On Morning Of Big Budget Vote, GOP Leaders Spare A Moment To Chat Unemployment (VIDEO)

On Morning Of Big Budget Vote, GOP Leaders Spare A Moment To Chat Unemployment (VIDEO)



House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) strolled out
of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)'s office Thursday talking to
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.). Cantor
declined to comment on the meeting before parting ways with the two
Democrats.


"Speaker Boehner encouraged us to work with the House Ways and Means
Committee to move this bill forward, and while we will certainly do so,
we maintain that these long term unemployed workers deserve a floor vote
now," Lee said in a statement after the meeting. "Frankly, where there
is a will there is a way, and we hope that the Republican leadership
will show some serious will to move this vital effort forward."


"We'll have to see what they do, but they clearly understand the desperate situation that people are in," Scott said.

Earlier this year, Lee and Scott introduced a bill
to give the long-term jobless an additional 14 weeks of unemployment
insurance benefits. The bill went nowhere, as it would cost roughly $16
billion and the new Republican majority has no appetite for new
spending.

But after Lee and Scott said they'd be open to looking for budget cuts to offset the cost of the unemployment benefits, Boehner and Cantor agreed to meet with them. Lee said they didn't talk about cuts during the meeting, however.

"We didn't talk about that because we still maintain it's an
emergency," she told HuffPost. "They understood this very well. There
was no conflict about this being an emergency."






Boehner's office declined to comment on the meeting.

Most Democrats insist federally-funded extended unemployment benefits
be given an "emergency" designation, exempting them from "pay as you
go" budget rules.

The benefits serve a two-fold purpose: to provide a
cushion for layoff victims and to stimulate the economy, since the
unemployed tend to spend their benefits quickly on necessities like food
and shelter. Some economists say offsetting the cost of the benefits counteracts some of that stimulative impact.



Some four million people will exhaust their unemployment benefits this year, according to a White House estimate.
Yet the Lee-Scott bill is not likely to become law anytime soon, as
deficit reduction has become Washington's top priority. No Democratic
leaders have suggested they would support "paying for" extra benefits
with budget cuts, and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus
suggested in a meeting with President Obama that the bill would be too costly.

Nevertheless, Lee and Scott pledged to plod on.



"We're going to strategize and work on this and figure it out, but
we're still focused," Lee said. "We didn't leave the meeting saying
there's nothing left to do. We have plenty to do to move this along, and
that's what we're going to do."


The meeting had originally been scheduled for last Thursday, but
Boehner had to cancel because he was summoned to the White House for
last-minute negotiations on a budget deal that would avert a government
shutdown. A vote on that deal will be held in both the House and Senate
later on Thursday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/gop-leaders-chat-unemployment-video_n_849189.html

Here we go again ..........

Thank you Boehner and Cantor for your half-an-hour time to help the desperately hurting American people. I appreciate it very much.

I don't know what to make out of this meeting. I suppose I will have to wait until the bill comes out of the Ways and Means Committee, year 2090. Was this meeting to appease the unemployed after all the faxing and emails? Hmmmmmm.

Next week's agenda for Boehner.

Need2Bworking wrote:Yet the Lee-Scott bill is not likely to become law anytime soon, as deficit reduction has become Washington's top priority. No Democratic
leaders have suggested they would support "paying for" extra benefits
with budget cuts, and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus
suggested in a meeting with President Obama that the bill would be too costly.

Nevertheless, Lee and Scott pledged to plod on.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/gop-leaders-chat-unemployment-video_n_849189.html

Since Art Delaney continues to insist that HR589 will not pass.....it would be good to hear what ideas he has to solve the emergency crisis situation of millions of Americans abandoned with no jobs & no unemployment benefits.

Phillymg wrote:

Need2Bworking wrote:Yet the Lee-Scott bill is not likely to become law anytime soon, as deficit reduction has become Washington's top priority. No Democratic
leaders have suggested they would support "paying for" extra benefits
with budget cuts, and the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus
suggested in a meeting with President Obama that the bill would be too costly.

Nevertheless, Lee and Scott pledged to plod on.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/14/gop-leaders-chat-unemployment-video_n_849189.html

Since Art Delaney continues to insist that HR589 will not pass.....it would be good to hear what ideas he has to solve the emergency crisis situation of millions of Americans abandoned with no jobs & no unemployment benefits.

His idea is to probably deny the problem exists. De Nile, it's not just for Egypt anymore.