Unemployment Extension 2014: Boehner Out Of The Picture? Dems Appeal To McCarthy Instead
The 2014 unemployment extension effort has turned into a matter of political gamesmanship as Democrats in the House of Representatives try to get around their biggest obstacle to bringing a benefits extension measure to a vote — Republican House Speaker John Boehner.
Boehner’s refusal to bring a Senate unemployment extension bill passed in early April to the House for a vote effectively killed that bill, which expired at the end of May. But this week, new bills with backing of both Democrats and some Republicans were introduced in the House and the Senate, renewing at least some hope for the nearly 3.2 million long-term unemployed Americans who have had their benefits cut off since the end of last year.
Without a new extension of benefits, that staggering number could hit 5 million by the time 2014 is through, according to the calculations of Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline.
House Introduces Bipartisan Unemployment Bill
The House bill was co-authored by Democrat Dan Kildee of Michigan and New Jersey Republican Frank LoBiondo. The bill essentially mirrors the Senate unemployment extension announced Tuesday, which would restart weekly benefits for all of the jobless who lost them starting in December and continuing into 2014.
Because Boehner has repeatedly stated his opposition to any unemployment extension measure, however, the chances of the new bill coming to a vote are generally seen as non-existent. As a result, House Democrats are now attempting to cut Boehner out of the process altogether.
A number of House Democrats delivered a letter Thursday to Bakersfield, California, Republican Kevin McCarthy who was recently elected to succeed outgoing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor as the second-in-command to Boehner.
Democrats Hoping For Support From New Majority Leader McCarthy
By appealing to enlist McCarthy’s support, the group apparently hopes to create divisions within the already fractious House Republican caucus that would force Boehner to call a vote on the unemployment extension.
“We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity and sit down with us to discuss how we can work together to provide relief to the long-term unemployed,” the Democrats said in their letter to McCarthy. “At a time when so many families all across the country are struggling to make ends meet, we should be doing everything we can to provide assistance to Americans who continue to look for work.”
But Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller, co-author of the Senate 2014 unemployment extension bill, says that he has already spoken to McCarthy and received no signs of hope.
“His message was very clear,” Heller reported. “It was very similar to Boehner’s. And that is, ‘we want job provisions.'”
Republicans Fuzzy On Meaning Of ‘Job Provisions’
It remains unclear what Republicans mean by “job provisions.” Earlier in 2014, a spokesperson for Boehner appeared to link passage of an unemployment extension to approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and repeal of the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” both of which Republicans seem to cite as “job provisions.”
But another co-sponsor of the House bill, Michigan Democrat Sander Levin, said that attaching the 2014 unemployment extension to an authentic job creation measure would be a simple process.
“The bill could be easily combined with upcoming legislation to fund transportation improvements or to extend tax breaks to meet the Speaker’s final demand that any UI extension be part of larger legislation that will create jobs,” said Levin Thursday. “The time for excuses is long over. We must act now.”
In December of last year, the Congressional Budget Office said that passing an unemployment extension at that time would have added 200,000 jobs by the end of 2014, because the unemployed spend their benefits quickly, providing a healthy jolt to the economy.
As of Friday morning, McCarthy had not yet responded publicly on the appeal by Democrats for a meeting to discuss the 2014 unemployment extension.
