My friend and mentor Hugh Hewitt was outraged at the deal, telling me last night in a hastily-arranged but tremendously fun on-air argument that the GOP had all of the political momentum and should have held out for total victory. He was most angry about the concession on unemployment benefits, arguing that an extension of 13 months was a ridiculous idea. After all, these started at 26 weeks, and now we’re putting employers and taxpayers on the hook for 161 weeks. That will slow growth all on its own, and Hugh is right to be opposed to such an extension. The deal will end up costing around $270 billion over the next two years if one counts tax cuts as part of the cost (which is illegitimate, as those dollars belong to the taxpayer in the first place), which will mean the GOP will have to cut deeper in its first year than perhaps thought.
Hey, um, Ed...you and Hugh might want to get a clue that the 13 month unemployment extension does not give people additional benefits for 161 weeks. The limit is still 99 weeks (even the Freepers figured that one out), and that's actually only for certain states. What the extension does is allow people to apply for benefits after 26 weeks and up to 99 weeks depending on the state.
If you've already hit your 99 weeks, or would during the next year, you're still screwed.
I wish your scenario were correct, actually. That would be great if it was. It's not the actual truth and that is quite unfortunate. Your scenario is either actual ignorance or willful ignorance used to stir outrage, and neither one makes you look good, champ.
Or hey, maybe it's Hugh who's just, you know, completely friggin' wrong.
He's wrong in a second way, too. The part you highlighted, ("putting employers and taxpayers on the hook" for longer) indicates that he apparently thinks that extending benefits somehow, in itself, means an automatic tax increase. Which, of course, it doesn't.
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