Sheldon Whitehouse: Thank 'Republican Debt Orgy' For Current Deficit

A trio of Senate Democrats took the floor Tuesday evening to denounce the Republican party for its unwillingness to add the cost of extended unemployment benefits to the deficit. Extended unemployment benefits put in place by the stimulus bill expired on June 1, interrupting checks for some 903,000 people so far.

"I understand the point about the debt and the deficit and the spending," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). "But to me, that doesn't have an enormous amount of credibility, because when President Clinton left office, he left an annual surplus... At the end of [George W. Bush's] term, we had $9 trillion in debt."

"We would have none of this if it hadn't been for the Republican debt orgy that they went through," Whitehouse said.

There are currently five jobseekers for every available opening, but a major obstacle to reauthorizing currently-expired extended benefits has been deficit concerns supplemented by the suspicion that the benefits discourage people from looking for work. Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) called the benefits, which average $320 per week, "too much of an allure." Democrats in both the House and Senate, too, have said business owners tell them they're having trouble hiring because of extended benefits.

Whitehouse confronted that argument.

"The notion that you're going to cut off somebody's unemployment insurance and have them go out and find a job is just plain nuts," said Whitehouse. "There aren't a lot of people lying around enjoying the luxury of unemployment insurance payments. They want to be getting to work."

In normal times, states provide six months of benefits to people laid off through no fault of their own, but to fight the stimulus bill and subsequent measures to fight the recession provided the unemployed 99 weeks of benefits in some states. The House passed a bill to reauthorize the benefits, along with several other now-expired domestic aid programs, but the bill is stalled in the Senate, as unified Republicans and Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson withhold their support.

Here's a video showing part of Whitehouse's remarks:

Comments

[Don Quixote]

03:26 PM on 06/24/2010

Repubs claim "fiscal conservatism" as one of the main tenets of their ideology. History shows, however, that they only get religion about this tenet when Dems are in charge. For nearly four decades, starting with Ford, every GOP administration has significantly increased the debt as a percent of GDP.

In that same period, except for Obama of course, who is forced to keep Bush's spending momentum going to save us from Great Depression II, every Dem administration has decreased debt as a percent of GDP.

Don't believe me? Look for yourself:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/US_Federal_Debt_as_Percent_of_GDP_by_President.jpg

[Blue in South Jersey]

03:04 PM on 06/24/2010

Thank You, Senator Whitehouse, for standing up for those who don't seem to have a voice. Someone mentioned in this blog earlier about the inconsequence of a small state like Rhode Island.
You know what?
In New Jersey, with 8x the population of the Ocean State, we are third in millionaires (in back of Hawaii and DC). The "governor," who will hopefully be recalled-there are the votes for it-is refusing to raise taxes on the millionaires at the expense of the elderly, special needs (e.g. Autism) and schoolchildren, to name a few. Our library budget is being cut 74% from last year which affects anybody who likes to read and can't afford to buy every book at Borders.
We have a lot of special interests here, like big pharma, in New Jersey. What I'm trying to say is that even though Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez vote for the "people," are they really with the people or the corporations? It's a shame that one would even need to worry about this. Bigger is not necessarily better (bad pun).
Rhode Islanders are much warmer people that those in the Garden State.
Also...The Real Housewives of New Jersey isn't real.
"Real" people in New Jersey don't live like this. Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi are singing the truth about life here. I was born, raised and educated here (college and graduate school also). True Jersey Girl...I know.

[littleblackcat]

03:45 PM on 06/24/2010

I grew up in New Jersey too. I left when I was 30 years old, hoping things would get better. Nationwide, things have gotten worse and worse in this country for everyone except the wealthiest. And the wealthiest make sure they continue to get bigger and bigger pieces of the pie.
Nothing will change until there is either a takeover of this by one of the countries to which we now owe our collective souls, or the American people take it upon themselves to have a major revolution and completely turn out the existing government and put one in its place that DOES work. As the Constitution tells us to do.

[econ1]

02:03 PM on 06/24/2010

The Republicans in office before the Obama administration were typical spendthrift politicians. It doesn't mean that continuing it at an even higher pace is a good idea.

Congress only has to look at Europe to see the results of its current (continued) course. You (even the US) cannot get yourself out of a debt problem with more debt.

[Lemmy]

12:43 PM on 06/24/2010

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's economic output by 2020, according to the CBO. To say that one party is solely responsible is just being shrill.

[Joel Redman]

02:03 PM on 06/24/2010

The budget deficit might have been, but Bush didn't include the cost of the wars, and woefully underestimated the cost of other programs. He also didn't budget for the TARP program, which was approved at the end of his watch.

[Friction57]

02:32 PM on 06/24/2010

careful trolls don't like facts

[Lemmy]

04:18 PM on 06/24/2010

And TARP was approved by a Democratic Congress, and Obama was out in front with his support of it . . your point? Maybe you didn't read the whole post:

President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's economic output by 2020, according to the CBO.

We all know health care will be double what the trillion dollar forecast is now . . . .

[StJames]

03:07 PM on 06/24/2010

The national debt counter had to be reconfigured under Bush....they had to add an extra place .

