ECONOMY Hurting Unemployed Americans For Political Purposes Last week, the Labor Department announced the good news that the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in March, "the most created in nearly three years." "We have some more work to do, but I think the economy is definitely getting stronger," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "We've made a lot of progress, we've got some work to do still and it's going to take some time to heal the damage." Included in the Labor Department's April 2 report was the fact that nearly 15 million Americans remain out of work, putting the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent. Unfortunately, beginning today, hundreds of thousands of these people will be losing their unemployment benefits. On March 25, Senate Republicans, led by Oklahoma's Tom Coburn, blocked "a $9 billion measure containing one-month extensions of unemployment insurance." His move had the backing of the GOP leadership, and now unemployed Americans will have to wait for relief until Congress returns from recess on April 12, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promises that extending benefits will be the top priority. "It is inexcusable and irresponsible for Republicans to once again block the extension of these benefits," said Reid. "Their excuses ring hollow to American workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are trying to put food on the table, pay the rent, and take their children to the doctors."
FISCAL 'RESPONSIBILITY' AT THE EXPENSE OF THE UNEMPLOYED: Coburn is taking a page directly out of the playbook of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY). In late February, Bunning objected to Reid's request for unanimous consent to approve a month-long extension of unemployment insurance benefits. Bunning finally relented after several Republicans began pressuring him. This time, however, the GOP leadership is standing solidly behind Coburn. In fact, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is even saying that Republicans should have given Bunning more support. "It took an act of courage like Sen. Bunning's to perhaps jolt people into the awareness of how bad it had really gotten," he said. The issue for Republicans is that no unemployment benefits should be extended unless Congress offsets the cost of the move by taking funds out of the stimulus. Coburn has actually tried to argue that out-of-work Americans will appreciate the GOP obstruction: "Hopefully they're not going to stay unemployed, and when they're reemployed, one of two things is going to happen: Either we're going to cut spending or somebody's going to raise their taxes." However, as the National Employment Law Project's Judy Conti explained, offsetting unemployment benefits is just bad economics. "Every economist from every side of the political spectrum will tell you that unemployment benefits are most stimulative when they are not offset," she said. "In the history of the unemployment program, we have never off set these programs." Democrats are arguing that the unemployment benefits extension is considered "emergency spending" and therefore not subject to paygo rules. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has also wondered why the GOP insists on fiscal responsibility only at the expense of the less well-off: "Under President Bush, under the Republican Congress, that went away pretty fast. By not paying for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, somehow, that was OK."
REAL EFFECTS: The expiration of unemployment benefits will hit Americans across the nation. The Labor Commissioner of Maine, where approximately 1,500 people will lose benefits this week, said that Congress' delay is an "administrative nightmare." New York is estimating that 46,000 residents will lose benefits. In Utah, where 1,300 people will see their benefits lapse today alone, the Department of Workforce Services is urging people to continue filing their weekly benefit claims in the hope that Congress will quickly pass an extension that will apply retroactively. However, it's not only unemployment benefits that Republicans are blocking; the package they're holding up also included extensions for COBRA health insurance subsidies, a delay on cuts in Medicare payments to doctors, poverty guidelines, and authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Record amounts of rainfall in the Northeast have brought the critical nature of the NFIP into focus in recent weeks. Flooding in Rhode Island was the worst it's been in 100 years, Boston saw its wettest March since record keeping began in 1872, while "bridges and highways have washed out from Maine to Connecticut and sewage systems have been overwhelmed to the point that families were asked to stop flushing toilets." National Guard troops were mobilized to aid residents in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. According to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, there are 5.5 million flood insurance policy holders in flood plains, homeowners who are now unable to renew their policies. If any of those homeowners were victims of the current flooding, they will "face complications" filing claims.
GOP BASHING UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS: Despite backing Coburn's blockade, Kyl on Sunday claimed that he supports "extending unemployment benefits because unemployment is so high." In fact, Roll Call reported last week that Republicans are planning to blame Democrats for the lapse in benefits, believing the issue "can play to their favor." Senate Republicans are pointing to the fact that House Democrats refused to go along with a plan agreed to by Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pass a one-week extension of the benefits. The House, however, had already voted for the one-month extension. Additionally, it's unclear whether Republicans actually want to renew the benefits at all. Last month, Kyl said that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working. ... [C]ontinuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work." Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has warned against turning the "safety net" of unemployment benefits into a "hammock," and Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) has said that the government may be creating "hobos." Americans aren't receiving unemployment benefits because they're lazy, despite the GOP's claims. In this recession, the "share of the long-term unemployed who have been out of work and pounding the pavement in search of a new job for at least six months is at a record-breaking 44.1 percent, or 6.5 million workers." A major reason for this long-term unemployment is that there just aren't enough jobs for the unemployed, with more than "six unemployed workers per job opening."
