Republicans Block Unemployment Amidst Worst Recession in 70 Years
Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would extend unemployment benefits to the millions of workers jobless for more than six months. The bill also contained business tax cuts, and allowed hedge fund managers to be taxed like everyone else. Republicans and Ben Nelson, who considers himself a Democrat, say that they were worried about the deficit, but, of course, it was to make Obama look bad.
Republicans make the dubious argument that to add to the deficit right now is a bad thing. Most economists disagree. Unemployment benefits are the most stimulative type of government spending, because the unemployed spend that money. The GOP standard demands of tax cuts for the rich had the opposite effect: they don't need to spend it, and in a recession, hesitate to invest. Therefore, money that could be circulating through the economy is instead in some billionaire's offshore account, doing nothing.
Since I couldn't find much in the way of specifics of the business tax cuts, I'll go straight to the hedge fund managers.
As you may know, hedge funds invest very wealthy people's money. Hedge fund managers, who live in Connecticut and buy vineyards, can make can make hundreds of millions, sometimes over a billion dollars, a YEAR. But they were able to pay--I mean convince--Congress to allow them to treat their income as what's known as carried interest, on which they pay 15% tax. Meanwhile, an hourly worker pays double that in payroll taxes. The bill that the GOP killed today would've made these rich bastards pay their fair share. This naturally bothers the Republican Party, the party OF rich bastards.
In the end, we've saved $30 billion, but a state like PA will be laying off hundreds, maybe thousands of the teachers, firefighters, police, etc. that all politicians love to talk about, but won't lift a finger to help. Some of those people will lose their homes. Many will lose their health insurance, because no one I know can afford COBRA. States with Democratic leadership will raise taxes, Republican governors will cut services. The cascading effect makes the dreaded double dip recession all the more likely. GREAT JOB, CONGRESS.
