Trish Regan, the former Fox Business host, told the “Todd Starnes Show” on Wednesday commented on the debate in Washington about extending the $600 extra per week in unemployment benefits and said it seems as though the initiative ran its course.
Regan said that there is little doubt that the additional income to some Americans was welcome, but, like in most cases, there is the Law of Unintended Consequences and some out-of-work people see the $2,400 (on top of their state’s benefits) as a pretty good excuse to stay home and not rejoin the workforce.
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She said it is one thing for the government to try and help the elderly person who held a job and lost it due to the coronavirus lockdowns, but she said it is a completely different ballgame when it comes to providing the $600 extra each week for the 27-year-old who had a job but now realizes that he could make more money staying home and “living off of Uncle Sam.”
Sources told CNBC that Republicans are considering new approaches to the weekly benefit. Although parts of the country have reopened, the economy is far from clicking on all cylinders. In March, Congress passed a bill that added $2,400 a month to unemployed Americans, which was seen as a way to prop up the economy as the country works its way through the pandemic.
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But there has been no V-shaped recovery and many parts of the economy are still either closed or only partially reopened.
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The CNBC report said that Democrats want to keep the $600 per week available until—at the minimum—next year. Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have warned against that number. The report said Republicans seem more comfortable with about $100 extra per week.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told the Hill that many Americans made more to not work than they did at their jobs and he said it is terrible for the economy.
“Everybody in this body who votes for paying people more money to stay home and not work than to go to work, they ought to write on the top of that, ‘Paid for by the Joe Biden for President Campaign.’”
Cruz said Democrats understand that if the country is shut down and 40 million Americans remain out of work, “their guy probably wins.”