Congress has Done Something, which in and of itself would qualify as news, but this time it’s passage of the various sausage-making implements involving extending the payroll tax cut, extended federal unemployment insurance, and the Medicare “doc fix” through the end of the year.
The bill cleared the Senate in a 60-36 vote less than an hour after the House approved it by a 293-132 margin.
A majority of House Republicans and Democrats voted in favor of the bill, though 91 Republicans and 41 Democrats in the chamber voted no. Senate Democrats voted overwhelmingly for the bill while Senate Republicans largely opposed it.
President Barack Obama has promised to sign the legislation as soon as he ends his current trip to the West Coast, ending debate on the politically sensitive measures at least for the duration of the election.
“This is a big deal,” the president told an audience in Washington state. “It is amazing what happens when Congress focuses on doing the right thing instead of just playing politics.”
And while the GOP did drop the payroll tax cut pay-for, paying for the other two required some…sacrifices.
Funding sources to pay for the benefits extension and the doc fix include savings from broadband spectrum sales, increased pension contributions by new federal employees, and cuts to Medicare hospital and specialist fees that will not affect patients, according to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Several Democrats from Maryland and Virginia — near Washington — voted against the package because, they argued, it treats federal employees unfairly by requiring new government hires to contribute more to their pension.
Under the terms of the deal, in states with unemployment rates higher than the national average of 8.3%, the maximum time an unemployed person can receive benefits will drop from 99 to 73 weeks. The maximum length of benefits for people in states with an average unemployment rate or lower will drop to 63 weeks or as far down as 40 weeks.
That part of the deal is not going to be pretty down the road, but this…
In addition, states will be allowed to perform drug tests on individuals applying for unemployment benefits if those people lost their previous job because they either failed or refused an employer’s drug test. Individuals receiving unemployment assistance could also be tested if they are seeking a job that generally requires a drug test.
Also, welfare beneficiaries will be banned from accessing public assistance funds at ATMs in strip clubs, liquor stores, and casinos.
…this is just stupid GOP douchebaggery.
Comrade Dread
Amazing how fast Congress can move when their vacation gets threatened.
They’re still the most useless bunch of corrupt, useless, despicable asshats we’ve seen since antebellum days.
Warren Terra
Who pays to set up this regulatory scheme? And will the cost of setting it up exceed the amount of benefits claimed at these institutions?
Also, I’d not be shocked if the low-paid workers at some of these places get some benefits, and are now inconvenienced in claiming them.
JPL
According to tpmlivewire Reid issued a statement on the Senate floor.. link
Warren Terra
Well played in including in your post a word ([email protected], I think) that sends comments quoting it straight into Moderation.
cathyx
At this rate, congress is going to wish we were all on drugs to numb the pain they are causing us.
The payroll tax cut is going to further weaken social security in the long run.
General Stuck
No, it won’t. But it is also how bills get passed in normal fashion by the US government. Unless one party can get a big enough majority it can do what it wants. It is the first major bit of legislation that has proceeded to passage in such a normal way, since I can about remember. That IS a big deal. Shouldn’t be, but is.
Amazing what rising presidential polling numbers can do to affect how congress operates, especially in an election year. It is a pretty simple equation, when the rubber meets the road. A sort of flight or fight response by wild aminals in the wild. Primal but efficient. And why it is so very important for a party to openly support their president, and dissent in a responsible manner when they disagree with this or that action.
Martin
I wonder what qualifies as a liquor store? Here in CA the difference between a liquor store, a gas station mini-mart, and a grocery store can be difficult to discern.
Amir Khalid
Does this cause any inconvenience to low-wage employees of such establishments who are receiving assistance?
butler
@Martin: A very good point. In New York there are bodegas on every corner. They can’t technically sell wine or liquor but they do sell plenty of beer. I wounder if they qualify as “liquor stores” under how this rule is written.
Zandar
@General Stuck: Nothing that voting 100 or so additional congressional Republicans out of office wouldn’t fix.
