The Unemployment extension bill, HR4213, has been the center of political news for the past few months. Â The legislation allows people to extend the filing for tiers 1-4 of the benefits extension, allowing for up to 99 weeks of total unemployment benefits. Â The controversial bill was held up in Congress for months, as Republican Senators didn’t want to add to the nation’s looming deficit spending.
The final vote on the measure was 59-39. Â Earlier this week 60 votes were needed to end a GOP lead filibuster of the bill. Â All but two Republicans approved of the ending of the filibuster, whereas only one Democrat opposed ending it.
The bill is funded by tax increases on S-Corporations, deficit spending, and increases on taxes of investment managers and venture capitalists. Â Many Republicans cited that these tax increases would wipe out all the good done by giving money to Americans via their benefits extension.
Those who start to receive their extensions once again will notice that they may not have as much money. Â This is because Congress did away with a $25 bonus previously added, and also did away with the COBRA subsidy that was previously provided. Â The subsidy paid 65% of the premiums experienced by jobless workers through their former employer’s healthcare plans.
Now the focus should be on a  Tier 5 extension.  Once people exhaust their first four tiers they will need
Despite all the big campaign talk, I don’t bliveee that Republicans TRULY want to accomplish all the big promises they put out there. It all sounded like rhetoric spewed in an effort to gain seats which is fine, and typical of all politicians but the difference is that the American people really think, for some reason, that they will get all those republican voiced changes that they were promised, no matter how outlandish or blatently bull those promises may have been. It’s been a long, long time since the people of this country voted FOR something, rather than AGAINST something else and disillusionment has become part and parcel of the aftermath. (Regardless of who end up in power .) Health care reform, cap and trade, energy legislation, tax reform, economic reform, etc all things BOTH parties have professed a desire for in the past but the willingness to follow thru always depends on who’s got their party stamp on the paperwork when it comes to vote. (The past two years have been especially contentious disappointingly so )I sense government grid lock coming on again