HEALTH CARE -- WELLPOINT CEO RECEIVES A 51 PERCENT INCREASE IN COMPENSATION: After moving to raise health care premiums by double digits in at least 11 states, health insurance giant WellPoint upped its top executive's compensation 51 percent in 2009. CEO Angela F. Braly received $13.1 million in total compensation, up from $8.7 million, while at least three other WellPoint executives enjoyed compensation increases up to 75 percent. Responding to inquires about the sudden increase in executive compensation, a WellPoint spokesman said the company "wants to attract and retain top talent." This surge in executive pay comes as WellPoint increased insurance premium rates 39 percent for 80,000 customers at California subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross, which set to go into effect in May. Internal e-mails indicated the rate increase was an attempt to raise revenues to "target profits of 7 percent." Brave New Films Political Director Leighton Woodhouse wrote that the compensation hike underscored the "two economic realities in America today -- one that Angela Braly occupies along with Wall Street CEOs, corporate lobbyists and corrupt politicians, and the other that the rest of us experience." "[I]f the executives at your insurance carrier decide they didn't make enough money last fiscal quarter, you better cough up thousands of dollars more this year or lose your coverage." At the same time, WellPoint spends more of its profits to "retain a CEO who had the wisdom to force hundreds of thousands of Californians off the company's rolls or into bankruptcy-threatening situations in order to buoy WellPoint stock prices."
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Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens told the New York Times that he will decide soon whether he will retire because "the president and the Senate need plenty of time to fill a vacancy." According to Bloomberg, the Obama administration is focusing on U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland as potential nominees to replace Stevens. Senate Republicans are preparing "for battle on financial regulatory reform," and "Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his team are exploring both opposition and bipartisan approaches to President Barack Obama's plans." "I think they're very much trying to figure out where they are," a lobbyist told Roll Call. "But if they can keep 41 together, the will is there to not just cede this over to the administration." More than 40 people were killed and over 80 were injured in attacks across northern Pakistan that targeted a political rally and the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility. Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with supports in parliament over the weekend "and berated them for having rejected his proposed new election law" that "would have given him the power to appoint all the members of the Electoral Complaints Commission." "If you and the international community pressure me more," Karzai reportedly said, "I swear that I am going to join the Taliban." New data from the Census Bureau finds that conservative-leaning states have some of the lowest response rates to the Census. Almost "48% of households in Texas and 53% in Alabama have mailed in their forms so far, for example, while the response rate in Massachusetts, a more-liberal state, is at about 57%." Conservatives have in recent months demonized the Census. "Labor unions, corporations and wealthy individuals are preparing to break spending records to influence the November elections," focusing increasingly on races for governor and state legislatures with a goal of winning "control of state governments ahead of the state-by-state process for redrawing congressional districts." Federal officials are pursuing an indictment of Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) on charges of "structuring" -- "a broad term that refers to the crime of creating financial transactions to evade reporting requirements," the Las Vegas Sun reports. Ensign allegedly laundered payments to his mistress through a trust controlled by his parents. Obama administration officials said Sunday that despite an optimistic jobs report last week, "the public shouldn't expect any dramatic improvement in the jobless rate, largely because of the effect of thousands of 'discouraged' unemployed people who have resumed their search for work." Some economists say the jobless rate "will not recede to pre-recession levels near 5 percent for four more years." "The Copenhagen climate summit, roundly dubbed a failure when it ended last year, may actually have sparked significant steps toward curbing global warming." Deutsche Bank attributed 154 new domestic policies to the summit. The Center for American Progress estimated the pledges would take the world two-thirds of the way to "climate safety." And finally: Tens of thousands of children will descend on the White House lawn this morning for the annual Easter Egg Roll. The anti-obesity themed event will include a "a non-stop dance station at the White House complete with hula hoops and dance workshops." But the goody bags will still contain sweets such as "Hershey's chocolates and Peeps."
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"Repeal and replace [the health care reform law] will be the slogan for the fall [election]."
-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 3/23/10
VERSUS
"[McConnell] acknowledged there is 'probably not' a chance of repealing the full measure while President Barack Obama is in office."
-- The Courier-Journal, 4/02/10
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