Snow (R-ME) and Collins(R-ME) join Senate Democrats in Vote to Extend Unemployment Benefits – For 3 Months

The two Republican Maine Senators, Olympia Snow and Susan Collins, aremost often aligned with the Democrats on issues that divide the two major political parties – in the case of extending unemployment benefits for three months, voted as predicted – with the Democrats. As Nancy Pelosi touted the economic stimulus benefits of unemployment benefits one headline that has drawn attention – “Congress Prolongs Agony by Extending Unemployment Benefits” speaks volumes. In a year where almost every seat in Congress is up for reelection and the Democrat party stands to lose the majority, the extension of Unemployment benefits to 2.5 Million unemployed, is one of the largest political gambles of late.

News articles on the subject invariably point to the Republicans as obstructing millions from receiving extended benefits, using such adjectives as ”stubborn” (AP), while the Democrats, to insure the necessary vote, hastily swore in the temporary replacement for Robert Byrd, Carte Goodwin, D-WV in order to get the job done.

Herein lays the problem, the benefits are temporary and the cost of which will be added to the deficit. The Republicans, in practice, were attempting to force the Democrat majority to use other means, including unspent stimulus funds, in order to pay for the benefits, rather than add additional debt to the taxpayer. The Democrats countered that the Stimulus funds were to be used to create jobs (as yet those jobs created are at inflated salaries, and limited in scope), while Speaker Pelosi, infamously countered that unemployment benefits are a stimulus – therefore, no matter how one sliced it, the Democrats were determined to pass the extension in order to gain the possible 2.5 million much needed votes and at the same time paint the Republicans as opposed to extending a lifeline to the unemployed.

There are pros and cons to the extension as regards to the necessity and overall economic impact from the aforementioned “Congress Prolongs Agony by Extending Unemployment Benefits”. Citing findings from the Heritage Foundation, the article notes:

According to Heritage research:
o Extending either the amount or the duration of unemployment benefits increases the length of time that workers remain unemployed.
o Roughly one-third of workers receiving unemployment benefits find work immediately once their benefits expire. This happens both when unemployment is high and when unemployment is low, said a report in Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
o Each 13-week extension of benefits increases the average length of time workers receiving benefits stay unemployed by approximately two weeks.
o Families respond to unemployment benefits by reducing other income. Research in the Journal of Labor Economics found that wives’ earnings fall by between 36 and 73 cents for each dollar of benefits married men receive.

Here’s an interesting forum post that backs up the Heritage Foundation findings:

“Gentex, my main customer, has billboards on the highway hours away, ads on busses, ads in magazines and online. Unemployment is over 16% and growing, but it's such a good deal to be unemployed, they can't find enough workers. Frustrating.”

On one hand, local businesses that need to hire, cannot find workers, and/or as one New York Times article noted factories are ready to hire, however, they cannot find skilled employees.

The question, remains, however, where those 4.3 million American’s who have been out of work for more than 52 weeks” (Dept. of Labor cited in article as the source) will find work that suits them. The fact that large business, in general, has literally gone into hiding, due to a lack of confidence the Obama administration’s policies, and general uncertainty regarding the economy has a hiring freeze in place, even though the cash is available to resume hiring is also frustrating.

Therefore, we have a Congress and administration in place that will spend at will to conveniently supply aid and comfort to millions in the form of entitlements, with some business losing out as they cannot find employees, and others pushed to the brink (larger business) insuring that no large-scale hiring will take place, either scenario insures that without workers, there will be fewer taxes generated in order to pay for those entitlements.

It is assumed that the average voter will not notice that the “compassion of the Democrats” in passing the unemployment must, at some point, come to an abrupt end, with no way to continue to pay due to a continually reduced tax base. That assumption did not work 30 years ago under President Jimmy Carter, and, as the present administration has done its best to follow Carter’s example with the like result, it follows that with growing public angst, regardless of passing unemployment extensions, or berating the opposition by telling half truths, Congress and possibly the Senate will change political hands – at which point, historically speaking, businesses may grow less leery, begin to hire, and get the economy back on foot, however recovery from Carter policy was slow and painful – and voters took notice, well past the mid-term and into the general election.