Slow Progress On Long-Term Unemployment Benefits As 1.6 Million Miss Out

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/unemployment-benefits_n_4661010.html

Slow Progress On Long-Term Unemployment Benefits As 1.6 Million Miss Out
Arthur Delaney
Posted: 01/24/2014 4:22 pm EST | Updated: 01/24/2014 4:59 pm EST

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are almost getting somewhere on restoring unemployment insurance to the 1.3 million workers whose benefits lapsed last month. Sort of.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told reporters Friday that he's been talking to a handful of Senate Republicans during this week's congressional recess about how to pay for the benefits in a way that would make them happy.

~snip~

"I don't want to presume we've got a solution but we're working awfully hard to get one," Reed said. "We're looking at different approaches."

Moderate Senate Republicans have said they'd like to preserve federal unemployment insurance for workers who run out of state benefits, but only if the cost of the federal program is offset with cuts to other parts of the budget. Last week Democrats put together a bill to keep the long-term benefits for 11 months, but Republicans voted against it because they didn't like the offsets Democrats had chosen.



unhappycamper comment: Looking for offsets?

Here's a five plus billion dollar offset:




Here's another failing thirty five billion dollar miss:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11783348
Boeing Surveillance Plane Not Yet Effective, U.S. Tester Finds


If you want some cushion, here's another forty billion (this camper's guesstimate) piece of equipment that should be stopped:




I could go on but you get the idea, the bottom line is guns or butter.





Guns are winning.