Obama vil forlænge arbejdsløshedsunderstøttelse

Præsident Barack Obama vil forlænge den periode, hvor arbejdsløse i USA kan hæve understøttelse, op til 99 uger. Men republikanerne i Kongressen har afvist denne forlængelse, som vil koste 30 mia. USD, uden en anvisning på tilsvarende besparelser andre steder på budgettet. Det vil være den 8. forlængelse af understøttelsen under den krise.

Arbejdsløsheden i USA er i dag 9,5%. Det er et godt stykke over de 8%, som Obama administrationen lovede, da Kongressen vedtog stimuleringspakken til 862 mia. USD sidste år. Pakken har ikke haft den tilsigtede virkning, hvilket kan skyldes, at virksomhederne er tilbageholdende med at udvide og ansætte nye medarbejdere med udsigten til store skattestigninger, som allerede sætter ind fra 1. januar.

Så Obama vil give amerikanerne understøttelse, når han ikke har kunnet give dem arbejde. Problemet er bare, at længere dagpengeperiode vil øge arbejdsløsheden. Se i øvrigt lederen i WSJ i dag (20/7):

"Presidents typically invite Americans to appear at Rose Garden press conferences to trumpet their policy successes, but yesterday we saw what may have been a first. President Obama introduced three Americans—an auto worker, a fitness center employee and a woman in real estate—who've been out of work so long they underscore the failure of his economic program. Where are his spinmeisters when he really needs them?

Sure, Mr. Obama's ostensible purpose was to lobby Congress for the eighth extension of jobless benefits since the recession began, to a record 99 weeks, or nearly two years. And he whacked Senate Republicans for blocking the extension, though Republicans are merely asking that the extension be offset by cuts in other federal spending.

But Mr. Obama was nonetheless obliged to concede that, 18 months after his $862 billion stimulus, there are still five job seekers for every job opening and that 2.5 million Americans will soon run out of unemployment benefits. What happens when the 99 weeks of benefits run out? Will the President demand that they be extended to three years, or four?"

...

"The President is right that "we've got a lot of work to do" to get Americans back to work and that the toll on families from high unemployment is considerable. There are few things in life more demoralizing than being unemployed for a lengthy period of time. But paying people not to work and adding $30 billion more to nearly $1.4 trillion of deficit spending is a dismal substitute for real economic growth and private job creation. Republicans are right to resist it".