2010 Unemployment Extensions - Obama Signs Unemployment Benefits Extension Bill

President Obama just signed the unemployment benefits extension bill into law.

It has been a long seven weeks. While the House managed to pass the original H.R. 4213 "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010" or "Tax Extenders" and send it up to the Senate almost two months ago, disagreement over the many issues contained in the bill as well as the overall price tag caused it to get bogged down in the Upper Chamber.

While Republicans offered various amended "Tax Extender" bills which included full restoration and extension of UI benefits for the jobless while fully paying for the legislation, the Democrats insisted that everything BUT unemployment benefits should be paid for, causing a stalemate in the Senate.

The Democrats then tried to lure Republicans to their side by cutting costs - even cutting the UI benefits their bill would provide to the unemployed. They removed Cobra extensions and even the $25 per week FAC "stimulus" addition to bring the overall cost of unemployment extensions down to $34 billion.

While the Republicans had not wanted to reduce unemployment benefits, they remained determined to not add any more to the deficit as it had grown so large over the past 18 months. The nearly 1.7 trillion dollar deficit, nearly four times what President Obama "inherited" just a year and a half ago, has become a major concern to most Americans, businesses and many economists. Indeed, it has become one of the major impediments to new job creation as businesses hold back over a trillion dollars of capital in fear of anticipated major tax hikes or inflation or both, which will be necessary to pay for this massive debt.

But the Democrats, unwilling to spend any of the unallocated funds from the failed 2009 "stimulus" bill or to trim the fat from Congressional budges or other government spending as the Republicans repeatedly proposed, refused to pass or sometimes even entertain unemployment extension bills that would have restored full unemployment benefits to the jobless.

So the UI extension bill bogged down in the Senate, stalemated over how to pay for it.

At long last, after being implored to do so by Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) finally separated the issue of unemployment extensions from the larger bill. By removing many other contentious provisions from UI extensions, Senators Snowe and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were able to see their way clear to vote for the bill, even though it would still add to the deficit.

Another Republican, Senator George Voinovich (Ohio) offered to add his votes to the yeas as well, if Harry Reid would only compromise and pay down just one half of the cost of the unemployment extensions bill. Harry Reid stiff refused, however, and the cloture vote failed again, this time by just one vote.

So, on that day, June 30, 2010, with another fully paid for UI extension bill that provided all of our benefits, including the $25 per week in FAC stimulus money, waiting to be brought to the floor and another in a series of offers by the Republicans to at least provide the unemployed with benefits for another month to two months while they Senate continued to haggle, Harry Reid chose, instead, to turn all of the Republican proposals down and to adjourn the Senate for the 12 day 4^th of July recess.

In the meantime, millions of Americans ran out of benefits before an unemployment extension bill could make it through this Senate deadlock. Over the 4^th of July holiday, hundreds of thousands more lost their lifeline. Many families could barely hold on. Many more could not make it any longer and have seen their utilities cut off, their homes or apartments lost, their children going hungry.

At last, though, the Senate reconvened on July 12. Still waiting on a replacement for the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Virg.) to give them the 60^th vote they needed to pass cloture on an unemployment extension bill that added to the deficit rather than have to succumb to one of the more generous and fiscally responsible unemployment extension proposals offered by the Republicans, the Democrats finally passed cloture in the Senate on their unemployment extension bill.

That unemployment extension bill, once approved in the Senate last night, was approved in the House today. It then went up to the White House where the president was, fortunately, available to sign it expeditiously.

So now, after all this time and nearly 3 million jobless Americans having lost their benefits, the unemployment extension bill has been signed into law today, July 22.

Next, state EDD offices will begin calculating arrearages, cutting checks for retroactive unemployment benefits and granting unemployment extensions to the next tier for many who had run out of UI benefits over the past two months.

Now, millions of Americans can breath a collective sigh of relief. But we will not be able to get too comfortable. These extensions will only take some until the end of November when this extension also runs out. In the meantime, millions more will exhaust their ninety-nine weeks of unemployment benefits, with no help on the horizon. And with jobs not coming back and the economy only projected to get worse because of ongoing failed and misguided policies, most of the unemployed will be out of luck and right back where we've been these past few months all over again.

So enjoy a few days rest with the unemployment extensions back in place temporarily. But be prepared for a fight for a Tier 5 unemployment benefits extension - or replacing this misguided group of politicians so we can get this country back on the right track. Rest up now ... We're going to need it.

Source:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38362070/ns/business-stocks_and_economy