Also, Obama's budgets would have looked much better if he had decided to continue the Bush trick on not including the cost of the wars.

[Lemmy]

04:20 PM on 06/24/2010

Obama has plenty of accounting legerdmain is his budgets. Take a look at the bill of goods they sold as "health care" and the costs for it.

[wyldthings]

12:42 PM on 06/24/2010

I guess you forget that The Democrats controlled Congress for 3 and a half years during the Bush Administration. Blame Blame but don't fix.

[Friction57]

02:32 PM on 06/24/2010

3.5 years really?

[wyldthings]

02:55 PM on 06/24/2010

June 6, 2001 – 2003[1] Tom Dashele (D) 2007 – 2009 ← D Maj
111th 2009 – present Harry Reid Yes over 3.5 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_leaders_of_the_United_States_Senate
Read the site and find out who really ran this Country Down.

[Photon55]

11:57 AM on 06/24/2010

Let the republicans do their thing. The people will have the last word in the matter if they ever wake up and realize just who created our misery at home and abroad. Conditions in this country are worsening daily and unemployment is growing and the future for the economy to improve in the short run or even the long term is seriously doubtful. Whatever it takes to help the unemployed and their families must be done in spite of republicans, tea parties, fox news, Limbaugh and their supporters commenting here as if they had no share in creating this abominable mess.

[Joel Redman]

12:07 PM on 06/24/2010

Because that worked so well for the last presidency.

[gilbskg]

12:09 PM on 06/24/2010

Sadly, a whole lot of people will not wake up and realize who created our misery. They will continue to run to the party that makes them feel better because of snappy slogans, misrepresentations, patriotic hubris, and the promise that Republicans have the plan to get us back on track...without ever asking to see an actual plan.

[Lemmy]

01:31 PM on 06/24/2010

Sadly, other voters will run to the party that promises them amnesty and free stuff . . .without ever asking how it gets paid for.

[Totto]

11:56 AM on 06/24/2010

Ah, yes, the "allure" of unemployment benefits. That new Mercedes, house with pool, country club membership. . . Thanks Sen. Whitehouse, for a dose of reality!

[bayside]

11:53 AM on 06/24/2010

Blue dog dems, and cons have been in charge for last thirty years and both did this to us..So I wouldnt get too cocky...This mentality of say what you think the people want to hear ,to get elected ,and turn into predators on americans people and other countries as soon as you get in ,is the problem. As long as you guys are in charge we will have the same unending wars, little boys way.............

[littleblackcat]

11:31 AM on 06/24/2010

When you have had a job for 17 years that you worked up to earning $50,000 a year and were then laid off, taking a job for minimum wage or a little bit more doesn't cut it. Any business owner who wants to whine and moan that he can't find anyone to work for him needs to take a good long look at his wage offering. Now that jobs are hard to find, wages have been dropped to as low as the traffic will bear.
Another problem is that when you are working in one of these dreadful "filler" jobs, you cannot drop everything to go to an interview. If an employer thinks you want time off to have an interview for a better job, he will do everything you can think of to make it impossible to go to that interview. If you go anyway, you may get fired for not kowtowing to the demands of the beadle in charge or if not, you will get the s#!t jobs as often as possible to punish you.
Tax breaks for the rich need to stop, they need to be taxed again at the rates we had during the Eisenhower era until the nation gets back on its feet, and the middle class needs to be re-established.
There can be NO recovery until everyone has the chance to gain. The playing field must be, if not leveled, bulldozed until everyone can at least see from one end to the other.

[AmericanBelle]

01:22 PM on 06/24/2010

Considering today's disastrous, failing economy, if you've got a family to support and bills to pay, you don't kick back and wait for something good to come along. The responsible thing to do is take that underpaying job until you DO get back on your feet.

And because of the failing economy, employers are fully aware of the hardships and they want the right person for the job and will make appropriate arrangements to meet with the potential employee after hours (or before work starts) to conduct the interview. Some will even go so far as to do the interviewing by telephone. Again, to kick back and say, things are dreadful and I can't leave work to go for an interview is simply making excuses.

The middle class needs to reestablish itself and not sit around waiting for someone to do it for them!

There will always be people who suck off the teat of the American taxpayer and others who will bust their kiestas to make it on their own. There are producers, and there are parasites. That will never change. As to everyone having a chance to gain....we already have that. What you need to realize is that it's not something you get for sitting on your butt. You have to work at it. People have gotten used to cradle to grave government support and with that system, there is no gaining.

[littleblackcat]

03:39 PM on 06/24/2010

READ what I said, dear, and UNDERSTAND it. When you have been working at a job that paid a living wage and the best that is available pays less than what you get on unemployment and you are hindered on your search for something better due to shifting hours, only a fool would get off unemployment to move DOWN. Hours shift DELIBERATELY when your employer knows you are looking for something better, because if you do a good job he doesn't want to lose you. He doesn't want to PAY you in order to keep you but he knows he's got a good thing and wants to make sure you don't leave.

