compared to Europe but what they don't tell us is that in America, once unemployed they're treated like dirt. I heard that elsewhere, the unemployed generally get to take time off and socialize and that in turn helps them find something good or better for their next job. Individualism gone too far and greed are bleeding this country to death and must stop. Good luck to you too.
Well, the army is still looking for a few good men...and women.
Seems like those drones are being moved to the "Mexican border" just in time. Once the slow drip is removed from those millions of people, there will be hell to pay. Since they're running out of wedding parties in Pakistan, it's time to start with the unemployment line in the US.