Republicans Use Partisan Smarts on Unemployment Insurance Extensions.
While the lame duck Republican stand on extending unemployment benefits seems to back Demos into a corner, there is an exit route that would benefit us all. by Gene DeNardo
(libertarian)
Monday, November 8, 2010
In their first move since attaining a majority in the House, lame duck congressional republicans told lame duck democrats that they will not support extending unemployment benefits for up to two million Americans who have reached the endpoint of their current benefits without a reciprocal cut in the federal budget. [link edited for length]
Benefits to this point have been paid for, like most things, through deficit spending. Republicans want the extensions paid for through cuts in the remaining portion of the stimulus bill.
From the partisan standpoint, this is a brilliant move with a major caveat. Republicans have yet to realize their elected majority but are already feeling their oats from the "shellacking" the demos took. To take a no compromise stand against extending benefits, while in line with their longtime agenda of attacking welfare benefits, probably wouldn't garner them much support in the next election among those losing benefits or those who feel compassion for the unemployed. With official statistics reporting 14 million Americans out of work last month and unofficial statistics possibly at twice that number, the loss of possible future votes can add up fairly quickly.
By adding the contingency demand of equal cuts in the existing budget to pay for the benefit extension that could cost $5 billion a month, the repubs handily threw the ball into the demos court. They have the advantage of still being in the minority during lame duck time, so whatever route the demos decide to take, the repubs can claim they didn't have control of the steering wheel. In other words, they can stand on the same ground they have for the last two years and also the same platform that elected them into the majority a few days ago: the other side has control, so whatever bad happens, it's all their fault.
On the slim to zero chance that the democratic majority denies the unemployment benefit extension due to their unwillingness to cut the budget to pay for it, the republicans win twice. The unemployed can blame the demos for an end to their benefits and the entire nation looks to the demos as a party that will not cut the budget for any reason. If, and this possibility has much greater odds, they pass the extension through deficit spending, while the unemployed will look upon the demos in a positive light, most Americans will give up all hope that the liberals will ever be fiscally responsible in a time when they believe the nation sorely needs federal austerity measures.
But, there is a road that the demos can take while they still hold the house majority that is by far the "high" road and might be the best political move they have made since the onset of the economic crisis.
The demos can simply extend benefits and pay for them through cuts in the defense budget. The defense budget is approximately one trillion dollars, about equal to the amount collected from all federal income taxes. The new group of repubs is already planning to introduce spending cuts in the new congress. [link edited for length]
Yet, they somehow forgot in their plans to include any cuts in either the Defense Department or Homeland Security.
By paying for the extended benefits by cutting the most blotted, not to mention destructive sector of federal spending, the public may come to the conclusion that while they have known all along that liberals have more compassion than their political counterparts, there also may be something to their claim that they too are concerned about deficit spending. Obviously, to this point the public doesn't buy the liberal fiscal rhetoric.
The conservatives, still in the minority, would be powerless to stop such a bill and would end up on the short end of the stick. They would find it difficult to argue against the defense cuts, as the public would once again view them as the party that doesn't mind cutting other parts of the budget, such as education, transportation, the EPA and most likely the health care bill, as they already intend to do when they realize newfound congressional majority, but view the defense budget as a sacred cow. In other words, the public would see that despite the spin not much has changed in the grand ole party.
So, what seems like an excellent partisan move by the republicans could turn out to be an even better opportunity for the democrats to show the nation who has listened to the voters and who has the rhetoric but not the gumption to follow through. That is, if the liberals actually take the initiative to act in a positive manner to curtail a bit of the imperialistic destruction that the defense department is responsible for and that both parties have had a major role in supporting.
Over time, the current extension of unemployment benefits will total around $30 billion. That is, three tenths of a percent of the trillion dollar defense budget. What are we talking about here, a munitions closet full of bombs in a nation that probably has an arsenal larger than all the existing nations combined? It really doesn't seem like that difficult of a decision. Whether anyone in Congress will even entertain the idea remains to be seen.
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