Blog: The Fine Print

Emergency Unemployment Extension Expected to Take Back Seat to Tax Extenders

by Jessica Schieder, 4/25/2014

Revenue & Spending, Tax Loopholes, Unemployment Insurance, Corporate Tax Loophole, Tax Extenders

On Monday, the House recess ends, and representatives will be returning to Washington.

Before the recess, the Senate passed legislation to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, supporting the retroactive extension of assistance to job-seekers who are struggling to find employment in a rough job market. In theory, representatives have spent the last two weeks in their home districts interacting with and getting feedback from their constituents, including on long-term unemployment insurance.

While the House was out, we learned a few new facts about the health of the middle class and the opportunities available to working Americans, all of which support the argument that working Americans are facing real challenges in getting ahead.

  • The American middle class is no longer the world’s richest. Increases in American middle-class income have failed to grow at the pace seen in other countries, and poorer Americans are even worse off when compared internationally. After-tax middle-class incomes are now highest in Canada, and other countries such as Norway and the Netherlands are catching up.

  • Working Americans are vulnerable. Forty-three percent of Americans say that if they were out of work for a month, they would encounter significant financial hardship.

  • The number of the long-term unemployed has remained unchanged at approximately 3.7 million. These individuals, who are defined as those who have been jobless for more than 27 weeks, account for 35.8 percent of the total number of Americans who are unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

Given these statistics and the ongoing hardships millions of Americans are facing every day, one would think that the House would be poised to act on the EUC extension with a sense of urgency.

So what do we know about the House’s schedule for the next week?

As politicians return to Washington on Monday, leadership in the House of Representatives has the ability to bring the extension of emergency unemployment compensation to the floor for a vote. The benefits would assist more than 2.5 million Americans who are actively looking for jobs but are unable to find them in a rough job market.

But Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is unlikely to bring the bill to the floor. While speaking to an audience after the Senate passed a bill to extend the EUC program, Boehner insisted that a new proposal be brought forward. Essentially, he told the Senate to start over. He also echoed previous comments that the package must be paid for (it is) and insisted that it include “things that would help get our economy moving” (without the bill’s passage, 240,000 jobs could be lost). Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are reportedly planning to meet with Boehner to discuss the bill.

So what legislation will the House be working on next week?

Tax extenders. An expensive collection of tax give-aways that overwhelmingly benefit corporations is expected to be the first matter of business for the House on Tuesday. These tax breaks include incentives for corporations to move profits and jobs overseas. Included in this package is the “GE Loophole,” which helped General Electric – a household name in the United States – to avoid paying taxes on $27.5 billion in profits between 2008 and 2012 by moving profits offshore.

The House majority seems more than willing to extend a helping hand to corporations, whose profits are at all-time highs, but for working families, House leadership continues to deliberately delay and obstruct needed assistance.

 

The following are resources to make sure politicians continue to hear your voice on emergency unemployment compensation (EUC):

  • Urge your representative to support the unemployment extension when the issue comes up in the House by entering your zip code here. You’ll be directed to a letter put together by the Half in Ten campaign.

  • Call your representative using this number, provided by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): 877-363-6141.

  • Share your story via our web form here, which we will share with representatives and journalists to highlight the urgency of renewing unemployment insurance.

  • Join our Google Group to share stories and resources with others who are either unemployed or passionate about the issue.

  • Stay in touch with the Center for Effective Government by signing up for our e-mail updates and action alerts here.

  • Find links to the Center for Effective Government's recent blog posts on unemployment insurance here.

 

For Further Reading:

Emergency Unemployment Benefits Bill Passes the Senate, Increasing Pressure on the House, The Fine Print blog, April 8, 2014

Stories of Americans Cut Off of Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Government Matters, April 22, 2014

Emergency Unemployment Extension Expected to Take Back Seat to Tax Extenders, The Fine Print blog, April 25, 2014

Technically Speaking: Making Sense of Discharge Petitions, Cloture and Filibusters, The Fine Print blog, May 5, 2014

Unemployed Americans Kicked Out of Capitol, Forced to Share Their Stories Outside, The Fine Print, May 10, 2014

