Democrats Are Fighting To Strengthen Economy While Republicans Resort to the Same Old Obamacare Playbook
SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE FIGHTING TO EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BECAUSE IT HELPS THE ECONOMY
Extension of UI is among the most efficient ways to stimulate the economy. According to Moody's Mark Zandi, each dollar spent on unemployment insurance benefits generates $1.55 in economic activity. The Congressional Budget Office listed "increasing aid to the unemployed" among the options of "policies that would have the largest effects on output and employment per dollar." Of the options CBO considered, UI provided the biggest boost to GDP per dollar spent, making it more efficient than a range of tax cuts and aid for households, businesses, and state governments. [Business Week, 12/12/13; CBO, 11/15/11; CBO, 11/28/12; Hamilton, 12/13]
The modest benefits provided by unemployment insurance kept 2.5 million Americans, including 600,000 children, out of poverty. At the height of the recession in 2009, nearly 1 million children were kept out of poverty because of UI. Without it and other forms assistance, the poverty rate would've been nearly twice as high in 2012. [White House, 12/13; CBPP, 11/6/13; NELP, 12/13; CBPP, 10/7/13; CBPP, 11/6/13]
BUT REPUBLICANS REFUSE TO ACT ON UNEMPLOYMENT
Politico: Jobless Benefits Not Top Priority to House GOP:
President Barack Obama's desire to renew emergency jobless benefits is running into a familiar avalanche of indifference: the House. House Republicans are showing little appetite, urgency and interest in extending the program, and are hinting that they are content to let the issue disappear if the Senate fails to pass its own legislation. [Politico, 1/9/14]
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA):
"I doubt we're going to have a vote [on unemployment insurance]," said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a Boehner ally. "You never say never, but a lot of Republicans think the big, bipartisan deal was the budget agreement, and we don't see anything else on the table." [Washington Post, 1/6/14]
New York Times: House Majority Whip Cantor (R-VA) "Playing Down Expectations For Any Major Legislative Achievements"
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, is quietly playing down expectations for any major legislative achievements in the final year of the 113th Congress, which passed fewer laws in its first year - 65 - than any single session on record. The calendar, drawn up to maximize campaign time ahead of midterm elections in November, is bare bones, with the House in session just 97 days before Election Day, the last on Oct. 2, and 112 days in all. [New York Times, 1/5/14]
AND KEEP PUSHING THE SAME OBAMACARE PLAYBOOK THAT CAUSED THE TEA PARTY REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): Republicans Must Use "Every Leverage Point Available" To Uproot The Law, "Fight Even Harder":
In an interview, he lambasted Senate Republicans for a lack of courage, compared himself to Ronald Reagan and vowed to "fight even harder...to repeal every word of Obamacare." Republicans must use "every leverage point available" to uproot the law, he said in a 45-minute discussion in which he mentioned Obamacare more than 40 times, calling it "a disaster" and "the No. 1 job killer in the country." Mr. Cruz said opportunities to scale back the law will come with a spending bill to fund federal agencies, which must be approved by Jan. 15, when the government's current funding expires, and the vote to be taken before the spring on raising the federal borrowing limit. [WSJ, 1/9/14]
Politico: House Back To Obamacare Votes in Week 1:
House Republicans are back in town - and immediately getting back to the business of anti-Obamacare votes. It's a notable change from the opening week of Congress in the past two years, when Republicans had somewhat relaxed their Obamacare game. In 2012, they were waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the law and in early 2013 they'd just watched President Barack Obama win reelection - after which Speaker John Boehner temporarily declared the Affordable Care Act "the law of the land." The repeal vote last year didn't come until May, and only after freshman Republicans clamored for it. [Politico, 1/9/14]
It's past time for Republicans to stop the same games and work with Democrats to keep the economy moving in the right direction.