Minn. Democrats mount surge to extend jobless benefits

Democrats in Congress are in an all-out push to extend emergency benefits for 1.3 million unemployed Americans whose payments ran out at the end of December.

With about 8,500 Minnesotans among those who lost benefits, the state's two Democratic senators are fully behind the effort, which Democrats believe is good policy -- and possibly even better politics.

The debate this week in Congress kicked off with the release of a report by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar detailing how federal emergency unemployment benefits have kept 11 million people out of poverty since the start of the recession in 2008.

The program provides up to 73 weeks of checks for those who have already been out of a job six months but are still looking.

"Rather than removing this safety net these people rely on, we should be focused on policies that help the long-term unemployed get back to work," said Klobuchar, co-chair of the Joint Economic Committee.

PUSH BACK IN HOUSE

Republicans, who control the U.S. House, have been lukewarm on the idea, arguing that the cost of the benefits should be made up by cutting other government spending.

"It's time to let the emergency extension expire," U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, who represents Minnesota's 3rd District, said last month. "This is the longest period of time that these emergency extensions have gone on."

Paulsen's office didn't respond to a question about whether his position has changed since the benefits expired.

The Senate is debating an immediate three-month extension of those benefits, which could set the stage for a longer-term extension later. With the federal budget barely set to grow, Democrats also see unemployment insurance as one of the few pieces of legislation available that will stimulate the economy.

"People who get unemployment insurance spend it, they spend it on food, they spend it on transportation, they spend it on energy," U.S. Sen. Al Franken said.

Republicans say that if unemployment insurance does get extended, the extension's $6 billion cost needs to be offset with cuts to other programs. But Franken notes past extensions weren't treated that way.

On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner didn't rule out an extension. Boehner said House Republicans had already passed scores of bills aimed reforming worker training programs and eliminating government regulations that Republicans believe are holding back the job market. Noting that the Senate has not taken the bills up, Boehner suggested that they be part of any deal.

"The House has, for the three years that I've been speaker, has been focused on jobs and the economy because the real answer is to get Americans back to work," Boehner said.

POLITICAL POSTURING

Democrats sense a political opportunity in the unemployment issue to try to paint Republicans as indifferent to the needs of the poor and needy and to change the subject from the difficult rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

The liberal group Americans United for Change is airing TV ads to rally Democratic voters ahead of what's likely to be a tough midterm election for the party.

Democrats accused Republican Stewart Mils, who is running for Congress in the 8th District, of staying silent as "middle-class Minnesotans" suffered due to the lapse in benefits.

Mills said he opposes extending benefits again.

"The Democrats have presided over a failed economy, and this is a stunning admission of the failure of their policies," he said.

The timing of this fight suggests Democrats may have wanted to make a fight out of the unemployment issue.

After all, the Democrats in charge of the Senate could have taken up their bill before those benefits expired in late December.

While Franken said he hopes no one uses the issue for political gain, he also said it's also easier to make the case to renew the program once it's expired.

"Sometimes when things actually become very real, it gets hopefully easier to get them passed," Franken said.