Poll Finds Strong National Support For Extending Unemployment Benefits

[TomCADem]

Source: Think Progress

A majority of Americans believe Congress should restore the federal unemployment insurance program that it allowed to expire in the recent budget deal, according to a new poll. The details of the survey further suggest that voters stand ready to punish lawmakers who block an extension — something several Republicans have indicated they are prepared to do.

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The findings reinforce a Public Policy Polling release from earlier this week which looked at specific House districts held by Republican members. That poll found over 60 percent support for extending EUC in five Republican districts including Speaker John Boehner’s southwestern Ohio seat.

EUC expires on Saturday. For 1.3 million current recipients who have been looking for work for longer than the 26 weeks for which most states will provide unemployment benefits, that will mean their lifeline evaporates immediately. Another 800,000 job-seekers are projected to exhaust their state benefits and turn to the federal EUC program over the next three months. Thanks to multiplier effects, the cancelled benefits will also lead indirectly to almost a quarter-million layoffs for people who are currently working. That’s nearly 2.4 million people harmed in the coming months by the expiration of EUC.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans have called for re-authorizing the program after lawmakers return from their holidays, and Republican support for the program used to be a very common thing. But some prominent GOP legislators now openly oppose the program and mischaracterize it as a balance-negative thing for the people it intends to help.


Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/26/3104601/poll-emergency-unemployment-benefits/

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While the MSM will splash polls pumping up Chris Christie or attacking President Obama and Democrats, here is one poll that will either be ignored or that the MSM will obscure the fact that it is Republicans who are blocking an extension.

[Left Coast2020]

1. Ad's need to run in repuke districts with this message: HARD

IF D's want the House back, here is where you start. Voters with an "R" by their name are affected by this too. Let "R" voters know who did not allow enemployment benefits to come up for a vote.

Saw a sample on Ed's show(with Joy subbing) that looked good. Now all the dem's have to do is use it in "R" districts. Just pound them hard. Negative ad's bring down the opponents poll numbers. Again, if Dems want Pelosi as Speaker, start hitting them now.

[Scuba]

2. Where is the outrage from Democratic leadership?

[TomCADem]

3. Here you go - "Obama: 'If Congress Refuses To Act' On Unemployment Benefits..."

Democrats have been showing plenty of outrage. However, the MSM refuses to cover it. Instead, they rather highlight some household that makes over $100,000 a year complaining about having their catastrophic coverage plan being cancelled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/07/obama-congress-unemployment_n_4404161.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed before they expire at the end of the year.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says more than one million Americans will lose benefits if lawmakers don't act. He says unemployment insurance is one of the most effective ways to boost the economy and that providing benefits does not stop people from trying to find work.

[TomCADem]

4. And - "Pelosi Prepared to Fight to Extend Unemployment Insurance..."

So here is the President and House Democratic leader. So, when do we start holding Republicans accountable?

http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/pelosi-prepared-to-fight-to-extend-unemployment-insurance-but-path-to-victory-still-unclear/

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Monday condemned GOP leadership’s decision to skip town before passing an extension of emergency unemployment insurance, set to expire on Saturday.

The California Democrat did not, however, offer a clear path forward in terms of how she would force Speaker John A. Boehner’s hand.

In an early afternoon conference call in which the minority leader was joined by other women of the House Democratic Caucus, Pelosi said she did not believe unemployment insurance needed to be “paid for.”

“Workers pay into a system as they are working,” she said. “We have always considered this an emergency that springs from a downturn in the economy and that, therefore, there does not need to be an offset to it.