"Thousands of people in Missouri who have been unemployed for more than a year soon will lose their jobless benefits, marking a significant victory for Republican fiscal hawks who are crusading against government spending.
When eligibility ends Saturday, Missouri will become the only state to voluntarily quit a federal stimulus program that offers extended benefits. Michigan, Arkansas and Florida also recently took steps to cut back on money going to the unemployed, although they targeted state benefits instead.
"We have to take a stand and say, `When is enough enough?' and send a message to the federal government, and hopefully shame them into doing the right thing and quit spending money that they don't have," said state Sen. Jim Lembke, a Republican from St. Louis.
...At issue is a provision in the 2009 federal stimulus act that allowed residents in states with high unemployment rates to receive up to 20 additional weeks of federally funded jobless benefits after exhausting the 79 weeks authorized under other federal laws. At least three dozen states, including Missouri, enacted laws to participate.
Although their unemployment rates were high enough to qualify, seven other states – Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah – never passed laws to join in, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Maryland is now pursuing participation, but many of the other states seem content to remain out of the program. Much like his Missouri counterparts, Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups said the states need to set an example of self-sufficiency.
...That federal backlash is particularly strong in Missouri, where voters were the first in the nation to pass a measure challenging the new federal health care mandate and where Republican senators also are holding up federal stimulus money for education.
...The National Employment Law Project says its supporters sent 15,000 emails in a roughly 24-hour period from Tuesday to Wednesday urging Missouri senators to allow a vote on the legislation reauthorizing the extended jobless benefits.
But Sen. Brian Nieves, a Republican from Washington, Mo., who is popular among tea party activists, said he has no intention of compromising his position. "The people have been crystal clear for about the last two years in saying that they expect us to at least start the process of weaning ourselves off of the federal government," Nieves said."
Huffington Post
Way to go, Senators Nieves and Lembke! This sucks for the people that can't find work here in Missouri but reality has a way of sucking most of the time anyway.
The reality is that the money that the federal government wants to send to us to pay for additional unemployment benefits doesn't exist! They're creating...no I take that back. The Federal Reserve is creating it out of thin air and lending it to the government which is giving it to the states. In other words, this is no different than asking your parents to borrow money to pay your bills and then expecting your grandkids to pay the debt.
Yep, reality sucks alright but it is what it is. America is broke and it seems that a good deal of the people are, too. Going deeper and deeper into debt won't change that. It'll just make the eventual day of reckoning that much worse.
Now, I know that the usual suspects on the left - the unions, celebrities, politicians, community organizers and the USCCB will scream and rend their garments, demanding their perverted version of "social justice" be enforced. They'll demand that Missouri repent of its conservative ways and return to the Progressive fold.
There is nothing JUST about stealing money from future generations and hanging the albatross of debt around their necks to remedy our problems today. In fact, it's the opposite of justice; it's theft.
So I'm glad that my Senator, from my state, has the cajones to stand up for what's right regardless of the political fallout. I'm proud to say that I voted for Brian Nieves and I'll do it again.
Thanks, Senator and keep up the good work!
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