Sen. Kyl: Jobless Benefits a 'Disincentive' to Find Work

If people are getting aid, they won't look for new job, he says
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2010 10:34 AM CST
Sen. Kyl: Jobless Benefits a 'Disincentive' to Find Work
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Ariz.   (AP Photo)

Federal unemployment benefits that expired over the weekend because of Republican objections in the Senate should maybe stay that way, says Sen. Jon Kyl, the minority whip. They don't “create new jobs,” he argues. “If anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.” Max Baucus disagreed, the Huffington Post reports, calling the argument "ridiculous" and economically flawed.

Kyl was undeterred. “You can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here.” Joe Klein is thrilled with the development. “The idea that those who have lost their jobs in this Wall Street/mortgage-scam recession are simply deadbeats” is antiquated at best, he writes in Time. “But Kyl has spoken his version of the truth, and we should be grateful for that: this is what the Republican Party is now all about. ” (More Joe Klein stories.)

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