Now Senate Democrats Want to Cut Unemployment Benefits to Pay for Them!

Fresh and discouraging news about the Senate's ongoing debate over how to pay for the desperately needed unemployment benefits Extender's Bill: Unwilling to entertain several amendments proposed by Senate Republicans to completely pay for the unemployment benefits extension and even cut the deficit by $55 billion dollars, Senate Democrats ended the day considering whether one good way to pay for the extended unemployment benefits might be - to cut them!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) is expected to bring the bill to the floor for a vote tomorrow morning but, as of this writing, was still not certain he would have the votes to pass it as now even a number of Democrats are reticent about adding more to the already unprecedented national deficit.

As I reported earlier (See "Senate Still Seeking 60 Votes ..."), Senate Republicans are in favor of extending benefits deadlines for the unemployed as long as the bill is paid for and they have even proposed amendments to do so. Among the proposed ideas is using $38 billion dollars of unallocated and unused 2009 stimulus funds.

Also among the Republicans' ideas are things such as freezing federal salaries and reducing congressional members' office budgets by a one-time $100 million, selling off unnecessary federal property and an across the board 5% cut in government spending for most agencies - ideas that would no doubt inconvenience the Congressmen and women voting on the unemployment legislation. Another part of the plan would be to collect $3 bilion from federal government employees - for unpaid income taxes! (See FoxNews.com)

Apparently the idea of tightening their own belts a little did not appeal to the Democrats, however, as they continued looking for other ways to get the votes. Debate did, however, begin to gain some traction at the suggestion by Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) to scrap the Federal Additional Compensation program's $25 per weekly unemployment subsidy. (See Huffington Post: Senate Democrats Looking To Cut $25 Per Week From Unemployment Checks.) The FAC stimulus money was added to unemployment benefits nationwide as a result of the 2009 Stimulus Bill.

I don't know about you, but $100 per month is a lot of money when you're trying to support a family on nothing but an unemployment check. And while I'm grateful for my unemployment benefits and would rather it continue a $100 shorter than it had been, rather than not continue at all, it doesn't seem to me that that is the true choice.

Senate Democrats have been given a way to pay for the unemployment benefits Extenders Bill by the Republicans. Certainly as the entire nation is suffering from this recession, the Democrats, as our representatives, should have the decency to be willing to cut back their ridiculous spending just a little. Surely, one hundred dollars to a jobless individual or family is more critical than 5% of a government office's annual expenditures. If the Democrats in Congress are so concerned about their constituents, rather than their own comfort, their own special interests and their own power, perhaps they should act accordingly.

Tell Congress to vote for the Unemployment Benefits Extenders Bill as well as the Republican's amendments paying for our unemployment benefits. Go to "Tell Congress to Pass Tier 5 Unemployment Benefits" for a comprehensive contact list of lawmakers.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/15/senate-democrats-looking_n_613172.html?view=print

http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/14/crucial-vote-set-on-unemployment-benefits-tax-credit-extensions-bill-failure-possible/