Six Months after Emergency Unemployment Benefits Expired, 2.8 Million Americans Left Behind, The Fine Print, May 20, 2014

back to Blog
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
You know what.... Fire all in congress and refuse them unemployment you will see how fast they will restore it. I have been unemployed since may of last year and started going to school I have no money for books, I have been struggling each and everyday and I came from a solid work ethic background making great money every 2 weeks and now to absolutely nothing not even a dime! I'm so embarrassed I can't even afford books for school. I signed up for the 599.2 program but that means nothing...what these republicans fail to realize is that the job market is not sky high!! There's no jobs out there !! Restore back the euc!!!! Stop being dictators !!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
Yeah I feel President Obama let us down too...I felt he didn't push the EUC issue hard enough. Shit now you can barely get him to even talk about it. If we were important to him every public appearance he made he should've been saying something about EUC. But when you're set for life and don't have to worry about getting re-elected you tend to forget about the little man. Mr. President I know you can do anything until Congress signs it but you should've had our backs a lil bit more than what you showed. How's your wife and kids...mines are starving snd can't even afford the basic necessities in life.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
ANONYMOUS@10:25 LMAO...THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING! TO ALL OF YOU THAT VOTED FOR REPUBLICANS HOW CAN YOU BE IN SHOCK AND NOT KNOW REPUBLICANS WOULD TREAT YOU THIS WAY? THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR YEARS...NOW THAT YOU'VE DROPPED DOWN TO THE POOR CLASS WITH US YOU WANNA CRY AND WANT PITTY...FOR REAL ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU VOTED FOR REPUBLICANS NOW LAY IN THE BED YOU HAVE MADE AND DEAL WITH IT!!! YOU'RE GETTING EXACTLY WHAT YOU DESERVE FOR VOTING REPUBLICAN. NOW THEY ARE SITTING BACK LAUGHING AT ALL YOU DUMB BUTTS. LMMAO!
Submitted by sharky (not verified) on 04/26/14
WELL WELL WELL, HERE WE ARE 30 TO 60 YEARS LATER AND FINALLY IN GEORGE ORWELLS' MUCH PREDICTED FUTURE WORLD. WE AS IN AMERICAN BORN CITIZENS HAVE ALL BEEN FINALLY SOLD OUT TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER CORPORATIONS, MEANING BIG OIL; BIG PHARMA, THE BANKSTERS, ANY AND ALL TYPES OF BIG GIANT INSURANCE COMPANIES, BIG BUSINESS ETC.... ON AND ON AND ON. THEY HAVE BEEN RUNNING THIS COUNTRY FOR AT LEAST 40 IF NOT 50 YEARS! THEY ARE THE ONES THAT LOBBIED AND BOUGHT, BRIBED AND SOLD ALL THE CROOKS IN WASHINGTON DC ON BOTH SIDES UP TO AND INCLUDING THE SENATE, THE CONGRESS, THE PRESIDENT'S PAST AND PRESENT, THEIR CABINETS, SUPREME COURT, MAYORS, COUNCIL PEOPLE, STATE LEGISLATORS OF ALL 50 STATES, JUDGES OF ALL TYPES, LAWYERS OF ALL TYPES IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY ON AND ON AND ON!!! UNTIL WE THE PEOPLE OF THIS ONCE GREAT COUNTRY VOTE ALL THESE BUMS ON ALL SIDES OUT OF OFFICE AND REPLACE THEM WITH A NEW PARTY AND GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO PROVE THEMSELVES FOR REAL, TRUE, HONEST CHANGE FOR THIS COUNTRY THEN MAYBE , JUST MAYBE WE WILL TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK AND TRY OUR BEST TO PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER AND MAKE THIS COUNTRY WORK AGAIN FOR EVERYONE NOT JUST THE FEW RICH THAT ARE RUNNING THIS COUNTRY NOW AND HAVE BEEN FOR AT LEAST 40 YEARS NOW. DON'T YOU THINK IT'S ABOUT TIME TO MAKE A REAL TRUE REALISTIC DRAMATIC CHANGE TO THIS CORRUPT GOVERNMENT FROM LOCAL, CITY, STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS THAT HAVE BASICALLY ENSLAVED US FOR PROFIT ALL THESE DECADES. I SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. PEOPLE OF ALL TYPES IN ALL STATES NEED TO FINALLY STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND JOIN TOGETHER AND WITH OUR VOTING POWER WE CAN DO IT, BUT MOST IF NOT ALL PEOPLE DON'T VOTE, THAT IS WHY THEY KEEP DOING WHAT THEIR DOING BECAUSE THEY KNOW WE ARE STUPID, LAZY, UNEDUCATED, UNIMFORMED AND THEY WANT TO KEEP IT THAT WAY FOR THEIR BENEFIT NOT OURS.
Submitted by bonnbus (not verified) on 04/26/14
1hotmess (not verified) (4/26/14 5:57am) You said just what we all have, and are going through. You need to fax this letter over to boneheads ( Boehner) office. Fax it every hour. If you can't I'll fax it for you. Its not like I have anything else to do. If we fax enough of everything and leave enough voice mails, they will have to listen to them all and read all the fax they receive too see if there is anything else they are missing. That way we can't make it to DC but our faxes and voice mails are there.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
