Senate breaks logjam to restore jobless aid
Andy Sullivan
Mar 3, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Highway money and jobless funds were set to flow again after the Senate ended a standoff on Tuesday that disrupted benefits for hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans.
The Senate voted 78-19 to end a logjam that had worsened the plight of the jobless and thrown thousands out of work as lawmakers bickered over the cost of programs designed to help millions of Americans weather the worst economic downturn in 70 years.
President Barack Obama was expected to sign the measure quickly into law.
The programs expired on Sunday after Republican Senator Jim Bunning prevented the Senate from renewing them on the grounds they would add to the country's $12.4 trillion debt.
As a result, 400,000 jobless people faced the imminent loss of weekly checks that help them pay the bills while they look for work, as well as subsidies that help them pay for health insurance.
Construction projects across the country shut down after 2,000 federal workers were furloughed, while doctors faced a 21 percent pay cut for patients they see under the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
"During these difficult economic times, supporting American workers, their families and our small businesses must be everyone's focus," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "... I'm grateful to the members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle who worked to end this roadblock to relief for America's working families."
In news conferences and floor statements, Democrats said Bunning and his fellow Republicans had taken their opposition to Democratic initiatives to a new extreme.
"Today we have a clear-cut example to show the American people what's wrong with Washington," said Democratic Senator Patty Murray...
Showing posts with label fiscal conservatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiscal conservatives. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Republican states get bigger handouts than Democratic-leaning states
December 1, 2009
Republicans Benefit More from Fiscal Redistribution than Democrats
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
The New York Times
Republicans may “market themselves as the party of fiscal restraint,” but states that vote Republican benefit from federal government redistribution far more than those that lean Democratic. This has been true since about 1992, the tail end of George H.W. Bush’s presidency.
So argues Gary Richardson of the University of California, Irvine, in the most recent issue of The Economist’s Voice. An excerpt:
In 2004, the average Alaskan received $1.84 in federal benefits for each $1.00 he or she paid in federal taxes. The Republican presidential candidate, George W. Bush, received 62 percent of the vote.
Now consider the state of Massachusetts. In 2004, the average resident received only $0.82 in federal benefits for each $1 paid in federal taxes. Yet less than 38 percent of all voters pulled the lever marked George W. Bush. And this was not an effect of John Kerry’s candidacy in particular. Four years before, when his opponent was Al Gore, Bush received only 33 percent of the vote.
The pattern holds true across all fifty states: In 2004, the 28 states in which George W. Bush received more than 50 percent of the vote received an average of $1.32 in federal benefits for each $1 their citizens paid in federal taxes. In contrast, the 19 states in which George W. Bush received less than 50 percent of the vote received an average of $0.93 on the dollar.
Republicans Benefit More from Fiscal Redistribution than Democrats
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
The New York Times
Republicans may “market themselves as the party of fiscal restraint,” but states that vote Republican benefit from federal government redistribution far more than those that lean Democratic. This has been true since about 1992, the tail end of George H.W. Bush’s presidency.
So argues Gary Richardson of the University of California, Irvine, in the most recent issue of The Economist’s Voice. An excerpt:
In 2004, the average Alaskan received $1.84 in federal benefits for each $1.00 he or she paid in federal taxes. The Republican presidential candidate, George W. Bush, received 62 percent of the vote.
Now consider the state of Massachusetts. In 2004, the average resident received only $0.82 in federal benefits for each $1 paid in federal taxes. Yet less than 38 percent of all voters pulled the lever marked George W. Bush. And this was not an effect of John Kerry’s candidacy in particular. Four years before, when his opponent was Al Gore, Bush received only 33 percent of the vote.
The pattern holds true across all fifty states: In 2004, the 28 states in which George W. Bush received more than 50 percent of the vote received an average of $1.32 in federal benefits for each $1 their citizens paid in federal taxes. In contrast, the 19 states in which George W. Bush received less than 50 percent of the vote received an average of $0.93 on the dollar.
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