Last week, the estimated 1.2 million Americans currently receiving federal unemployment were almost left without recourse, as it appeared that Congress would not be able to extend their benefits by the necessary deadline. Fortunately, Congress was able to push through the jobs bill, but only after reaching a deal with lone Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), whose filibustering had placed the bill’s passage in jeopardy. The Editorial Board is glad to see that benefits for the unemployed were extended, but we also fear that Bunning’s voice and those of his mindset will continue to block needed relief efforts in the future.

The most alarming aspect of this failed filibuster is that it has rallied economic ideologues even more extreme than Bunning himself<\p>–<\p>Bunning’s own statements reveal that he does not oppose unemployment benefits on principle, but simply felt it was irresponsible to pass a jobs bill that would further contribute to the federal deficit. In contrast, two public figures who have come to Bunning’s defense since he first started the filibuster–Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)–have used the debate over the jobs bill to attack public relief efforts on the ideological front. Delay, appearing on CNN, warned that “unemployment benefits [keep] people from going and finding jobs” while Kyl declared on the Senate floor that “continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.”

These assertions by Delay and Kyl are nothing new. In fact, they represent a very old and rigid political mindset that blames government programs for eliminating the incentive of people to work while appealing to market forces to correct everything. What is so alarming is that, even as national unemployment remains consistently at 10 percent or higher, public figures like Delay and Kyl are still able to appeal to these outdated arguments to push their party’s agenda. The problem is not that the unemployed do not have incentive to work–the problem is that the American economy has failed to sustain the number of workers seeking employment in the United States. The latest estimates show that for every available job in America, there are six workers seeking employment. It is not a problem of incentive, but a problem of the demand for employment dwarfing the reality of what the job market really has to offer.

Continued deficit spending is an unsustainable problem, and Bunning is right to be concerned about its long-term dangers. But he and his Republican colleagues cannot prevent the government from providing essential funds to the millions of unemployed workers in America. Nor can they continue to appeal to outdated rhetoric about incentive and motivation when American workers continues to seek employment, only to find that American industry and American business have nothing available for them. If Congress is really serious about cutting back on unemployment spending, then it should commit itself to finding a real solution for reviving this lumbering giant that we call the economy.