"Reid pushes to extend jobless, health benefits; $100b proposal also helps states pay Medicaid bill" by Andrew Taylor, Associated Press | February 24, 2010
WASHINGTON - There is nothing new in the emerging measure to spur job growth.
Then it isn't a jobs bill, is it?
Instead, it would extend provisions that senators in both parties say have generally been helpful to the economy....
Meaning it is EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE that it must BORROW.
The most costly piece of the measure would continue to provide additional weeks of benefits to jobless people whose unemployment insurance would otherwise expire.
Yes, extending unemployment for nearly two years has been helpful to the economy(?) -- especially as millions more have been added to the rolls.
They have been extended several times by Congress since June 2008. The core benefit is 26 weeks, with up to 20 additional weeks in states with high unemployment....
I love the obfuscation over the duration and extensions, MSM.
I'll give them another chance:
"Senate Democrats offer jobs measures; House members may want a more ambitious plan" by Andrew Taylor, Associated Press | February 25, 2010
WASHINGTON - House members, however, feel pressure to pass it anyway to score a win for President Obama and the Democratic Party, which has dropped in opinion polls and could face losses in midterm elections.
Yeah, WHO CARES if it is bad legislation or more debt, the DemocraPs need a POLITICAL VICTORY!
It’s the first major bill to pass the Senate since the Christmas Eve passage of a deeply controversial health care bill and the subsequent election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown, which demonstrated the Democrats’ falling standing even among voters who tend to back them.
Yeah, well, when they TURN INTO CORPORATIST CANDIDATES and are the SAME as REPUGLICANS, what are we supposed to do?
And make that tended for me. Those days are long gone.
Democrats promise additional measures to create jobs, including help for small businesses having trouble getting loans, aid for cash-strapped state governments, and subsidies for people who make their homes more energy efficient. But worrisome budget deficits could make future measures difficult to pass....
You saw the top of this post, right?
Besides, why worry?
You aren't getting the extensions anyway because of some dick Repug.
"Unemployment benefits at risk; Ky. Republican stalls Senate bill" by Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press | February 27, 2010
WASHINGTON - The Senate failed to extend programs for laid-off workers yesterday, jeopardizing unemployment benefits scheduled to expire tomorrow.
The benefits are part of a larger package of government programs, from highway funding to loans for small businesses, set to expire because senators couldn’t agree on how to pay for them.
The House passed a bill Thursday extending the programs for one month while lawmakers consider how to address the issues long term. Senate Democrats repeatedly tried to follow suit Thursday night and yesterday morning, but they couldn’t overcome the objections of a single lawmaker, Republican Jim Bunning of Kentucky, that the $10 billion bill would add to the budget deficit.
Then FILIBUSTER the WAR SPENDING, Jim!
And WHERE were the BRAVE DEMOCRAT SOULS all these years when Repugs held sway in the Senate, huh?
Heck, where is the socialist Sanders when you really need him?
The bill would extend unemployment payments to laid-off workers and provide them with subsidies to help pay health premiums through the COBRA program. It would extend funding for highway projects and spare doctors from a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments. It would also extend a small-business loan program, the National Flood Insurance Program, and the copyright license used by satellite television providers. Senators said more than a million rural viewers would not be able to watch local stations on their systems without an extension.
Now THAT will get the American people to stir.
The dispute leaves the programs in limbo as the Senate struggles to overcome partisan bickering over a budget deficit projected to hit a record $1.56 trillion this year.
Related: Democrat's Deficit
Democrats are eager to address unemployment, with the jobless rate just under 10 percent and congressional elections looming in November.
Related: The Angry America
Yeah, now they are eager to address issues.
Some Republicans, however, are not eager to accommodate.
At issue are the several tiers of unemployment insurance available to workers whose initial 26 weeks of benefits have expired. The federal government funds several types of extensions for people who have been jobless for longer than that.
For how long exactly, MSM (try 99 weeks, readers), and why the obfuscation?
The cutoff wouldn’t affect most people receiving extended benefits, said Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project. Instead, people would be prevented from obtaining new benefit extensions. About 1.1 million people could lose benefits in the unlikely event the impasse lasts through March.
But banks got their money the next day.
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