On the way to emergency legislation to give yet another extension of the federal extended unemployment benefits, which include the COBRA health insurance subsidy, the upper chamber of the Senate was thrown a high flying curve ball by Senator Jim Bunning, (R:KY). Bunning has apparently drawn a line in the sand due to what is known as the "paygo" rule, which is aimed at fiscal responsibility, claiming this new $10 billion needs to be paid for before being enacted.
Big Government has more on the rule.
While Democrats, such as Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, (D:IL), who is just horrendous, are boiling mad at Bunning, his own party is not backing him either. Bunning has so upset the left that some unemployment groups want Bunning, a towering pitcher and who threw a perfect game in 1964 for the Philadelphia Phillies, removed from the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
The extension of job benefits is quite a problem, and with the federal government quickly running out of money, these extensions cannot just be rubber stamped. Although the leaders of Congress fail to recognize it, they are in large measure responsible for the events that led to this dangerous level of unemployment (see previous post) and are impeding the process of recovery by the implementation of idiotic economic policy.
I frequently stop in a 7-11 for a Coca Cola (KO:NYSE) where across the street sits an unemployment and Social Security building. Recently, the parking lot of the 7-11 has been has been on overflow as the overwhelming amount of visitors from across the street seek parking. The other day, I witnessed a Caucasian would be rapper, far from short on jewelry, who jumped out of his Cadillac and proceeded to join the security patrolled group of folks waiting in line in the parking lot.
Certainly, there many workers who are actively searching for a decent job, finding little if anything to work with. Others, are gaming the system and want to ride for free on the back of the federal government, and us taxpayers. Unfortunately, it appears the governmental leaders are attempting to crash the system, so therefore a significant decrease in the unemployment rate is not on the horizon.
The federal government is not in a position to fail to extend these benefits, so Congress will get it done one way or another retroactive to today. It is appropriate for someone, in this case Bunning, to call out the Congress for their hypocrisy. It certainly seems the Obama administration and the Congress feel compelled to continue to push their socialistic agenda, with items like Cap and Trade and Health Care reform, rather than focus on the extremely serious problems at hand in our economy. They appear willing to try every concept involving the intervention of our government into the marketplace but seem unwilling to consider free market based avenues, which, incidentally, will work.
Look for the situation to fail to improve, and we are likely looking at another leg down. With the expiration of the Bush tax cuts slated for 2011, investors are taking action now which could cause 2011 to be much worse than anticipated. Someone once said, "It's the economy stupid". It would serve President Obama, and the leaders of our Congress to listen to the American people, and a few like Bunning, for once. A jobs summit with union leaders and Al Sharpton is simply not gonna cut it, as if this would be news to anyone outside of Washington.