EUC will pass !! Too many people have taken notice of this back room tax extender legislation. Besides the fact that corporate tax evasion is Totally ILLEGAL and never was meant to get any real publicity from our press, Congress will have gone too far by putting the needs of record profit corporations over the unemployed workers they have so artfully managed to avoid for 4 long months. The corporations are now nervous because of the horrible timing this will leak out and they know "We The People" are ready to put a stop to this tax loophole that is the true cause of our JOBS going overseas. Boehner will be pressured from the right to pass EUC now because corporate Americans will want their 50 billion just as the unemployed will need their 10 billion in aid. It will cause a huge showdown and there are many more little people that arent going away --- GOP will cave this week or next and restore benefits for all but only because they will finally have no choice.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
I am not unemployed now, but I remember a time not long after Reagan's Savings & Loan deregulation stole all of my home equity and Bush One invaded Kuwait and put my employer out of business. I lost my home and survived by eating fruit off of trees in an alley. Eventually I found a job and worked my way up to top management. Now I am retired and live on Social Security, but because a family member lost their job of 17 years when new laws were passed by the City of Los Angeles and bankrupted his employer, I am now supporting an unemployed person. Unlike many people I know, my Social Security is above the poverty level, but not when I am supporting another person. So my family member had to cancel phone, internet, car insurance, cable TV, credit cards, and all the other stuff and move in with me. Then I had to cancel, phone, satellite TV, Netflix, pool service, lawn service, etc., etc., etc., and yet every month I burn through $800 of savings and credit. When enough people have to cancel all of their services, more people will lose their jobs. There is a chain reaction going on here that will eventually put our economy into a depression. The unemployed have to pay tax on their unemployment while 30 of the biggest corporations pay no tax at all. With profits of $80 Billion or more, and not paying taxes, these corporations also receive subsidies (welfare) from the government. Billions more in foreign aid goes to corrupt governments. We are still sending foreign aid to China! Some Congressmen insist that the benefits must be paid for with cuts in other places. The Federal government has been collecting a tax from employers called FUTA since 1935 and maintains a Federal Unemployment Trust Fund. They already have the money! Some Congressmen say that the solution is to lower the corporate tax. How do you lower something that is already below zero? We have money for corporation, the very wealthy, corrupt foreign government, and everyone else in the world except our own people. Maybe joe has the solution?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 04/26/14
I am one of you (the long term unemployed) and Iam sick and tired of all this talking. I say it is time for action. This is dispread times and it time for dispread actions. It is time to organize and stand up and make a LOUD noise. It is time to let JOHN BOEHNER AND THE REST OF THE DON’T GIVE A DAMN CONGRESS know that we are AMERICAN CITIZENS and we will NOT ALLOW them to deny us of your SELF RESPECT and DIGNITY. TELL them to STOP acting as though it is their money. TELL their greedy ass that we will not allow them to make us summit to their desire to turn us into their (Slaves, and or Beggars, Criminals) Absolut PEONS. IT IS TIME STAND UP MAKE ALOUD NOISE! The media doesn’t care I have ask for their help in the past. STAND UP or BE a PEON. STND UP STND UP STAND UP! Walk, RUN SHOUT PUT YOUR PIDE TO THE SIDE> FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.
Submitted by CJ Fedup (not verified) on 04/26/14
Joe.....agree with your commentary.....dead on.
Submitted by MAD AS HELL VETERAN (not verified) on 04/26/14
Speaker Boehner is looking for a reason, any reason, to keep millions of people economically struggling. Republicans view throwing people off of unemployment benefits as a political winner. They are convinced that they can escape blame for their actions. Boehner and his House Republicans are certain that America will blame President Obama. The truth is that there are enough Republicans in the House who would join with Democrats to pass the unemployment benefits extension. Boehner had to come up with some reason to keep the bill off of the House floor. Now that he’s got it, millions of hard working Americans are going to be thrown into economic uncertainty and poverty, thanks to John Boehner.
  • ©2015 Center for Effective Government
  • All Rights Reserved.
  • This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight.