2010 Unemployment Extensions - Elephants and Donkeys Playing Chicken

With unemployment benefits extensions stalemated in the Senate for weeks now, 1.2 million jobless Americans are now already without benefits. That number is said to climb to nearly 1.7 million by the end of the week, just as America - and Congress - goes off to enjoy the Fourth of July weekend and Congressional "recess".

The House failed to pass an emergency standalone unemployment benefit extension today, with both Republicans and Democrats voting against the bill. It is believed the bill will be voted on again tomorrow when only a simple majority, rather than a two thirds vote, will be necessary. With that, the bill is expected to pass.

Nevertheless, if the standalone unemployment benefits extension bill that the House sends over is still not "offset" or paid for, it still may not garner the 60 votes necessary for passage in the Senate. Three such bills have already failed there, the last one by three votes. One Republican Senator, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has stated she would cross party lines and vote for an unpaid emergency unemployment extension standalone. But still two more Republican votes will still be needed. And there are no guarantees of that. Sending up such a bill, then, seems more a ploy to continue to accuse the Republicans of being uncaring than a genuine concern for the unemployed.

So why are the Democrats so adamant to NOT offset the cost of the unemployment benefits extensions that millions of jobless Americans so desperately need? The Republicans have repeatedly said they are in favor of extending unemployment benefits for the jobless and have even provided four opportunities to do so. They have only insisted that these benefits be paid for, rather than continuing to harm the nation and the economy by adding even more to the already unsustainable national deficit.

The Republicans have even provided detailed ways to cut unnecessary spending and to use unallocated stimulus funds to offset UI extension costs. (Read: "Why Did the Republicans Really Say No?" for a detailed look at Republican suggestions.) So why, oh why, will the Democrats not just take some of these ideas, tighten their belts just a tad like the rest of us have been forced to (and more than just a tad) and introduce an unemployment benefits extension bill that will help the economy, reduce the deficit and actually be sure to be passed and get us our benefits ASAP?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) has said publicly that he does not want to separate the unemployment benefits extension provisions from the larger bill that he wants passed and Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont) has elaborated that they would like to use the unemployment benefits provisions to put pressure on the Republicans to vote for the larger bill. The Democrats know that the Republicans do care about the unemployed but are holding out for a bill that is better for job creation, better for the deficit, better for America as a whole. So Reid and the Democrats are holding out on unemployment benefits to force the Republicans, because of their concern for the unemployed, to vote for a bill that they, the Republicans, believe will be bad for the country.

Whether one agrees with the thinking of one side or the other, it is clear that the two sides are playing chicken, holding out and holding out while the pressure continues for one of the parties to flinch.

So the question is, which will flinch first?

On the Republican side, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has broken ranks with her party and said she would vote for a standalone bill for unemployment benefits extensions, even if the bill was not paid for. (Read: "What's Next For the Bill?")

On the Democrat side, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal) has indicated that it may be time to look at paying for unemployment extensions. Representative Steny Hoyer today said he believed it was time to stop adding to the deficit. According to an article in Huffington Post, even Senator Harry Reid, back in action on the unemployment extension issue again after going home frustrated last week, is apparently making some murmurings about offsetting the cost of benefits.

So, it remains to be seen which side will flinch first, the Elephants or the Donkeys. The next few days may tell. If either the Stabinow Senate bill or a new emergency unemployment extension bill from the House doesn't pass in the Senate within the next few days, I suspect the Democrats may have to step up to the plate, break down and just pay for the spending.

I, for one, don't believe that we, the unemployed and suffering people of this country, should be the ones that have to suffer for this political game of chicken. I suggest the parties put up a paid for unemployment benefits extension plan and get it passed before the Fourth of July Recess. Then our Congressmen can come back all fresh from their little vacation and get back to haggling and blaming over the other issues in the bill - without having to step over us and our homeless families begging on the steps of the Capitol.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/29/unemployment-benefits-bil_n_629731.html