At a telephonic media conference held by United States Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis early Wednesday afternoon on extending unemployment insurance and payroll tax relief, Secretary Solis said that extending unemployment insurance benefits is not about helping the unemployed, it is about helping the economy. Secretary Solis, clearly not in favor of the House Republican proposal, said that “the Republican proposal to gut unemployment benefits for a payroll tax cut is cutting off our hand to spite our face.”
The Labor Secretary citing other terms of the Republican proposal regarding the unemployment insurance extension stated that cutting unemployment benefits from 99 to 59 weeks would be bad for America’s labor force and the economic recovery. While comparing the House Republican proposal on the table vs. the President's proposal, Solis reported that should the Republicans prevail in scaling back the UI program, such scale-back would result in 1 million Americans losing their benefits next year who would no longer be spending money on goods and services that are vital to the nation’s economic growth.
Labor Secretary Solis further warned that the proposal to eliminate the Non-Reduction Rule would also have a harmful effect stating that eliminating the rule would allow states to slash benefits while getting the federal government to pay for extended benefits for claimants - which could also hamper the overall economic recovery.
According to the Labor Secretary, extending UI benefits works referencing last year as an example when emergency benefits were released to 7 million Americans. When the benefits were extended last year, Secretary Solis reported that an uptick in job creation was seen that kept 3.2 million people from falling into poverty as verified by Census Bureau records.
Lastly, Secretary Solis addressed extending payroll tax relief and said that the same holds true – that the payroll tax cut should be extended. Speaking on behalf of President Obama, Solis informed the media that President Obama not only wanted to extend the payroll tax relief, Obama wished to expand the payroll tax cut by giving the typical working family a tax cut of $1,500 next year. The Labor Secretary also reaffirmed that the tax cuts would be paid for by American millionaires and billionaires although such proposal was voted against by virtually every Senate Republican.
“Putting money into the pockets of unemployed workers will be a boost for state economies that are already suffering, and it will help the economy as a whole. We know that for every dollar in UI benefits handed out, nearly 2 dollars in economic activity is generated,” said the Labor Secretary. In closing, she added that “[i]t's time to stop playing politics and do right by our middle class workers and our long-term unemployed. Now is not the time to turn our backs on them. They deserve action.”
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