Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl, thinks the unemployed are just lazy

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl, came to the defense of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) who was filibustering a bill for a temporary extension of unemployment benefits and other matters on the premise that the benefits are not paid for. Sen. Bunning voted against the so-called "Pay-Go" rules passed by Congress several weeks ago, but this has nothing to do with principles, it is about obstruction.

[Update: Sen. Bunning dropped his hold on this bill Tuesday night, and the Senate overwhelmingly approved the temporary unemployment benefits extension on a vote of 78-19 after the majority Democrats included an amendment proposed by Sen. Jim Bunning on changing the way the measure was to be financed so it would not add to the deficit. Sens. Kyl and McCain voted for the bill.]

Our own Senator Obstruction, in defending Sen. Bunning's right to be a hypocrital jerk, had these words of wisdom to say GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job:

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican whip, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

"I'm sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here," said Kyl.

First of all, unemployment insurance is paid into while people are working – they earned it through work. People receiving unemployment insurance benefits have to be actively seeking work and report to the unemployment office their job search every week. The maximum unemployment benefit in Arizona is $240 per week, most unemployed receive far less. It is not a substitute for employment, it is a safety net – just barely. If the unemployed can't find work during the worst recession since the Great Depression, it is not for lack of trying or because they are lazy.

It is the result of 30 years of Republican economic policies that have destroyed the economy of the United States – failed economic policies that Senator Obstruction has voted for repeatedly during his time in Congress. Kyl is the guy who mugs you on the street and then blames you for being such an easy mark for his crime.

The Senate will now take up the 150-billion-dollar, long-term measure extending unemployment benefits and tax breaks for individuals and businesses to the end of the year. This is the bill that our own Senator Obstruction has been holding up. Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl, obstructing unemployment benefits extension

Who is Senator Obstruction crying crocodile tears over? That's right, the idle rich kids who inherit their family's wealth and never have to worry about working a day in their life if they so choose.

Senator Obstruction is holding up unemployment benefits over the Paris Hilton Tax (estate tax). Frustrations grow over lawmakers’ failure to tackle repeal of estate tax:

The House approved an estate tax for 2010 last year, but the Senate never took action. As a result, the tax phased out on Jan. 1 but is scheduled to return at a higher rate in 2011.

Solutions range from replacing the current repeal of the tax with 2009 law, which is a top tax rate of 45 percent on assets worth over $3.5 million ($7 million for couples), to keeping the levy repealed and providing a very high exemption so heirs aren’t taxed for liquidating their inheritance.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that less than 1 percent of all estates would be subjected to the levy at 2009 levels.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) are working on a fix, but so far their effort has failed to produce a consensus.

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Barring congressional action, the levy jumps to pre-2001 levels that tax estates worth more than $1 million with a tax that tops out at 55 percent.

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Kyl recently demanded that a process for how to deal with the estate tax be agreed to before the Senate takes up legislation extending several expired tax and spending measures, but that call has apparently fallen by the wayside.

Kyl’s spokesman on Monday told The Hill there never was a link between agreeing on a process for the tax and moving extender legislation, which was taken up on Monday.

Really? It appears that all this negative publicity over holding up unemployment benefits this week has caused Senator Obstruction to back down, and then lie about it.

There is one person I would like to see unemployed — Jon Kyl.

Update: Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic says the maximum benefit in Arizona is $265 per week. I was not aware that the Arizona Legislature found it in their dark hearts to increase the maximum benefit, if this is true. LaurieRoberts – Jon Kyl: unemployment pay a disincentive to seek work: 

I don't know how many of Kyl's unemployed constituents he's talked to. I've talked to a fair number of them. They're scared and they're frustrated and some of them lay awake at night, wondering how they're going to pay their bills now that they've been tossed to the street by their employers. But I haven't heard a single one of them talk about the windfall headed their way, courtesy of unemployment insurance.

In Arizona, by the way,  you can collect a grand total of $265 a week in unemployment.

Oh yeah, living the high life on $6.63 an hour…