Guster
Am I wrong in thinking that “293-132” means we didn’t push for enough concessions? That’s just cynical butthurtism?
General Stuck
@Amir Khalid:
It doesn’t for food stamps, anymore, but may for states that deliver general cash assistance via their welfare programs. At least it was like that, that may have changed over the years.
butler
@Amir Khalid: Silly Amir, everyone (everyone in the GOP, that is) knows that welfare recipients don’t have jobs! Hell, most probably can’t even spell the word, right Newt?
cmorenc
What ever will I do now on the first Friday night of each month if I can’t get my welfare check cashed in a strip club?
Linnaeus
@Martin:
That’s true in a lot of states, I would guess. This could be a serious problem in areas where low-income people shop for things at establishments that also sell liquor. Often, they have nowhere else to go. The food stamp program probably mitigates that to some degree.
General Stuck
@Zandar:
Absolutely. Any one of the four remaining GOP clowns could potentially cause such a voter revolt, up and down the ticket this year.
Brachiator
@Comrade Dread:
Oh yes. The part I like is how they are also trying to quietly put together another online piracy bill that gives the entertainment industry everything they want.
@Amir Khalid:
Not sure how many people could both be on welfare and also working, but it is a good question.
But here’s some background from a 2010 news story
I don’t know. Nearly $2 million in a month is a chunk of cash.
butler
These things are usually a lot closer than the final score would indicate. Once the deal is struck a lot of people usually jump on board.
FormerSwingVoter
@Martin: I’ve got similar thoughts on how the Cashino part will work too. If you’re at a convenience store in Nevada that has a slot machine, is that accessible or inaccessible? Racetracks? Bingo halls?
I don’t think it’s a bad restriction, just so long as Cashinos/Liquor Stores/Strip clubs are properly defined.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
A previous comment got moderated. Tried to provide some background from a 2010 news story
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
Well, looks like a pollster finally managed to divert the freshman GOP class attention from their taxpayer-funded boyrape orgies and coke binges long enough to let them all know the party was going to end unless they at least tried to appear as though they gave a shit about working people in America.
Hope Obama doesn’t think that they’re finally listening to him. This is just an election-year ploy, the GOP will be right back again to their life’s work of fucking over middle-class America as soon as the polls close next November.
Benjamin Franklin
Question: Why is it Federal Employees do not participate in SS?
pragmatism
the gopers should spin this as promoting exercise. most welfare beneficiaries would have to walk to the nearest atm from the strip club/casino/liquor store. QED?
burnspbesq
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
Was that really necessary? There is plenty of factual stuff out there with which to beat on House GOP. No need to make stupid shit up.
butler
It was 1.8 million spread over 8 months.
Kristin
The Chamber of Commerce isn’t going to Luke the casino/liquor store rule.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@burnspbesq: It’s always necessary when going up against a bunch of people that literally want you dead, you pearl-clutching imbecile. Shall I direct you to the nearest fainting couch so that you may regain your composure after reading such vulgar, vile words?
Idiot.
ant
@cathyx:
i couldnt give a fuck less.
my payroll taxes have been propping up the general fund my whole fucking life.
its time for the general fund to give it back.
CarolDuhart2
We, hired after 1988, are on the FERS system where we do pay and can collect Social Security. However, we do have a off-set where our Social Security payments are off-set by reductions in our pension.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@Benjamin Franklin: Separate pension system, just like schoolteachers and train conductors, to name the two examples that I know of.
les
Multiply redundant phrase is redundant.
priscianusjr
Suffern ACE
@Benjamin Franklin: Because it is easier to fool around with pension payments based on robust assupmtions about the growth prospects of investments than it is to automatically match wage income no matter what the conditions. Same with state and local government employers who have opted out of the system based on constitutional claims.
