AP source: Obama wants jobless aid help for states

[ProSense]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is proposing short-term relief to states saddled with unemployment insurance debt, coupled with a delayed increase in the income level used to tax employers for the aid to the jobless.

The administration plans to include the proposal in its budget plan next week. The plan was described late Monday by a person familiar with the discussions on the condition of anonymity because the budget plan is still being completed.

Rising unemployment has placed such a burden on states that 30 of them owe the federal government $42 billion in money borrowed to meet their unemployment insurance obligations. Three states already have had to raise taxes to begin paying back the money they owe. More than 20 other states likely would have to raise taxes to cover their unemployment insurance debts. Under federal law, such tax increases are automatic once the money owed reaches a certain level.

Under the proposal, the administration would impose a moratorium in 2011 and 2012 on state tax increases and on state interest payments on the debt.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110208/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_unemployment_insurance_1

[jtuck004]

1. The Federal Government is going to pass a law telling the the

states their limits on taxes?

And from the article..."States, however, could retain their current rates, meaning employers could face higher unemployment insurance taxes beginning in 2014"

That'll at least be fun to watch... :popcorn:

But one has to wonder if TPTB are delusional, ill-advised, incompetent, or ...? This unemployment thing is not going to solve itself in 10 years or even 20, and private business has NO incentive to create good jobs while they can make profits overseas. The only reason we got the drop in the rate we did is a combination of a revision the BLS did in December that they normally do in January, their assertion that our population, at least the working one, dwindled last year, and the increase in the number of people who have actively stopped looking for work over the past year.

(The local WorkSource office was on the radio the other day. Said they had 600 current jobs in their database. 3500 applicants, not all of whom are qualified for many of them. That doesn't count the people whose spirits are so broken they can't face the rejection of a continuing and fruitless job search any longer, or the people overseas waiting to take on whatever someone will send them for 10% of the pay here).

The lowest common denominator we can work with is little fixes to unemployment, and that is a path to certain ruin for this country. Unless and until we get a real jobs program, real training for adults with a plan to move them into the 22nd century, and funding for projects so large that only the government can afford them (like they did for the railroads, the chemical and oil industries among others, like they continue to do for McDonalds and GE) we are on a path to almost certain ruin.

The BLS has already announced a revision, lowering the number of jobs they said were created last year. We created 83,000 net new jobs in the past 3 months, but that hardly touches the problem. There are 30 million+ people underemployed, a new record of 40 million on food stamps, a record high of a million+ foreclosures every year now. And those numbers are growing - A reliable California housing blog, http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/california-the-new-japan-zombie-banks-real-estate-unemployment-economic-stagnation-real-estate/">here, shows evidence that...

"So we already know that at least 185,000 homes are in foreclosure but do not show up on the MLS. This number by itself eclipses the non-distressed MLS inventory. But what is even more troubling is that we know that close to 13 percent of all nationwide mortgages are delinquent (in foreclosure or at least 90 days behind on payments). So the total pool of distressed homes is up to 678,000 and the public is only able to view 100,000 homes that are currently for sale in the state. In other words the shadow inventory is immense."

So for every home you see on the California Multiple Listing Service there are nearly 6 more not shown that will soon belong to the bank. Think about that nationwide...not all states are that bad, but some are, and a couple may be worse.

So how many 50-something adults have lost the last job they will ever have? How many more are going to have to live a year on unemployment, and then what? They likely won't see another paycheck in their lifetime, and the next check they get will be when they apply for reduced benefits at 62. Their children may have to rely on school lunches to feed their kids, not being able to feed them on the weekend.

And TPTB are wasting their time on this? (And no, I don't mean just we Democrats).

Thanks for the post, though.

[lib2DaBone]

2. More accounting gimmicks and and smoke screen....

Here's a unique thought....

How about taking one days worth of funding for Afghanistan ($436 Million)... and create a WPA Job works program?

I wonder if Mr. Obama is aware that our roads, bridges and water systems are falling apart? (Probably not...)