Unemployment Compensation Extension Act Of 2009
Floor Speech
Unemployment Compensation Extension Act Of 2009
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Mr. DOGGETT. This bill represents a textbook example of how not to deal with the economic challenges that our country faces. While previously approved by the House solely to address the needs of the unemployed in economically depressed areas at a cost of a little more than a billion dollars, the Senate has taken the good work of Chairman MCDERMOTT, delayed it, not responded promptly, and has now mushroomed the cost to $24 billion.
Economists have advised us that every dollar we invest to help the unemployed spurs economic growth (GDP) by $1.61, very effective, a real winner, what the House did originally. But the corporate giveaway that the Senate added to this bill--the so-called ``loss carry-back provision''--yields, according to the same economists, 19 cents for every dollar of revenue that we invest--a real loser.
Today's bill allocates $2 billion to the winner and $10 billion to the loser.
Understand that this bill now directs the Treasury to essentially write a check directly to corporations for more than $10 billion; checks to corporations that have committed fraud, checks to corporations that have no ability to create jobs because they have no employees and exist solely on paper as a fiction. It rewards some of the very corporate losers who have brought us to the brink of economic ruin.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. McDERMOTT. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.
Mr. DOGGETT. If this is such a great idea, why don't we first apply loss carry-back to workers who have lost their jobs and give them back some of the taxes that they paid when they had a job? That would certainly be more stimulative.
As we move forward next month to extending benefits for next year, it will be much more costly. We should use this lesson as a reminder that good policy to address jobs and the needs of the unemployed should not be burdened with windfalls to those with good lobbyists.
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