Those warnings about the COVID relief bill raising unemployment are looking prescient
Jazz ShawPosted at 7:01 pm on April 4, 2020
Back when we were debating the details of the coronavirus relief bill as it sailed through Congress (where as many as three people may have actually read the entire thing), one brief sticking point came with the generous nature of the federal enhancement of unemployment benefits. I wrote at the time that “a safety net isn’t supposed to be a hammock†and offering people more money to stay home than they would be earning on their jobs would have predictable results in some cases. This was a point that was brought up by a few Republican Senators, including Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott and Ben Sasse. They were quickly shouted down and accused of being cold-hearted or something.
Now, as it turns out, before much time has passed at all and also before people have even begun receiving the enhanced unemployment benefits in many cases, that predicted effect seems to be rearing its head already. As the Free Beacon reports, some employers are having a hard time getting all of their work done because some workers would rather wait out the pandemic at home and collect those benefits than show up for work.
https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/04/04/warnings-covid-relief-bill-raising-unemployment-looking-prescient/I've seen it at my own work. I am still working as our business was in the necessary category. But people just went home. Haven't been back. People are talking about how well unemployment is paying.