Extending Unemployment
On C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, the first question was whether it was better to extend expiring benefits or reduce the deficit.
The Republicans are being disingenuous on this issue. The TARP and the Recovery Act funds are all borrowered money, so tapping them for extending unemployment is the same thing as increasing the deficit.
Unemployment is funded by its own dedicated payroll tax. Aside from deficit finance, the only legitimate way to 'pay for' extended benefits is to increase THAT tax. Cutting other programs would be inappropriate. Do the Republicans really want to do that or are they just blowing smoke? I suspect the latter.
The Republicans are being disingenuous on this issue. The TARP and the Recovery Act funds are all borrowered money, so tapping them for extending unemployment is the same thing as increasing the deficit.
Unemployment is funded by its own dedicated payroll tax. Aside from deficit finance, the only legitimate way to 'pay for' extended benefits is to increase THAT tax. Cutting other programs would be inappropriate. Do the Republicans really want to do that or are they just blowing smoke? I suspect the latter.
posted by Michael Bindner at 8:45 AM
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