Ahasuerus
@cathyx:
Not necessarily; I recall reading that any shortfalls in the social security fund caused by this (temporary) tax cut will be made up for by contributions from the general fund. If true, this measure will contribute to the budget deficit and overall debt, but not specifically to the social security fund.
Ruckus
@Martin:
My local Safeway is all 3.
So was the Giant Eagle in OH when I lived there 6-7yrs ago.
HelpThe99ers
Based on the latest numbers, there were just over 1.9 million men and women who exhausted their unemployment benefits after hitting the 99-week maximum. (Current Population Survey, December 2011)
Those people were still looking for jobs – that’s why they’re still counted in the workforce. There’s an uncounted number of people who have given up – no job, no benefits, and no longer in the workforce.
With the UI reductions in this bill, that 1.9 million figure grows to between 2.23 million and 2.49 million, based on the 63/73 week maximums.
I’m glad the bill was passed – the payroll tax is important to the economy and as a way of showing what Democrats stand for – but did the long-term unemployed have to get it in the neck, again?
Martin
Oh, and there may be an unintended (or intended) benefit of the liquor store thing. In a lot of really poor neighborhoods, there are no grocery stores – just liquor stores. That’s where you buy your shitty groceries. And if they can’t take food stamps, their revenue is going to largely vanish. That might bring more traditional bodegas into neighborhoods where the liquor stores stole too much of the sales to be viable.
Going to be a pretty painful transition period though. But here’s some info on who qualifies:
So my guess is that the requirements to qualify will just be tightened up from where they are now, but the one in bold is a hell of a decent start. I don’t know how you close the gap between that and ‘liquor store’. Make it a 75% requriement? Or perhaps this is just more culture war bullshit and they don’t intend anything to change other than to reaffirm a previous position.
Martin
@HelpThe99ers:
I think when you have that many people out of work for that long, unemployment benefits isn’t the answer. 2 years is a hell of a long time to not get a job. I think when you’re posting those kinds of numbers, you need direct jobs programs. You need what Obama proposed for vets – a CCC or something similar. Either people will participate or they won’t.
Martin
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
And those are slowly going away as well. We used to have the option to opt out of SS and go with the local pension, but they eliminated that option some many years ago.
The only real reason is inertia. Congress doesn’t want to move federal employees onto SS because they and their staff are federal employees. It’s pretty much that simple. But they should be. SS should work like the new healthcare system – you eat your own dog food.
David Koch
Hilarious.
The wingers constantly scream about regulations and they just passed a bunch of regulations hurting liquor stores.
Maybe the did it to spite Boner, since he’s an alcoholic.
Grover's Bathtub
@Martin: Federal Employees (including members of Congress) DO pay into SS (and have since 1984), but also have a defined contribution plan AND a pension.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
So I guess good old-fashioned pool halls just don’t make the cut any more, as dark and smoke filled dens of sin and inquity? Another relic of my long lost youth, gone forever. Sigh.
Brachiator
@butler:
My bad. I had issues trying to edit and post the article reference, without it showing as being in moderation.
Martin
@Grover’s Bathtub: Hmm, I could have sworn they were exempted under their pension. Looks like I have some reading to do.
HelpThe99ers
@Martin: We have so many people out for so long because the Great Recession dug that deep of a hole out of the economy.
Until the situation improves, UI benefits are the only answer.
Were the only answer, that is.
I think that when you have a jobless recovery that’s lasted as long as this one, you need a safety net program that lasts just as long.
I’d be all for getting the long-term unemployed back to work with infrastructure programs, a modern version of the WPA or CCC… but no one’s passed those bills yet.
Grover's Bathtub
@Martin: Check out Q5 on this link from the SSA for an explanation
butler
@Ruckus: Holy cow, I just realized that too.
