Some GOP governors say new rules on unemployment benefits would hurt their states so they aren't going to accept a portion of the $787 billion recovery and reinvestment act signed into law this week.Read the rest here. It will be a shame if the unemployed, who really can't find a job suffers because of the Government loopholes.
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal is sticking to his position of rejecting part of the federal stimulus money for his state, saying Sunday that accepting an increase in unemployment benefits will lead to higher taxes on businesses in his state.
Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin say they may follow suit. They say the money to be disbursed to the states in the $787 billion spending and tax cuts package comes with too many strings attached.
"The unemployment insurance reform, if you will, would require the state to pay people who are not willing to take a full-time job," Barbour told FOX News, saying his state is not going to expand benefits to part-time workers. "We're not going to change that. ... We're going to give up about $50 million of federal money."
"It would be like spending a dollar to get a dime," Jindal said on NBC's "Meet the Press. "The federal stimulus bill says it has to be a permanent change in state law if you take this money, so within three years, the federal money is gone, we've got now a permanent change in our laws."
President Obama, calling the housing meltdown a "crisis unlike we've ever known," rolled out a $75 billion plan Wednesday that his administration hopes will keep as many as 9 million families in their homes.
The announcement in Phoenix comes a day after he signed a $787 billion economic rescue package that combines spending and tax cuts aimed at saving and creating millions of jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) Eight days after Barack Obama took office as a "change" president, House Republicans have made a huge political gamble that could set the tone for the next election cycle. In unanimously opposing the massive spending bill that Obama says is crucial to reviving the economy, they signaled they are not cowed by his November win or his calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Obama's popularity will slacken, they say, and even if it doesn't voters will reward a party that makes principled stands for restrained spending and bigger tax cuts.
The administration is working on proposals for how it will use the last $350 billion from the rescue program. Some of the measures being considered could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars beyond the original $700 billion pricetag.
More than 2,600 anti-spending activists phoned in to speak with Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Tom Price (Ga.) about their concerns over President Obama's $825 billion stimulus billl Monday evening.
Americans for Prosperity hosted the call to allow their members to connect with Bachmann and Price, two members who have repeatedly stood up for taxpayers by voting against reckless spending in Washington. AFP created the site www.nostimulus.com to draw attention to specific complaints.
That wasn't Obama's only jab at Republicans today.
While discussing the stimulus package with top lawmakers in the White House's Roosevelt Room, President Obama shot down a critic with a simple message.
"I won," he said, according to aides who were briefed on the meeting. "I will trump you on that."
The response was to the objection by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to the president's proposal to increase benefits for low-income workers who don't owe federal income taxes.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today sat down with CNN's Mark Preston for a "Digg Dialogg," a question-and-answer session driven by the online community. During the discussion, Boehner talked about working with President Barack Obama on economic recovery solutions, his opposition to government regulation of the internet, the future of the Republican Party and the importance of using social media to connect citizens and government, and more.
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