MacRaven - Dave Haxton's Weblog

Tue, 20 Jul 2010

US Senate clears hurdle to extend jobless help

Let's see if I understand this - the Democrats want to pass out money they don't have to the unemployed, saying it'll help keep'em on their feet and make them want to work. The Republicans say that if we keep giving them (the unemployed) any money, they won't want to work at all.

Until we talk about tax cuts - giving money they don't have to the wealthy among us will make them (the wealthy) want to work even harder. And the Democrats are saying that we should tax the shit out of the well-to-do because then they'll want to work harder to make up the difference.

What am I missing here?

The US Senate voted Tuesday to advance legislation restoring unemployment benefits to help some 2.5 million Americans ahead of November mid-term elections shaped by deep voter anger at high joblessness.

(link) [AFP]

/Politics | 4 writebacks | permanent link

On 7/22/2010 15:59:20
Fred Geisler wrote

Both Parties have been spending money faster than taxes take it in, for more than 75 years, so it's just a matter of degree and what they spend it on. The Democrats don't think that extending unemployment will make people want to work more. They just recognize that, with five people actively looking for work for every job opening, it's not the fault of the unemployed that they're failing to find work. Businesses aren't hiring, because they don't see the potential for more sales, and they won't see that potential until people get back to work. Folks receiving unemployment checks buy more stuff than folks without, so just having that teeny bit of income makes employment a little bigger than it would otherwise be. (When the Congressional Budget Office looked at how cost-effective the various parts of the stimulus package had been, they rated unemployment insurance as the part which had been most efficient, in terms of jobs-per-dollar cost to the government.) Nobody's unemployment checks are as much as 56% of what they had been earning while employed, and the checks top out at the equivalent of working a full week at $9.75/hour. (That's what someone who had made $18/hour and up would get.) There are very few who find such a reduction of income to not be a great hardship, which is why I think any Republicans who seriously believe unemployment keeps people from looking for work either are out of touch with the lives of most Americans, or need to be tested for controlled substances. A number of Democrats have noticed that the period when America's economy expanded the fastest (the '50s and '60s), were periods when the top marginal income tax rate was above 75%, and suggest a cause-and-effect relationship. I'm not sure I buy that, but I've not tried to tease out tax rates from everything else America was smarter about then than now.

On 7/22/2010 20:42:46
Dave H wrote

I know what you mean

Six of one or half a dozen of the other - I came very close to calling the major parties the Demlicans and Republocrats ... Thanks for the comment and Be well, Dave H.

On 8/4/2010 19:38:30
Chell wrote

I mostly am heartily nodding in agreement here, and love your blogging voice. There is a very important difference between social programs and tax cuts. The money, taxes, left by tax cuts in the wallets of its earners has already been earned. By those it stays with. The money going to social programs still has to come from somewhere. We're not spending money on tax cuts, we're letting earners keep their money. We're spending money on extended unemployment benefits.

On 8/4/2010 20:43:20
Dave H wrote

Taxation is Theft

and no mistake - I wouldn't be much of an anarchist if I thought otherwise. What I was pointing out was the insane notion seemingly held by the Republicans that rich people having more money is a good thing because it will stimulate the economy, while poor folks having more money is a complete waste. As for "spending" money on unemployment benefits, where did that money come from in the first place? From taxes on companies, who paid their workers less (or charged consumers more) to make up for that particular bit of theft. Of course, the government didn't steal nearly enough to cover it, so they just "borrowed" more money from the banks they created (which creates money out of thin air) to pay off the additional cost. Without raising taxes. yet. Confused yet? That's the idea - that's why all of todays political issues are seemingly so intractable 9and inspire such partisan rancor. They're manifestations of systemic problems, caused by other systemic problems. They don't just look intractable, they are intractable. They have no fair and just solution within the system that created them. The system is the problem, and it's the system - the Corporate State if you will, that has to go. It's always nice to find a new reader - thanks for the comment and Be well, Dave H.

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