SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) removes a mask he is wearing to protect himself and others from Covid-19 as he arrives to speak to the media following the weekly Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 5, 2020. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Nearly 60% of Americans Support Extending Boosted Unemployment Benefits as Trump and McConnell Say Let Them Expire
"The across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits should be extended well past its expiration at the end of July—until unemployment is falling rapidly and is at a manageable level."
Jun 01, 2020
President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said late last month that they support allowing the temporary $600-per-week increase in unemployment benefits under the CARES Act to expire at the end of July.
But that decision would be extremely unpopular with the American public, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.
"The unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
--Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
The survey found that found that 58% of Americans--including 60% of Independents and 75% of Democrats--support extending the temporary increase in unemployment benefits past July 31, when the additional payments are set to end without action from Congress.
The poll also found that 57% of Americans believe that controlling the spread of Covid-19 should take priority over reopening the U.S. economy.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea858% of Americans support extending extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits helping more than 25 million ppl, new Post-ABC poll finds\n\nhttps://t.co/NDvSsNECFw\u201d— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1591013512
Enhanced unemployment benefits have served as an economic lifeline for tens of millions of people in the U.S. who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month, House Democrats passed a bill that would extend the boosted unemployment benefits through January 2021--but the legislation is likely going nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. In a private call with House Republicans on May 20, McConnell vowed that the $600 increase in weekly unemployment payments "will not" be in the next coronavirus stimulus legislation.
Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist, estimated last month that "unemployed workers will effectively get a pay cut of 50-75% overnight" if enhanced unemployment benefits are not extended past the end of July.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March. Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at EPI, warned in a blog post last Thursday that "the unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
"Policymakers need to do more," wrote Shierholz. "The across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits, which was one of the most effective parts of the CARES Act, should be extended well past its expiration at the end of July--until unemployment is falling rapidly and is at a manageable level."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said late last month that they support allowing the temporary $600-per-week increase in unemployment benefits under the CARES Act to expire at the end of July.
But that decision would be extremely unpopular with the American public, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.
"The unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
--Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
The survey found that found that 58% of Americans--including 60% of Independents and 75% of Democrats--support extending the temporary increase in unemployment benefits past July 31, when the additional payments are set to end without action from Congress.
The poll also found that 57% of Americans believe that controlling the spread of Covid-19 should take priority over reopening the U.S. economy.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea858% of Americans support extending extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits helping more than 25 million ppl, new Post-ABC poll finds\n\nhttps://t.co/NDvSsNECFw\u201d— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1591013512
Enhanced unemployment benefits have served as an economic lifeline for tens of millions of people in the U.S. who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month, House Democrats passed a bill that would extend the boosted unemployment benefits through January 2021--but the legislation is likely going nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. In a private call with House Republicans on May 20, McConnell vowed that the $600 increase in weekly unemployment payments "will not" be in the next coronavirus stimulus legislation.
Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist, estimated last month that "unemployed workers will effectively get a pay cut of 50-75% overnight" if enhanced unemployment benefits are not extended past the end of July.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March. Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at EPI, warned in a blog post last Thursday that "the unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
"Policymakers need to do more," wrote Shierholz. "The across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits, which was one of the most effective parts of the CARES Act, should be extended well past its expiration at the end of July--until unemployment is falling rapidly and is at a manageable level."
President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said late last month that they support allowing the temporary $600-per-week increase in unemployment benefits under the CARES Act to expire at the end of July.
But that decision would be extremely unpopular with the American public, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.
"The unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
--Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
The survey found that found that 58% of Americans--including 60% of Independents and 75% of Democrats--support extending the temporary increase in unemployment benefits past July 31, when the additional payments are set to end without action from Congress.
The poll also found that 57% of Americans believe that controlling the spread of Covid-19 should take priority over reopening the U.S. economy.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea858% of Americans support extending extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits helping more than 25 million ppl, new Post-ABC poll finds\n\nhttps://t.co/NDvSsNECFw\u201d— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1591013512
Enhanced unemployment benefits have served as an economic lifeline for tens of millions of people in the U.S. who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month, House Democrats passed a bill that would extend the boosted unemployment benefits through January 2021--but the legislation is likely going nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate. In a private call with House Republicans on May 20, McConnell vowed that the $600 increase in weekly unemployment payments "will not" be in the next coronavirus stimulus legislation.
Ernie Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist, estimated last month that "unemployed workers will effectively get a pay cut of 50-75% overnight" if enhanced unemployment benefits are not extended past the end of July.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March. Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at EPI, warned in a blog post last Thursday that "the unemployment situation is going to get worse before it gets better, and unemployment benefits applications will continue to flood in."
"Policymakers need to do more," wrote Shierholz. "The across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits, which was one of the most effective parts of the CARES Act, should be extended well past its expiration at the end of July--until unemployment is falling rapidly and is at a manageable level."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.