At the rate they continue to extend these benefits no one will be going back to work anytime soon. Just keep feeding the problem, thats all they know how to do is spend to keep the economy moving along, does anyone else take notice of this. How many damn times are they going to extend benefits, like I said earlier they should print a few trillion dollars and keep the unemployment benefits going for the next 2-3 years, just keep handing out money because thats all they know how to do to fix this the crisis the US is in. Bloomberg U.S. Senate Set to Vote on Plan to Extend Unemployment Benefits March 10, 2010, 12:20 AM EST More From Businessweek By Brian Faler March 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate is set to approve a $138 billion plan that would extend unemployment benefits through the end of this year after eight Republicans joined Democrats yesterday to end efforts to block the plan. The chamber is slated to vote today on the legislation that would also provide $25 billion in aid to states, extend a package of miscellaneous tax cuts, temporarily ease corporate- pension funding requirements and prevent cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors. A proposal to impose a 50 percent tax on bonuses awarded last year to Wall Street executives was dropped. The bill, partially financed by offsetting savings, would add $97 billion to the governmentâs budget deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. âThis is not just some technical bill -- this measure helps real people,â said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat. Yesterdayâs vote to advance the bill was 66-34; those voting no included one Democrat. The bill represents Democratsâ second major effort this year to boost the economy. A separate $18 billion plan to offer companies a tax break for hiring the jobless is awaiting approval. The centerpiece of the measure currently before the Senate would extend provisions offering the jobless as many as 99 weeks of unemployment assistance averaging $300 per week along with a 65 percent subsidy to help buy health insurance through the federal Cobra program. Exhausted Benefits While the legislation would prevent millions from exhausting their benefits this year, it wouldnât spare all. According to the National Employment Law Project, a half-million Americans could burn through all of their allowable assistance by August. âWeâre trying to give enough time to people on the chance they find something, but we know how hard it is,â said Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chamberâs No. 2 Democrat. âThese poor people -- I canât imagine what lies ahead for them. In my state, there are not many options out there and theyâre all awful -- people end up homeless, some of them struggle in soup kitchens and pantries trying to survive.â The measure would renew a series of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that expired Dec. 31, including a research credit backed in the past by Microsoft Corp., Amgen Inc. and Boeing Co. It would renew a break that allows companies like General Electric Co. to defer U.S. taxes on profits from financing sales of equipment in overseas markets. Sales Taxes For individuals, the bill would renew a deduction for state and local sales taxes that could be used instead of the deduction for state and local income taxes. Some states, including Texas and Florida, donât have an income tax. It would extend a $250 deduction for teachers who buy their own classroom supplies, and tax credits for installing energy- efficient windows, doors, and skylights that meet 2010 Energy Star standards. To help offset its cost, the bill would give the Internal Revenue Service more tools to attack tax shelters by more precisely defining when tax-avoidance transactions lack economic substance. It also would prevent paper companies from claiming a tax credit for producing fuel from a byproduct of the pulp-making process known as âblack liquor.â The IRS issued a ruling last year that congressional analysts said opened the door for abuses, although companies have expressed little interest in claiming the credit.
Well shit, if borrowing money to pay people to do nothing is going to improve the economy, let's kick this baby into overdrive! Forget 138 billion, let's borrow 4 trillion and give every voter about 27 grand! Yeah, that's high gear baby! And if that doesn't work, do it again! I mean, it worked so well last time, and works so great for individuals who borrow the shit out of their credit card which is the proven path to prosperity. Politicians obviously think voters are morons. For the most part, they seem to be correct. JFC! Two #@&^ing years?!
The following financial terrorists should get the bill, or the firing squad. Angelo Mozilo Chuck Prince Lewis Ranieri Joseph Cassano Dick Fuld Kathleen Corbet Stan O'Neal Jimmy Cayne Frank Raines Herb Sandler and his wife Phil Gramm Chris Cox Hank Paulson
Total nonsense!! The more you reward people for NOT working the more comfortable they get with doing nothing. Studies show this. I volunteer a few days/week with poor kids in after school programs. Numerous studies have been done. Much of the research suggests if you take away the handouts and the people know they have to work to make some $$$$ they find ways to do so. Sure, the employment picture is horrific. But continuing this extension of benefits with no end in sight is nonsensical. Unemployment isn't dropping to 6 or 7% anytime soon; maybe in 5 years. So do we continually give people handouts (unemployment checks, Medicaid, food stamps, etc.) for doing nothing? I guess we do if bankrupting the country is our goal. It's not sustainable. And poverty breeds even more poverty as kids are having kids with no means to support them.
No one should have to work. We should all be given $1 million for doing nothing and then we can just move to other countries and retire on that money.
Yes, at some point I'm sure the Democrats will try to make the convoluted case that this was what the founding fathers intended...
It was $149,000,000,000... hahaha Senate Passes $149 Billion Bill for Jobless Aid, Tax Breaks Reuters | March 10, 2010 | 03:23 PM EST The U.S. Senate Wednesday approved a $149 billion package of jobless aid and tax breaks as Democrats continued efforts to bring down the 9.7 percent unemployment rate before the November congressional elections. The measure, which passed by a vote of 62 to 36, now heads to the House, where many Democrats have pushed for more aggressive job-creation measures. Democrats say job creation is their top priority this year as they head into an election season that could possibly cost them control of Congress. Both chambers have now passed two job-creation bills, but they have yet to resolve their differences and finish legislation that President Barack Obama can sign into law. The bill passed by the Senate largely continues existing government policies. Jobless workers would see their unemployment aid and healthcare subsidies extended to the end of the year, while businesses would once again benefit from $25 billion worth of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2009. Cash-strapped states would get $25 billion to help cover their portion of the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor. The bill's $149 billion in new spending is offset by $37 billion in revenue raised by closing tax loopholes.
So the democrats say they want to create new jobs, then pass a bill where nearly all of the money goes to people who don't do anything and also raises taxes. Oh sure, they offer 25 billion in tax breaks, but take 37 billion back. In libtard fantasy land (where you can dance with the unicorns and dolphins in a flower filled meadow) raising taxes and borrowing money to pay people to not go to work equals creating jobs.
This has nothing to do with rewarding people. This is nothing more than the tried and true tradition of politicians buying votes.