Sen. Bunning’s Screwball
Jesse Jackson
Even while his Republican colleagues admitted that eventually — perhaps soon — they will renew the program, one senator ended unemployment insurance extensions for millions of unemployed. In March alone, 1.2 million people will lose their unemployment benefits if the program is not renewed.
Bunning was aggravated that the Democrats forced repeated votes to try to get the measure passed. He complained that he was missing the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game.
This is an utter disgrace. Bunning may have missed a basketball game, but state unemployment offices had to send out millions of letters informing people that their unemployment support was terminated, that they wouldn’t have continued aid to help make COBRA payments to extend their families’ health insurance. Doctors were informed that they would suffer 21 percent cuts in Medicare reimbursement. Some 2,000 federal transport workers were furloughed without pay. Federal reimbursement to states for highway programs — about $190 million a day — was suspended, as well as some small business loans.
There are 10.7 million people unemployed in Bunning’s Kentucky. Does the senator have any idea what it is like to struggle with unemployment in this economy? There are six applicants for every job. Every member of the family looks for ways to sustain the home. Every dime is counted; every bill an agony. Harsh decisions are forced. Parents skip meals to ensure their children can eat. Credit cards are maxed out and rolled over, so mortgages can be sustained. The tension goes up as more creditors are owed, more bills missed.
Under the pressure, marriages are strained. Depression, anger, a sense of failure too often lead to drink or worse. A constant search for jobs leads to repeated rejections.
29 million people are unemployed or underemployed in America today. And in the midst of this, one arrogant senator — irritated at being forced to miss his basketball on TV — ensures that millions get suspension notices. And worse, that state agencies bear the increased costs of shutting the programs down and starting them up again.
Bunning’s complaint was that the unemployment extension was not paid for, but was an emergency appropriation. Not only have unemployment extensions traditionally been special supplemental appropriations, but the senator’s economics makes no more sense than his arrogance.
Unemployment insurance and food stamps are the best jobs programs in any recovery plan; they have the biggest return on the dollar. The reason is simple: The unemployed spend every cent on their expenses, and use the food stamps to buy needed food. Every dime spent helps to boost demand and create jobs. Borrowing the money to spend on unemployment insurance is not only humane, it helps the economy recover. That’s why unemployment insurance is built in as an automatic “stabilizer,” and why extensions of unemployment insurance, when the recession is deep and long, have generally had broad bipartisan support.
If Bunning is oblivious to the agonies now visited upon millions of workers and their families through no fault of their own, he is not alone. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl wants to hold up the jobs bill to force the Senate to a tax cut for the wealthiest multimillion dollar estates that get handed down to heirs. The minority whip is prepared to threaten help for unemployed workers and their families to hike Paris Hilton’s inheritance.
Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid harshly criticized Bunning, but Democrats shouldn’t be given a free pass. They hold the majority. They can change the dysfunctional Senate rules. Reid could have kept the Senate in session through the weekend and longer, forced Republicans to sustain a filibuster and let Americans know who was standing in the way.
Last month, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby put a hold on all of Obama’s nominations to extort funding for pet projects. This month, Bunning adds more uncertainty to the most vulnerable American families to make an ideological point. These senators don’t get it. Our country is in trouble. Homes are being lost. Millions are without jobs. This isn’t about missing a basketball game. People are in pain. It is time for the games to end; there is work to be done.
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