Obama, Democrats hail deal to slash unemployment benefits

[Karmadillo]

WSWS unrec etc. etc. etc., but I wish we would have fought to the end on this one.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/unem-f16.shtml

Obama, Democrats hail deal to slash unemployment benefits
By Barry Grey
16 February 2012

<edit>

Presented by the Obama administration and the media as a boon to hard-pressed working Americans, the measure is in reality a cruel and punitive assault on the working class—in the first instance, those most severely impacted by nearly four years of mass unemployment.

It is expected that the agreement will be finalized, passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by Obama by the end of the week. According to press reports, over the course of 2012 it will reduce the maximum duration of extended jobless benefits from the current 99 weeks to 73 weeks in those states with the highest unemployment levels. The 73-week maximum will apply only to states where the official jobless rate is above 9 percent.

In 36 of the 50 states, where the jobless rate is lower, the duration of benefits will be cut from the current maximum of 93 weeks to 63 weeks—a loss of 30 weeks of benefits!

In addition, more barriers will be placed in the way of workers seeking to obtain jobless benefits. They will be required to provide more proof that they are actively seeking work, and, in a particularly demeaning and vindictive move, states will be allowed to subject jobless applicants to drug tests.

more...

[sendero]

1. Typical Obama.

... do something half-assed and then declare victory.

Seen this story over and over from health care to taxes for the rich to you name it. It is his modus operandi. It's all you are ever going to get from him, so bend over like good boys and girls and take it.

[surfdog]

2. so you think Obama is fucking us ?

that's strange because the Republicans also think Obama is fucking us

[Karmadillo]

3. False equivalence

http://furrybrowndog.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/the-fallacy-of-false-equivalence/

[surfdog]

5. Not even

You and the Republicans both think Obama is fucking us

[CAPHAVOC]

8. The Republicans, Democrats, and Obama, are all fucking us.

[bvar22]

17. I agree with CAPHAVOC ^,

though I would add this caveat:
There ARE members of the Democratic Party in the Progressive Caucus that are NOT fucking us.
They STILL represent the Working Class,
though they have been completely neutered and marginalized by the "Centrist New Democrats"
who are IN CONTROL of the Party and also own the White House.

"Centrist Democrat" = Moderate Republican on Economic Issues



[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]



[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
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[sendero]

41. Exactly..

... and people are starting to get it.

Sure, gay marriage, abortion, crap like that? Democrats are better than Republicans. Economics, business, taxation? Very little difference and it's all theatre, to create the illusion that a poker up the ass of the average American was a hard won compromise.

It's all bullshit.

[girl gone mad]

31. Hitler and Gandhi were both vegetarians.

[Dragonfli]

21. Of course he is, he is Reagan Democrat, this is the stuff he calls "bi-partisan"

A fucking from both parties just to prove they at least agree on the principles of the house of Reagan.

They disagree on many points, but share a common view of the non-investment class of filthy working type people.

[EOTE]

28. Republicans complain no matter what, and they're attacking him from the right.

They do that because they're in a different political party and they want to gain more power.

Liberals are attacking him from the left because he's governed as a fairly right wing president. Do you hear any democrats calling Obama the "Food stamp President"? It's without a doubt a false equivalence. You should learn what those words mean.

[woo me with science]

43. The corporate-bought politicians on both sides of the aisle are fucking us,

and, yes, that includes Obama.

[dkf]

4. It was to be expected that improvement in the unemployment rate would cut the duration of benefits.

The question is if the unemployment rate is truly as low as they supposedly say it is and if not are they going to admit it when it's not to their political advantage.

[CAPHAVOC]

7. With the great recovery you don't need unemployment silly.

Only 8% are unemployed and going down. It will soon be only 6% depending on the recipe the Dep. of Labor uses in the rate bake. This recovery is wonderful. Meanwhile back at the Banks and Wall Street...Free Money. Hip Hip Hooray!

[TheKentuckian]

10. The UI rate isn't even where it was when the extension was passed

[SidDithers]

6. ROFL...

Keep trying.

Sid

[msanthrope]

9. Ring my bell!! The WSWS is back as a "source." nt

[Enrique]

11. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

people getting their unemployment cut off. What a hoot!!!!!!!

[ProSense]

12. The

deal isn't cutting off anyone's unemployment. The 99 weeks remains in effect through the end of the year: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=317071

[GeorgeGist]

14. Its good to know that ...

there will be full employment by the end of the year.

[ProSense]

15. Extended

"Its good to know that ...there will be full employment by the end of the year."