Here in CA, almost every grocery store is also a liquor store. And most of the mini marts too. Not to mention all the tobbacco and gift cards and scratch off tickets you can buy at Vons. If this regulation was applied to any store that sells liquor you literally couldn’t use food stamps at the grocery store here.
harlana
cutting 6.5 months worth of unemployment benefits will be devastating. it’s going to hurt a recovery, i don’t know how much but it translates into more than a $1,000 payroll tax cut for 1 year for many, many who still cannot find work. the average monthly unemployment benefit is $1,160.
this is anecdotal, but most people i know of, including myself, who have finally found a job were out of work for 2 years (i was out 1 1/2 months). that’s 104 weeks. lucky for me, i found a job right after my benefits ran out.
if this is what it takes for me to get a $500 tax cut, you can keep it.
Tonal Crow
And did you bitch to your congresscritters about this revolting provision when I asked you to on Wednesday? Seriously this site needs more Tim F.-style advocacy.
OzoneR
@cathyx:
only if we are forced into Greek-like austerity down the line. All this does is increase the deficit because Social Security is still a mandate we will pay for, regardless of if the amount already exist- deficit spending.
Brachiator
@harlana:
Cutting benefits is not good, but it’s more important to do something to stimulate the economy. You also have to do something to blunt the impact of stagnant wages. The payroll tax cut helps in this regard.
Omnes Omnibus
@cmorenc: I am starting a business called “Not a Strip Club;” we will cash your check. Our fitness instructors will perform “zumba” routines and, if they be come overheated, may remove some (all) of their garments, but it isn’t a strip club (note the name).
boss bitch
Wait, I thought you could only collect unemployment if you lost your job through no fault of your own.
This is dumb. How would the unemployment office know this? Are they going to call every employer you said you said applied to and ask? Is the job seeker going to report that they are seeking employment from a job that requires drug testing? What is the purpose of this?
For fuck’s sake. Really cracking down on those leeches aren’t ya GOP!
boss bitch
Wait, I thought you could only collect unemployment if you lost your job through no fault of your own.
This is dumb. How would the unemployment office know this? Are they going to call every employer you said you said applied to and ask? Is the job seeker going to report that they are seeking employment from a job that requires drug testing? What is the purpose of this?
For fuck’s sake. Really cracking down on those leeches aren’t ya GOP! Not like they can’t pull the cash from elsewhere and then go to the strip joint.
Jimbo316
@Comrade Dread: Yep, this is the result of what you get when a combination of low information and alienated voters from the Indies and Dems fail to vote allowing the Republican Orcs to prevail and wreak havoc on democracy. This was 2010.
The Blue Dogs like to consider themselves, I suppose, moderates but in this political environment, their positions are basically conservative. So we have a Congressional delegation that is largely and increasingly unrepresentative of the American public. This is becoming a crisis of governance, at least at the national level.
If the GOP were able to capture all three branches of government, the USA would literally disintegrate as a country.
Smedley the Uncertain
@Amir Khalid: Why would a low income individual, or anyone for that matter. use one of those kinds of ATMs?
The surcharge is outrageous!!
The first National Bank of Walmart is a much better deal. Buy a tube of toothpaste, pay with the card and ask for cash back. And the off to the track/strip joint or wherever.
bob h
The problem with this is that it blunts the do-nothing Congress meme Obama planned to run on.
Bill Murray
@Brachiator: but if you cut money from one person and pay it to a different person, you haven’t done anything to stimulate the economy unless the second group spends more of the money than the first. It seems unlikely that any group would spend more than the unemployed, so this has likely led to less stimulus
Nancy Irving
“In addition, states will be allowed to perform drug tests on individuals applying for unemployment benefits if those people lost their previous job because they either failed or refused an employer’s drug test.”
Doesn’t this already qualify as termination “for cause,” and thus ALREADY (already!) disqualifies you from UE benefits? Or does the GOP just like to say things twice?
As for the no EBT cards at liquor stores, that will be a MAJOR problem in many poor neighborhoods, where the corner liquor stores double as groceries and may be in fact the *only* places to buy food within miles. This will result in severe hardship for poor elderly and disabled people, as well as other poor people without cars.