GOP leaders are increasingly concerned about public perceptions that they are insensitive to those who are still struggling in the slow economic recovery. In a recent memo to rank-and-file Republicans, House GOP leaders urged a show of empathy toward the jobless and advised members to view unemployment as a “personal crisis” for individuals and families.
Seemingly poised for defeat, the legislation instead cleared an early hurdle by the narrowest of margins as six Senate Republicans sided with Democrats to advance it. The sides are now engaged in negotiations over legislation that would allow 1.3 million jobless workers to continue receiving unemployment insurance. The procedural vote in the Senate came as the two parties jockeyed over the political issue of rising income inequality, with Democrats pushing more aid for the jobless and an increased minimum wage. In his speech after the vote, the president called unemployment insurance “a vital economic lifeline” for the millions who are jobless.
Several prominent Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), plan to tout conservative alternatives to the Democratic proposals and other anti-poverty programs Wednesday as they mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.
For now, the fight over unemployment has become the main focus of the debate. At the end of December, the emergency laws that extended jobless benefits beyond the traditional 26 weeks expired, forcing about 1.3 million people off the program. More unemployed Americans will lose their benefits as the year progresses and they surpass their states’ normal timelines.