...benefits are not standard unemployment benefits. They are always indexed to high unemployment rates, and end long before full employment.

[former9thward]

25. Not true.

The 99 weeks only last until May. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/unemployment-insurance-unemployment_n_1279415.html?ref=politics

[EOTE]

29. Ahhh, so it's only fucking over citizens in the future, not the present.

That must be that "compassionate conservatism" I'm always hearing about. So long as only people in the future are getting fucked, I'm all for it! Thanks for making me see the light!

[JoePhilly]

13. yup ... and another manufactured outrage widget hits the shop room floor!!!

:thud:

[SidDithers]

23. The fine folk at wsws are particularly good at making widgets...nt

Sid

[girl gone mad]

32. Easy way to determine when someone has lost a debate on DU:

Just look for the

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. Drug test these a$$hole$..It's obvious that they are on something...

And it ain't the good shit, either.


Just who is gonna pay for this drug testing?

Are the unemployed gonna be charged for drug testing so they can collect benefits that they earned?

This is digusting!

The whole thing stinks.

Next up Social Security.

[CAPHAVOC]

18. It is expensive too

I paid about 45 bucks. To pee in a cup.

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. Oh I know, which is why I think that those forced to subject themselves

to this mandatory drug testing WILL BE CHARGED!

[Hamlette]

19. bullshit

Unemployment is down and its not just because people have stopped looking or have been out of work so long they are no longer counted. New claims are down which means fewer people are being laid off.

The reduction from 99 to 73 is because Extended Benefits will go away as the jobless rate drops. Its a matter of law going back to at least to the 1980s. (Not all states have hit the Extended Benefits trigger).

The new "proof" of seeking jobs is that more states are requiring a more active job search. It has gone from 2 jobs per week to 4 per week. And you will be required to list the employers each week when you file your claim. Trust me, in the long run, listing them with the unemployment office each week will help claimants in the long run. Better to know up front than be hit with a giant fraud overpayment and disqualification period when you can't remember a month from now. Plus, stats show 4 contacts per week results in .7 less weeks on unemployment.

I'm not advocating kicking people off UI. I'm advocating getting them back to work and in 4 contacts per week helps do that, seems reasonable to me.

I have not seen the feds approve drug testing and highly doubt it but if it did happen it would be subject to court challenge, would have to be based on suspicion and the government would have to pay for the test unless there was a HUGE change in UI and federal case law.

[woo me with science]

22. There is a new one every day,

and there will continue to be a new one every day until we get the money out of our political system.

[stevenleser]

24. More wsws.org manufactured facts and manufactured outrage. No thanks. nt

[former9thward]

26. This deal is in every news outlet.

What exactly are the manufactured facts? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/unemployment-insurance-unemployment_n_1279415.html?ref=politics

[stevenleser]

30. Really? Do they imply that Obama is hailing the idea that it is punitive toward the working class?

That is what wsws is doing.

[Dreamer Tatum]

35. So losing bennies is somehow better if Obama didn't hail it?

I guess some poverty feels better than others.

[stevenleser]

36. Is killing someone in self defense different from premeditated murder?

Or is intent irrelevant?

[Dreamer Tatum]

37. False comparison. Revise and resubmit. nt

[stevenleser]

38. You dont like it because it utterly shreds your argument. Noted. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

39. OK: Obama helped kill benefits in SELF DEFENSE? Really?

Wow.

[former9thward]

40. I'm sure that is what wsws is doing

But I was referring to the basic facts that were in the OP.

[Citizen Worker]

27. The country is and has been in the control of Business Party 1 and Business Party 2 and for those

DUers who have said that the Democratic Leadership Council is dead and gone I offer this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017508336_reardon15m.html
You will read that a well known democratic office holder used a DLC conference in D.C., to facilitate a tryst with his longtime girlfriend. The DLC is running the democratic party and the DLC is why I won't vote for any democrat who doesn't take a public stand against "free" trade.

[bvar22]

33. Thank You for that link.

There IS a persistent campaign to deny the existence of the DLC,
even here on DU.

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the World that he did not exist."---Verbal Kent



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
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[woo me with science]

34. You cannot solve a problem if you refuse to acknowledge it.

Excellent link. Thank you.

[One of the 99]

42. Article is total spin

If there was no deal, benefits would end after 26 weeks. What they did was extend them to 73 weeks and that is a good thing.

[unkachuck]

44. be sure....

....to vote this November, vote for the capitalist of your choice, but vote!