A couple weeks ago, Senate Democrats launched a proposal to extend unemployment insurance by 14 weeks, with six additional weeks added for states in which unemployment is above 8.5 percent.
But of course Republican Senators Kyl and Hatch are preventing it from coming to a vote.
The bill would be fully paid for by extending a small tax on employers—about $12 per employee—which has been in place for 30 years.
But Senators Kyl and Hatch apparently think this is a terrible burden on employers.
Republicans claim unemployment insurance is a disincentive to looking for work but the unemployment statistics show that the jobs are simply not available. According to the National Employment Law Project, 1.3 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits by the end of the year if benefits are not extended.
It is an outrage that this bill hasn’t passed yet with so many people on the edge of destitution. It is also an outrage that the mainstream media hasn’t picked up on this story.
Click here to send a message to your Senator to pass this bill.
