Once again, Republicans in Congress have offered to provide additional unemployment benefits to millions of jobless Americans without adding to our national debt. But once again, Democrats have insisted that those benefits be extended by adding to the appalling $13 trillion debt.
Democrats are accusing the GOP of “blocking” the extra aid to the long-term unemployed — of whom there are sadly many. But who is really doing the “blocking”?
Republicans want to vote for extra jobless benefits, and to pay for them by pulling back some of the unspent “stimulus” funds that congressional Democrats approved last year. Given the failure of the $862 billion stimulus to keep down unemployment as promised, it makes a lot of sense to divert some of the money that has not yet been spent into helping the unemployed.
But Democrats say no. They are determined not only to spend the entire stimulus on more of the wasteful projects that it has funded so far, but to actually borrow more money to pay for new “stimulus.” They demand that the proposed jobless benefits be added to our shocking national debt.
“Americans are not receiving their unemployment checks because Democrats refuse to pay for these benefits at a time of record federal deficits,” U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., correctly observed.
We certainly wish any American who wants a job could find one. But if unemployment benefits are to be extended, wouldn’t it be far more reasonable to do that by using existing federal funds rather than borrowing more?