Speaking Thursday at the St. Louis County Police and Fire Training Center, Joe Biden described how this nation has stepped back from the brink of economic disaster since Obama took office on January 20th. He started by acknowledging the fear that Americans still live with–fear that their job will be next or that they won’t be able to send their kid to college–or disgust that their house is upside down, in other words, worth less than they paid for it. We’re still losing jobs every month, and until we can create 100,000 or 200,000 well paying jobs a month, we cannot be said to have succeeded.

Biden did a fine job of reminding the audience how bleak the picture was last January 20th and gave plenty of evidence to bear out his claim that we have stepped back from the brink.

I’ll confess to being a Biden fan. I appreciate his mix of policy and passion. But on this last point, I’m taking a wait and see attitude–as, I’m sure, many voters are doing. This administration and the Democratic Congress must create jobs; I hope they have the will and the smarts to do so.

Claire took a lot of heat on this site over her remarks about holding Bush and Cheney “accountable”. Her attitude about spending taxpayer money sensibly is less likely to raise your ire. She responded to a question about her no vote on cap and trade legislation by explaining that in the form it was offered, we were committing ourselves to fifty trillion dollars in pre-spent money–unnecessarily.

She seriously did say fifty trillion. She’s holding out for a better bill.

Similarly, Claire is cautious about the stimulus:

“Let me talk about the stimulus real quickly. I … I …. I hope I can vote for  it. And the reason I say that is I’m nervous. I’m very nervous. I’m very, very nervous. You take the idea that we’re going to spend 500 billion to 700 billion dollars in America and you hand it over to the appropriators. There is a real fear I have that there will be people who will substitute projects in this bill that are not good stimulaters in terms of the economy. This bill is not about solving the problems in America. That’s not what it’s for. It’s not to solve the health care problem. It’s not to help solve the education problem. It’s not there to solve any social problem we have in this country. It is there to create jobs. And if we do not have the discipline to make sure that every dime we spend in the stimulus package is in fact going to create jobs, then we’re going to be throwing away some of your money. And we can’t afford to be throwing away any of your money right now. (…) There’s a lot of ways to create jobs–shovel ready projects, infrastructure–is one way. There are other ways we can create jobs, but that’s the test: that we can create jobs and that we can realistically create them–this is the sticker–within ninety days. So this is not for a long term stimulus; this is for a short term stimulus.”

I want hundreds of billions of dollars spent on creating jobs. I want it spent quickly. But Claire is right. We spent money bailing out banks that are now refusing to lend money to deserving companies. That bill should have been better crafted, and I appreciate Claire’s caution about what gets into the stimulus package.

279-144. Now it goes to the Senate.

Again, Akin and Blunt vote against while Emerson and Graves vote for it. And again, Hulshof is MIA.

Yesterday I posted about extending unemployment insurance (UI) to the the jobless. Congress is considering temporarily extending UI by 13 weeks, a measure that has been shown to be very effective in staving off recession, not to mention helping the 4 million who will run out over the next nine months.  I focused on the Senate, because I just assumed the House would easily be able to pass something like this. I was wrong.

Usually, popular bills that displease a powerful constituency get tied up in procedure in the Senate. But in order to keep the bill from being weakened by amendment or delayed by extended debate, it was considered under a “suspension calendar” which requires a 2/3 majority to pass. It failed 279-144.

All Democrats voted for the bill. Interestingly, although the usual suspects in the Missouri delegation voted against (Akin and Blunt must take it for granted that they will never be beat), Graves and Emerson were released to vote for extended UI. Graves in particular must know that he has a tough fight and can’t afford to get too cute, ideologically speaking. Hulshof was absent, apparently too busy running for governor to make up his mind. Akin, for his part, is oblivious – unemployment in St. Charles County is rising and people are getting nervous. Keep on stumbling, my friend!

Democrats in Congress will try to pass UI extensions again, this time with a simple majority. It should easily pass. Keep the pressure on the Senate!

Senator Kit Bond: (202) 224-5721

Senator Claire McCaskill: (202) 224-6154

Stocks are plunging, the DOE expects gasoline to remain at 4 dollars a gallon for the rest of the year, and the economy is shedding jobs. In Missouri alone, we’ve lost 21,362 jobs over the last five months.

Now, the US Congress is taking a second look at stimulating the economy, including a modest extension of unemployment insurance benefits. This is important because during the negotiations over the stimulus package in the early spring, the Bush administration successfully blocked this same extension in favor of adding new corporate tax breaks. This despite the fact that a bump in unemployment insurance is one of the most effective government tools in fighting a recession, because it gets relief to the unemployed, the people most likely to spend the money quickly to stimulate the economy. What’s more, Congress included just such a temporary increase in 2001 during our last recession.

So the Missouri Budget Project is asking Missourians to call our Senators now to give them our input now. Don’t let Bush block temporary unemployment insurance extensions in favor of corporate welfare again! Congress, and especially the Senate, will not decisively act without a kick in the pants.

Senator Kit Bond: (202) 224-5721

Senator Claire McCaskill: (202) 224-6154

It also wouldn’t hurt to contact your representative, either. So what are you waiting for?

The full MBP press release is below the fold.

Extension of Federal Unemployment Insurance Benefits is Critical to Missouri Families



The most recent employment figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the U.S. economy has lost 324,000 jobs in the last five months. Missouri alone lost 21,362 jobs over that same period.[1] An increasing number of the nation’s unemployed workers are facing long-term unemployment (lasting longer than six months) and have exhausted their unemployment benefits. At the same time families are faced with rising gas and food prices, making it even more difficult for unemployed families to meet their needs.

As a result of the dramatic decline in employment, the U.S. Congress is considering a temporary extension of Unemployment Insurance Benefits from the maximum of 26 weeks to an additional 13 weeks. At times of economic distress such as this, the U.S. Congress has passed similar extensions to help families through the economic decline; and most recently passed a similar temporary extension in 2002.

The cost for extension of the Unemployment Insurance Benefits would be paid from the Federal Unemployment Trust Fund, which currently has $35 billion in reserves, and would therefore not reduce available federal funds for other priorities. Further, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office has stated that extending benefits in this manner is one of the most cost-effective and fastest-acting forms of economic stimulus.[2]

As unemployment grows and jobs become harder to find, passage of the temporary extension of Unemployment Insurance Benefits is a critical and proven tool in assisting Missouri ‘s families to overcome the current economic decline.

Key Facts about the Impact of extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits on Missouri Families

§   Missouri has lost 21,362 jobs in the last five months, resulting in the Unemployment Rate increasing to 5.2.[3]

§   According to the National Employment Law Project, more than 17,000 people in Missouri have already exhausted their Unemployment Insurance benefits, yet remain unemployed. In the next nine months, an estimated 45,000 more workers statewide are expected to join them.[4]

Congress should take immediate action, with the support of Missouri Senators Bond and McCaskill.

Please Contact Senators Bond and McCaskill right away on this critical issue. Thanks for your work for Missouri’s Families!

[1] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/ , figures from December 2007 through April 2008.

[2] U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, “Unemployment Extension Briefing Materials”, June 9, 2008

[3] IBID Footnote #1

[4] National Employment Law Project: http://www.nelp.org/