CNN – by Dana DavidsenKentucky Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday extending unemployment benefits past what the U.S. federal government has already paid would be a “disservice” to workers.
“I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they’re paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers,” he said, appearing on “Fox News Sunday.”
On December 28, unemployment benefits will expire for 1.3 million workers. In order for the jobless benefits to continue, lawmakers must extend the recession-era program by the end of the month. The Congressional Budget Office notes that if the benefits expire, the U.S. gross domestic product could fall 0.2 percentage points next year.
President Barack Obama and Democrats in recent weeks have ramped up efforts to pressure Congress to extend jobless benefits, and House Speaker John Boehner indicated that he’s open to the legislation.
Paul, a tea party favorite who has long been opposed to unemployment benefits, pointed to a study that showed employers are less likely to hire the long-term unemployed.
“When you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you’re causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. And it really – while it seems good, it actually does a disservice to the people you’re trying to help,” Paul said.
But the White House and Democrats say evidence shows that jobless benefits don’t stop people from trying to find work. In his weekly address, Obama cited estimates by the Department of Labor and the Council of Economic Advisers that say failing to extend benefits could cost businesses 240,000 jobs.
“If Congress refuses to act, it won’t just hurt families already struggling – it will actually harm our economy. Unemployment insurance is one of the most effective ways there is to boost our economy,” Obama said.
The monthly economic report released last week showed unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since November 2008, at 7%, and the economy added 203,000 jobs in November, showing steady but painfully slow economic progress. But 11 million Americans remain unemployed as the job market struggles to heal in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Extending jobless benefits for another year would cost about $26 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Last week, Paul visited Detroit to lay out a plan to rescue the city, the largest in history to enter bankruptcy and with an unemployment rate at or greater than 1.5% of the national rate.
CNN’s Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
Not advocating laziness, but just where do so many of these unemployed people find work? Congress has allowed much of the work previously done in the U.S. to be outsourced. The system is broken and needs to be fixed.
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Not only where does a unemployed person find work Cathleen, but if he is lucky enough to actually find work, does the work actually pay enough to make it or does a guy have to have 2+ jobs just to pay the bills.
Rand who?? Never heard of Her…
this topic is a bit of a two edged sword. I received 400 dollars a week. That is as much as someone working full time for 10 dollars an hour. Why get a job?
On the other hand, as others noted, jobs are not easy to find.
Basically, the globalists have made this impossible to fix. Maybe tho, if
keeping the benefits to the 26 weeks, more people would not be living off the tittie and would start to revolt. So I am with rand paul, lets get this revolution going.
Until there is a revolution not one thing is going to change for the better. This is not going to end without a fight and anyone that can still think knows this even if they want to pretend otherwise. Do you really think that the militarized cops,DHS,Home Land Security,cameras ,drones,armored vehicles for use on the streets of ameriKa,Ammo purchases for more ammo than is needed in a full on war,training foreign troops to help in a revolt,is all there for your safety? If you do believe it is there for your safety you cant be saved anyway and so be it!
Curious as to the current total count of foreign troops inside the US.
Unlikely web search will yield reliable results.
Rand is a traitor, and i loved what Ron said in 08 and 12 However i have surmised that he is a traitor as well. I agree with cracker122049. the only thing left is revolution. the game is and has been rigged for a long time. As Henry eluded to in another post, voting is a waste of time. buy food, ammo, stock up on water, stock up on meds. be prepared. the time is coming when you will need supplies. we all are dependent on gov. in one way or another. It isn’t gonna be pretty.