July 30, 2020
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Senate GOP proposes to remove perverse pandemic incentive to stay on unemployment for some who make more in benefits than at their jobs
Senate Republicans
are proposing to modify expanded unemployment under the COVID-19 pandemic to
remove a perverse incentive for many workers to stay on unemployment rather
than return to their jobs after the economy reopens because they are making
more money collecting benefits. Originally a stopgap when the federal and state
governments were moving to lockdown the economy nationwide to slow the spread
of the virus, the months-long provision is now up for renewal. The current
provision adds $600 on top of regular weekly unemployment benefits, and Senate
Republicans want to reduce that to $200 instead, and move it 70 percent of
current wages in October. Naturally, House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy
Pelosi are decrying the “cut,” which still keeps unemployment benefits greater
than they previously were under federal law. But with GDP contracting almost 33
percent in the second quarter, it is precisely the incentives to stay home that
could make this the deepest recession in a generation.
Video: Whatever the hell Joe Biden is on! That crime bill of his.
In the 1990s,
then-Senator Joe Biden pushed for a crime bill that was to "lock the
S.O.B.s up!" As time went on, he stopped being so tough on crime. Now he
is calling police the enemy. Hear from ALG President Rick Manning as he ponder
whatever the hell Joe Biden is on!
Video: Attorney Gen. Barr is right, Portland rebellion is an assault on the U.S. gov't and must be quelled
Attorney General Barr
is right when he says “What unfolds nightly around the courthouse [in Portland]
cannot reasonably be called a protest; it is, by any objective measure, an
assault on the Government of the United States.” These are not peaceful
protests, by wanton acts of political violence and an attempt to overthrow the
federal government.
Ben Shapiro: The Left's Willingness to Tolerate Violence Should Frighten All Americans
“With Democrats
and those in the media willing to run cover for violent leftists, the thin
veneer of civilization disintegrates. When violence is excused as speech and
speech by the opposition labeled violence, democracies die. With each passing
day of silence by those who should know better -- or worse, those
propagandizing on behalf of those who engage in criminal activity -- America
draws closer to the brink.”
Senate GOP proposes to remove perverse pandemic incentive to make more with unemployment benefits than at your job
By Robert Romano
Senate Republicans are proposing to modify expanded unemployment under the COVID-19 pandemic to remove a perverse incentive for many workers to stay on unemployment rather than return to their jobs after the economy reopens because they are making more money collecting benefits.
Originally a stopgap when the federal and state governments were moving to lockdown the economy nationwide to slow the spread of the virus, the months-long provision is now up for renewal upon expiring July 31.
The current provision adds $600 on top of regular weekly unemployment benefits, and Senate Republicans want to reduce that to $200 instead, and move the overall assistance to no more than 70 percent of current wages in October.
Naturally, House Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are decrying the “cut,” which still keeps unemployment benefits greater than they previously were under federal law.
"There are trillions of dollars being used now by the Fed and our government to bolster the stock market. Stock market's in good shape, right? And that may be a good idea. Why can't we spend trillions of dollars to bolster the middle class?... Why are you quibbling over $600 when people need that to buy food, pay their rent?” Pelosi asked in a July 27 MSNBC interview.
The second quarter hit the U.S. particularly hard, with the Gross Domestic Product dropping a record 32.9 percent according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis as Americans remained sheltered in their homes for months, by far the worst economic quarter in U.S. history.
And that was with trillions of dollars being pumped into the economy by Congress and the Federal Reserve.
From the Bureau, “The decline in second quarter GDP reflected the response to COVID-19, as ‘stay-at-home’ orders issued in March and April were partially lifted in some areas of the country in May and June, and government pandemic assistance payments were distributed to households and businesses. This led to rapid shifts in activity, as businesses and schools continued remote work and consumers and businesses canceled, restricted, or redirected their spending.”
Since labor markets bottomed in April with 23 million jobs lost, between 7.8 million and 8.8 million jobs were added back to the economy in May and June, with millions more expected in July as states continue slowly reopening.
That may lead to a record third quarter on the upside, but one headwind — besides a resurgence of the virus — that could stop the recovery dead in its tracks would be if it remains more profitable for individuals to stay on unemployment rather than go back to work.
It is precisely the incentives to stay home that could make this the deepest recession in a generation.
Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden would like to keep it that way, pushing for endless unemployment extensions like the Obama-Biden administration did a decade ago in the Great Recession with 99 weeks. It suits their desire to implement the Green New Deal for millions of Americans to stay off the roads — essentially universal basic income as an alternative to work while we all wait for a vaccine.
But what if there is no vaccine for COVID-19? After all, there has never been an effective vaccine for a coronavirus in human history.
That could mean we are sitting around waiting for nothing.
We know more about the virus now, and the mortality rate has dropped significantly as medical professionals have developed more effective treatments and cures. This might be as good as it gets.
Either way, that is why the federal government needs to start adjusting incentives to prepare for fully reopening the economy, vaccine or no vaccine. We cannot stay locked up forever.
That means schools need to be safely reopened to help parents to get back to work. And Congress has to make certain that individuals are not making more on unemployment than they made at their jobs — or else this recession could go on for a long, long time.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
Video: Whatever the hell Joe Biden is on! That crime bill of his.
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKc0fItRLSQ
Video: Attorney Gen. Barr is right, Portland rebellion is an assault on the U.S. gov't and must be quelled
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ephTuBPtDpE
ALG Editor’s Note: In the following featured column from Realclearpolitics.com, Ben Shapiro takes the left to task for tolerating political violence:
The Left's Willingness to Tolerate Violence Should Frighten All Americans
By Ben Shapiro
"Mostly peaceful."
So goes the characterization of demonstrations that have routinely turned into looting and rioting for months on end, from Portland to Seattle to New York to Los Angeles. "Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified," read one recent ABC News tweet. CNN called protests in Portland "mostly peaceful," adding that "they have at times devolved into violence, vandalism, and arson." During riots in Los Angeles in June, as the entire county locked down, the Los Angeles Times noted, "The third night of countywide curfews followed days of massive, mostly peaceful protests ... Nearly 1,200 people were arrested Sunday after police officers clashed with demonstrators and looters shattered windows and emptied stores in Santa Monica and Long Beach."
The phrase "mostly peaceful," then, is rather fungible. Consider that during the tea party protests of 2011, then-Vice President Joe Biden reportedly likened tea partiers to "terrorists" -- and those protests were notable mostly for people cleaning up their own litter. When anti-lockdown protesters descended on the Michigan state capitol, a columnist for The New York Times labeled them "armed rebels," despite a complete lack of violence. When three white supremacists were arrested for plotting violence at a pro-gun rally, GQ's Talia Lavin headlined, "That Pro-Gun Rally in Virginia Wasn't Exactly 'Peaceful'" -- even though the rally saw no violence.
In truth, the category of "mostly peaceful" is a brand-new invention meant to obscure the simple fact that many of our cultural elites are fine with violence so long as those who engage in such violence have the proper goals. Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the pseudo-historical 1619 Project, celebrated when critics labeled rioting and looting "the 1619 riots"; she added that destruction of property was "not violence." This week, Democrats grilling Attorney General Bill Barr could not be bothered to condemn violence, prompting Barr to rant, "What makes me concerned for the country is this is the first time in my memory the leaders of one of our great two political parties, the Democratic Party, are not coming out and condemning mob violence and the attack on federal courts." This should come as little surprise, given that those same cultural elites have cheered on massive protests in a time of a deadly pandemic, explaining that sometimes politics is just too important to stop a raging disease.
Our journey back to the 1960s is nearly complete. Too many Americans have rejected some of the key lessons of that time -- that a breakdown in law and order costs lives, that political change does not require violence -- in favor of a newfound sense of purpose. These Americans will pat the violent vanguard of revolution on the head, content that they will not pay the price, all the while maintaining that those who crave law and order stand for regressive autocracy. Thus, Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle recently informed MSNBC that federal law enforcement attempting to stop destruction of federal property in Portland actually represented a "dry run for martial law."
With Democrats and those in the media willing to run cover for violent leftists, the thin veneer of civilization disintegrates. When violence is excused as speech and speech by the opposition labeled violence, democracies die. With each passing day of silence by those who should know better -- or worse, those propagandizing on behalf of those who engage in criminal activity -- America draws closer to the brink.
To view online: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/07/29/the_lefts_willingness_to_tolerate_violence_should_frighten_all_americans_143822.html
