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Thu Jul 22, 2010 at 08:47 PM CDT
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| This week the Congress passed a $34 billion dollar extension of benefits to Americans who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks, and these benefits where passed along party lines with the Republicans in the Senate blocking the benefits for weeks. Congressional Republicans argued that the benefits should not be passed unless a corresponding amount of budget cuts could be made, however, another argument that Republicans have offered is that unemployment benefits themselves are a disincentive to find work. At a time when long term unemployment is high than at any time since the Great Depression, and there are five workers applying for every one job these arguments seem ludicrous. The unemployment benefits will help 2 million struggling Americans, and the extension of benefits will last through November.
The idea that unemployment benefits will unacceptably add to the deficit is a relatively weak argument, considering that the fall in consumer demand if unemployment benefits are not extending in the long run will add more to the deficit in lack of tax revenue. Also, it seems a bit disingenuous for Republicans to lecture anyone on deficits or government spending. According to analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, significant causes of our current deficits where due to the 2001 and 2003 Bush Administration tax cuts (which by the way Republicans are still arguing doing not need to be paid for with corresponding cuts in the budget). The other idea that unemployment benefits are a disincentive for people to find employment is another weak argument when you consider that there are not enough jobs for American workers. What these arguments are about is plain and simply politics.
More Below the Fold... |
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| While Republicans constantly talking about supporting small business they have been doing little to actually support small business. According to a report by the New York Times, Congressional Republicans have blocked a bill aimed to support small business by providing for government lending programs and grant several tax breaks to small businesses. Part of the legislation is a proposed $30 billion lending program that would make credit available to small businesses through local banks which Republicans have characterized as a "mini-bailout." According to the New York Times the legislation also includes $12 billion in tax breaks for small businesses, including provisions that would allow quicker tax write-downs of capital expenditures and a break on capital gains taxes.
Republicans are also blocking legislation to fund National Housing Trust Fund which was established to fund construction of affordable rental homes for low-income people. According to a report by The Hill, Senate Republicans have once again been blocking the legislation that would cost $1.065 billion due to their concerns about the deficit. Because of the delay in the funding construction of over 10,000 rental homes have been which adds to an estimated shortfall of 3 million low-income units. At a time when the number of homeless families has increased by an estimated 30 percent since 2007, Republicans continue to obstruct relief to struggling American families in the Great Recession.
While denying aid to struggling Americans, prominently Republicans have been calling for an extension of the Bush era tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest of Americans and have contributed to the greatest inequity of wealth in America since before the Great Depression. The Congressional Budget Office analysis shows that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would do little to stimulate the economy because tax cuts for high-income are low in effectiveness because higher-income households are more likely to save rather than spend a larger fraction of their increase in after-tax income. Also, as Republicans argue for reducing the deficit the CBO analysis finds that extending the Bush era tax cuts would cause the deficits and debt to be $826 billion higher over the next ten years than if they are allowed to expire. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities also reported that "exempting small business income from the scheduled increase in the top tax rates would do little for the economy in the short term; only the top 3 percent of people with any business income would benefit. Over the long term, such an exemption would likely harm the economy and the budget by encouraging tax avoidance and reducing revenues."
The last obstructions by Congressional Republicans are not about the economy or about the federal budget, but purely about politics. The Republican Party for too long has used wedge issues to distract working class and middle class Americans to vote against their better economic interests, and the Republicans are laying the ground work to do the same this November. While this strategy has lead to electoral success, and will likely lead to electoral success again during the midterm elections, the Republicans are lacking something which will prevent them from gaining a serious advantage during the upcoming election. Ideas. The Republican Party is campaigning on a platform of no ideas, because if the American people are exposed to their ideas they may recognize they are the ideas that lead to the Great Recession in the first place.
Political and Social Thought...
to the Left of College Station |
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