Sperling: US
economy has 'momentum," but jobless benefits still needed
January 05, 2014, 09:52 am
By Russell Berman
A top economic adviser to
President Obama said Sunday that the U.S. economy begins 2014 with
“significant momentum” even as he pushed for an extension of emergency
long-term jobless benefits.
“It is true the economy is
improving and showing more momentum. The unemployment rate in general is
falling,” Gene Sperling, chairman of
the National Economic Council, said
on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But what we’re finding is that the worst legacy
of the Great Recession is that there is a crisis of long-term unemployment —
people who have been unemployed for six months or longer are finding it most
difficult.”
Democrats from the president on
down have made an extension of long-term unemployment insurance – for people
out of work for 26 weeks or longer – the top priority at the start of the new
year. Benefits lapsed in December when Congress took no action before the
holidays.
The unemployment rate has fallen
to 7 percent nationally, and other economic indicators in recent weeks point to
a continued drop in the coming months.
Sperling said that while the
economy is improving, emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed would be
needed until the overall jobless rate approached 6 percent.
“We have to be a country committed
to leaving nobody behind in this recovery, and so that requires a full-court
press,” he said. “We as a country have never, never over the last half century
have we cut off emergency unemployment benefits when long-term unemployment has
been this high. Never before.”
Republicans have questioned the
need for another extension, which would allow some people to collect benefits
for up to 99 weeks. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he would be open to
an extension, but only if it is paid for and coupled with other job creation
measures.
The Senate plans to hold a key
test vote on Monday on a proposal to extend emergency long-term unemployment
insurance.
“Tomorrow is the day that 1.3
million Americans go to their mailbox and find that the check … will not be
there,” Sperling said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Tomorrow is also the day the
Senate will have a chance to vote on the first bipartisan solution.”
“Let’s pass the Heller-Reed
proposal tomorrow,” he added.
Gene Sperling
Gene B.
Sperling is a director at the National Economic Council, an
assistant to the president for economic policy for the Barack Obama
administration, was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress,
and a co-writer for The West Wing.
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress.
George Soros
is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and was a supporter
for the Center for American Progress.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American
Progress, and the Aspen Institute
(think tank).
Ezekiel Emanuel
is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Rahm I. Emanuel & Ari Emanuel’s brother, and was the health
care policy adviser for the Barack Obama
administration.
Rahm
I. Emanuel is Ezekiel Emanuel
& Ari Emanuel’s brother, Josh Lyman is a character based on him,
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Josh
Lyman is a character on The West
Wing based on Rahm I. Emanuel
Bradley Whitford
plays the Josh Lyman character on The West Wing, is an actor on The West Wing,
and is Ari Emanuel’s client.
Ari
Emanuel’s client is Bradley Whitford
& Aaron Sorkin, Ezekiel Emanuel & Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, and the co-CEO
& director for the William Morris
Endeavor Entertainment.
Aaron
Sorkin is Ari Emanuel’s client, a
William Morris Endeavor Entertainment
client, and a writer & producer for The
West Wing.
Lesli Linka
Glatter is a William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment client, and a director for The West Wing.
Alexa
Junge is a William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment client, and a producer for The West Wing.
Lily
Tomlin is a William Morris Endeavor
Entertainment client, and an actor for The
West Wing.
Gene B.
Sperling was a co-writer for The
West Wing, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, is a
director at the National Economic Council, and an assistant to the
president for economic policy for the Barack Obama administration.
Anna Deavere
Smith is an actor for The West Wing,
and a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Walter
Isaacson is the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and was the chairman & CEO for CNN.
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