Senate Amendments to H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes

The Democrats in Congress just can't help themselves. The Democrat-controlled United States House of Representatives is following the lead of the Democrat-controlled United States Senate in foisting upon the beleaguered American taxpayers yet another huge big-spending bill, this time worth $34 BILLION for yet another extension of unemployment benefits, now approaching and exceeding over 2 years of benefits. And the Democrats refuse to pay for their socialist spending with either "revenue enhancements" or spending cuts or some other method of balancing the budget as every American family has to do.

Note the following from the office of the Republican Leader of the House of Representatives, Congressman John Boehner from Ohio, undoubtedly next year's new Speaker of the House.

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Since February 2009 - the month in which the "stimulus" was signed into law - millions of Americans have lost their jobs, the unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent and long-term unemployment has reached historic highs. In addition, the policies of the current Administration are projected to yield an annual deficit this fiscal year of $1.5 trillion and push the public debt to 90 percent of the economy by 2020. House Republicans support a safety net for displaced workers, but believe the cost of extending these programs should not come at the expense of future generations of Americans in the form of higher deficit spending and debt.

H.R. 4213 is the latest in a series of bills to extend expanded unemployment insurance benefits. The legislation extends expanded benefits for six months, including retroactively to June 2, 2010. The cost of H.R. 4213 is nearly $34 billion, which alone exceeds all federal spending on unemployment benefits in the wake of the 2001 recession and terrorist attacks and every cent of which constitutes new deficit spending today. Even after the Administration commended the "fiscally responsible" approach taken in November 2009 to fully offset an extension of expanded unemployment benefits, congressional Democrats fail to pay for the cost of the legislation.

Democrats' runaway deficit spending continues with H.R. 4213. The assertion that congressional Democrats want to restrain out-of-control spending is irreconcilable with the fact that legislation with nearly $34 billion in deficit spending is technically compliant with Democrats' PAYGO, because it is designated as "emergency spending." House Republicans believe the full cost of extending these expanded benefits should be paid for now rather than passing the cost onto future generations and attempted to offer such an alternative today but were denied that opportunity by House Democrats.