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Chalk another “success” up for House Republicans in their jihad against the economic recovery. They’ve caused the economy to lose nearly $5 billion since they refused to renew extended unemployment compensation for more than 2.2 million Americans. Mind you, this $5 billion isn’t all that House Republicans have irresponsibly and for partisan political purposes cost the US taxpayer, as their IRS witch hunts, Benghazi hearings, and ObamaCare repeal votes and hearings haven’t exactly been cheap.

The U.S. economy has lost $4.7 billion ($4,698,892,545 to be exact – see the breakdown below) in the first three months of the year due to the Dec. 28 expiration of federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation, according to an analysis released today Monday by Ways and Means Committee Democrats.

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Sandy Levin (D-MI) is not impressed. He knows, like most people with at least a modicum of intelligence, that unemployment is not just for the unemployed, but it also helps to boost the economy. He wearily explained this fact again in case any Republicans were listening, “Unemployment insurance has played a vital role in our economic recovery and the program’s expiration has drained billions of dollars from state economies during the last three months.”

The Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member tried to shame the House Republicans into helping America as the Senate is, “Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake, as are the livelihoods of millions of Americans laid off through no fault of their own. The Senate is taking another bipartisan step on the long-road to extending this critical lifeline today and the House needs to also act to stand with job-seeking Americans.”

Last week, Senate Republicans shamed House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) over his refusal to help the economy and the jobless to no avail. So it’s sort of the Sane Senators Versus the House Republicans in a battle to the death.

But, you know, this House. They don’t want to help America, so this argument might be the wrong tact to take. It’s tough to know with modern day Republicans, between their lusting after Putin and their frat boy tweets to world leaders, just what kind of tone should be set when attempting to have policy discussions.

Anyway. The world carries on without them so here are some facts provided by the Ways and Means Committee Democrats, and yes, they are partisan but the source information is not and let us not forget, neither is the issue or the agenda. Their source is the U.S. Department of Labor, “EUC Program Activity.” Oh, wait, Republicans don’t trust the Department of Labor anymore either- something about a birth certificate or a conspiracy with Obama to fool them all or DOL boogeymen under their beds. So maybe this is just for the sane folks. Which makes it perfect. After all, before Obama, extending long term unemployment was just something Congress did because it was helpful for the economy. Now it’s suddenly a partisan thing for House Republicans.

The state-by-state projections for the three-month period are based on the total federal unemployment insurance that Americans received in each state during the last three months of 2013. Nationwide, nearly 72,000 people are losing unemployment insurance, on average, every week – adding to the 2.2 million Americans who have already lost their benefits.

Yes, the 5 billion dollar fail is all due to their partisan poutfest over unemployment benefits. You see, the Senate has put forth a bipartisan agreement to pay for the renewal, but that’s not good enough for House Republicans, who claim some kind of bizarre moral superiority regarding fiscal responsibility, when in actuality they are tossing money into the trash just to be spiteful.

Republicans against the economy — to the death!

Breakdown:

Estimated Lost Unemployment Benefits in the First Three Months of 2014 Due to the Shutdown of the Federal UI Program. Projections Based on EUC spending in last quarter of 2013 State: Projected Lost UI in Jan-March 2014 (total) AK $20,039,211 AL $28,557,465 AR $29,988,269 AZ $37,714,686 CA $833,962,685 CO $75,813,813 CT $106,893,214 DC $18,892,695 DE $10,107,283 FL $192,522,606 GA $110,330,484 HI $11,074,540 IA $16,627,467 ID $8,535,176 IL $296,763,435 IN $59,532,967 KS $17,111,509 KY $66,090,769 LA $15,782,115 MA $253,584,916 MD $98,358,539 ME $11,200,990 MI $139,441,834 MN $5,556,506 MO $72,598,463 MS $26,689,495 MT $5,392,439 NC * ND $2,982,882 NE $6,374,656 NH $4,469,711 NJ $365,139,763 NM $20,780,040 NV $70,020,706 NY $429,605,084 OH $147,950,008 OK $15,098,605 OR $78,948,135 PA $317,877,824 PR $43,529,465 RI $21,694,857 SC $36,310,567 SD $534,052 TN $49,830,392 TX $259,154,093 UT $10,533,273 VA $33,130,689 VI $5,704,895 VT $2,379,886 WA $108,835,855 WI $75,741,838 WV $20,177,455 WY $2,666,641 TOTAL $4,698,892,545 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, “EUC Program Activity.”

NOTES: “*” indicates NC had terminated its EUC program prior to the end of 2013.