Federal Money for Jobless Benefits !
(Greg Jones Note:) The below article simply exemplifies what we have been warning of for many months now which is the GOP's master plan to do all they can to force Middle America to literally suffer to the point where they are willing (and thankful) to work for Chinese wages. The crushing of unions...the disbanding of union wage/benefit agreements...combined with the new push for Privatization through what is being called a gov't/private 'joint venture', which simply means that federal monies that normally would be spent to run certain government entities would now go instead directly to the new private company in charge (like a Haliburton), who will then hire new workers at Chinese wages.....no unions...no benefits. Just 'cheap labor'. THAT is the New America the GOP envisions....and THAT is what is meant when you hear GOP politicians shouting " we must reduce the cost of doing business ".
WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers in Missouri are balking at accepting federal dollars to pay for 20 weeks of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, even though the spending would not affect state budgets, and legislators in Michigan may follow suit.
Five Republicans in the Missouri Senate have launched a filibuster to prevent their legislature from implementing a technical change to its laws that would allow the state to accept the funds, which total roughly $96 million.
"What my senator is saying is, 'Let’s send this money back,'" said James Murphy, a spokesman for state Sen. Jim Lembke (R), who is leading the filibuster. "He calls the money 'opium' -- 'other people’s money.' He wants to send back the opium that the federal government sends to the states."
That money pays for the Extended Benefits program, which kicks in for workers who exhaust 26 weeks of state-funded benefits and 53 weeks of federally-funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation. In December, Congress reauthorized both EB and EUC for all of 2011, but many states need to tweak their laws in order to remain eligible for EB because of how the aid "triggers" into place based on unemployment trends in the previous two years.
Some unemployed Missourians will stop receiving benefits after April 2 unless Lembke and his colleagues relent. Murphy said Republican leaders in the Missouri House and Senate disagree with Lembke's position.
In Michigan, House Speaker Jase Bolger (R) hasn't made up his mind whether to support accepting the federal funds, according to spokesman Ari Adler. "He is sympathetic to the unemployed who would lose their benefits," Adler said. "On the other hand, you would have businesses facing having to pay for the extension."
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is lobbying against the benefits legislation, which it says "will result in a tax increase on Michigan job providers and more government debt."(read rest of article)
Learn The GOP Scheme...
Before It's TOO LATE !
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