I don't know where you live but I'd stay there, were I you. You seem to be insulated from the realities of the world. Not once have I ever had a prospective employer arrange to meet me at odd hours to accommodate my schedule. Nor has this courtesy been extended to my daughter, a degreed career woman who was out of work for seven months before she took a job that pays significantly less than the previous one and one for which she had to stand on her head to get to the interview for. As I said, you had best remain where you are, life seems to treat you better than it treats those of us who have to work for a living.

[Mack Royal]

10:15 AM on 06/24/2010

The often reported "statistic" that there are 5 or 6 applicants for every job is VERY misleading. On one of my RARE interviews I was told that 250 applications were on file for that one job. I have found this to be typical of the jobs with the State of Texas or the University of Texas....HUNDREDS of competing applicants, NOT just 5 or 6.

[GranE]

11:00 AM on 06/24/2010

Having been there done that, the problem with getting a job in Austin is Austin. People go there to attend school and never want to leave. The downside is that you wind up working for less (even in a good economy), or you have to "know somebody". In today's economy the backlog of applicants probably is true everywhere in the state. Sorry Bud, keep swinging, maybe you can find a slot outside of Austin, talent is sorely needed everywhere.

[Joel Redman]

02:00 PM on 06/24/2010

I thought the statistic was that there are 5-6 unemployed persons for every job, not applicants. Of course, people can (and do) apply for more than one job.

[jeremyfive]

09:55 AM on 06/24/2010

I would not entrust a Repugnant with one thin dime of my money. Why throw money away (or let the GOP blow it?) Better use of tax dollars, please guys!

[dax49]

09:48 AM on 06/24/2010

Let's vote the republicans out of office so they can experience first hand how much fun it is to ask for unemployment insurance

[Democrat in the South]

10:01 AM on 06/24/2010

They deny help for the very taxpayers who pay their salaries. I know some of them are rich because of inheritance on the backs of taxpayers and the bad ol government that created laws and loopholes to help them keep "all" their money so they don't have to pay taxes to this stinking country of poor and middle class that elected them to screw... I mean protect them from people like "them".

[nola70119]

09:35 AM on 06/24/2010

Unemployed? Get a job!

Like it is that simple! I find this proof that party leader in government are too removed from everyday living that they cannot relate to, or appreciate, the circumstances governing our lives. It is hard for me not to think of the GOP leadership as looking down to us from ivory towers when they are looking down to us from ivory towers. This disconnect is frightening because their sheltered lives and selfish viewpoints are threatening all of our livelihoods. Big Business is not We The People's friend. Government should act on our behalf and not business. After all, they work for us. It was We The People who established a more perfect union, NOT a more perfect profit margin. Congress was established to work for us. At least, that is how I vote, do you agree?

[sansainte]

08:26 AM on 06/24/2010

How many are you are old enough to remember Bond Drives? During World War 2 everyone bought Savings Bonds to help pay for the war effort. School kids could buy Bond Stamps. When I first starting working in the early 60's you could have a payroll deduction to buy bonds. That all seemed to disappear when Reagan came into office. For all of you arm chair generals who want to blame either Obama or Clinton for all the ills of this nation just think about something honestly. Mr Bush borrowed from China to pay the bills so that he could give his corporate buddies a tax cut and make them happy. Most of the bills passed by the Republican Congress were unfunded, including the war. Not only did the Republicans blow the budget out of the water, the surplus out of the water, but they never made the wars or the prescription joke part of the budget. So enter Obama facing a 9 trillion dollar debt before walking into his office. If that wasn't enough he, unlike Mr Bush took that war and prescription bill and made it part of the budget. That surely added to the deficit. If we are all in this together I really think that promoting Savings Bonds and investing in our country would help...and let's not renew that tax break for the rich that was going to create all those jobs that the unemployed can't seem to find because they are offshore.

[Figerre]

10:22 AM on 06/24/2010

I agree. Why not have US Debt bonds and see what it does to help. After breaking their arms, patting themselves on the back for the Medicare perscription benefit, they neglected to PAY FOR IT, which is their mantra now. Is America blind? Can't they see that the GOP is like the little boy that ate the cake and pointed to his sister, saying SHE did it?

Debt bonds are not a bad idea. With foreclosures coming as the result of unemployment, state revenue and federal revenues are lower. You cannot spend the same money twice. At least with this administration, everything is on the books, not like the GOP does business.

[Joel Redman]

11:51 AM on 06/24/2010

That is how debt is created now ... Treasury Bonds.

[LisaLisa1234]

11:36 AM on 06/24/2010

Well said.

[judgejay]

08:05 AM on 06/24/2010

Gotta love the continues effort to keep spending. Maybe some of the " stimulus money" could be used for unemployment benefits. Oh yeah thats right it can only be used to protect union and government jobs. It's time for people to take any job they can get and not wait until benefits are running out before really looking for work. Several people I know just love milking this for every week they can get by without working.

[2bad]

09:10 AM on 06/24/2010

Do you fox sheep have thoughts of your own or is copy/pasted talking points all we get?

[dax49]

09:53 AM on 06/24/2010

You must have a corporate background- and you should seriously look for new friends because the ones you claim are "milking the fund" don't need you around