SENATE ACTION IS NO JOBS BILL

Rochester, N.Y.--

Washington Democrats are set to pass an extension of unemployment benefits today. The presence of Carte Goodwin, Sen. Robert Byrd's temporary replacement, gives them the 60 votes necessary to break the Republicans' -- and Ben Nelson's -- filibuster of the bill.

The good news today is that there is an unemployment bill that will be passed. The bad news? It`s not a jobs bill. It used to be a jobs bill. Once upon a time, our fearless Senate leaders saw that the economy was still in very bad shape, that the unemployment rate in this country was still above 9 percent.

There is of course an extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed which is the most efficient way for the government to stimulate the economy because it puts money into the hands of people who need it badly and will therefore spend it right away putting it straight back into the economy.

This unemployment extension alone is expected to support 800,000 jobs through economic stimulus. But there were going to be so many other things in the jobs bill, too. Aid to state governments so that states don't have to layoff teachers. An extra tier of unemployment benefits so when people have used up their benefits and still don't have a job they don't immediately fall off the financial cliff and become homeless and a giant strain on the economy. Or extra Medicaid funding so that state governments don't have to make big budget cuts and layoffs to pay their Medicaid bills.  This is not good news to the public employees of New York state.

But this small victory obscures the bigger picture. Republicans managed to take a jobs bill, weaken it to an unemployment benefits package and state and local relief bill, weaken that to an unemployment benefits bill, and then weaken that bill altogether.

The bill does not include an extension of the $25-a-week Federal Additional Compensation funds, tacked onto many unemployment checks. It also does not include any of the other provisions originally included in or proposed for the jobs bill or extenders package: It does not close tax loopholes, or provide Medicaid funding to states, or include funds to keep teachers and other state employees working. It also does not create an additional fifth tier of benefits; federal extensions only continue in states with higher than an 8 percent unemployment rate, and the maximum weeks of state and federal benefits remains ninety-nine.

Republicans in the Senate, in other words, have won the fight over further spending on job creation.  This effort should be seen for what it truly is.  Republicans have no interest in improving the jobless rate so they can have political ammunition for November.  It is criminal to behave this way.  The GOP has the Democrats where they want them.  The jobs bill argument was narrowed to unemployment benefits only, and Democrats can't even reliably win those votes. So much for bold progressive action to improve the quality of life for middle class America.  That should trouble working families everywhere.

Commentary by Ove Overmyer