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Tony Ondrusek is founder and publisher of Insurance & Financial Advisor and IFAwebnews.com.

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They are so far removed from ordinary life that they have no clue the harm their politically calculated actions can wreak on fellow Americans.

And they just don’t care.

The House and Senate have approved an extension of unemployment benefits, but refused to extend COBRA subsidies.

This, from a Congress and president that basically ignored an increasing unemployment rate and deepening recession, and instead used all of their political capital to enact a health care reform law that most Americans didn’t want.

Because, they told us, they cared about the health of ALL Americans.

But now, when unemployed citizens find themselves without health insurance, Congress declines to provide the subsidies to help pay for that health coverage.

Congress drops the ball on creating new private sector jobs. And when people are laid off because of that inaction, Congress refuses to provide them with health insurance.

Irony is a mild word to describe it. What is the word one would use for a person who walks past without offering  assistance to an elderly woman who is being mugged by a miscreant? Yeah, that better describes it.

The excuse Congress and the president use is that they would rather borrow money from China (and other sources) than use money already allocated to economic recovery and sitting around unused.

Borrowing a few billion dollars from China would put our country into further debt. The U.S. debt is in excess of $13 trillion, of which $5 trillion is held by foreign nations. We are not talking about “billions,” but “trillions.” Adding to that debt is not wise, no matter how one looks at it.

Republicans want to fund the extensions with money that has already been allocated to the economic recovery. That money is just sitting there gathering dust, because frankly, the president is doing nothing with it to create new jobs. So Republicans are saying, “Hey, the money is already there, you aren’t using it for anything else, and we have folks who are unemployed and need a hand. We propose to use that money instead of throwing our country into an even deeper recession.”

Some will argue that Republicans didn’t want to extend COBRA. They did. They just didn’t want to borrow more money to do it. And for an administration that promised to “cross the aisle” and work with the minority party, the president and Congressional leaders should have compromised.

As an added benefit, folks who want to stick it to corporations can revel in the knowledge that the “stimulus” money used to help unemployed workers will not go to fund a rich “fat cat” on Wall Street.

So the question was, did Democrats in Congress want to give stimulus money to executives on Wall Street and borrow money from China (increasing our federal deficit) to extend COBRA subsidies, OR did they prefer that money set aside for Wall Street bailouts be given to unemployed workers for their health insurance, and at the same time not increase the national debt?

Their answer? Neither.

Congress extended the unemployment benefits, but the “public servants” who hoisted and forced a health care reform overhaul on the country didn’t see fit to extend health insurance to those same workers.

A Democrat in Congress (I can’t remember his name, and don’t recall if he was in the House or Senate) was on one of the cable news shows this week; I halfway listened to the interview on XM Radio while on the road. During the interview, the politician said that we should not tap the unused stimulus money because it was intended to “stimulate the economy.” Later in the interview, he said that it was important that Congress borrow the money to extend unemployment benefits, because that money would be spent and therefore “stimulate the economy.”

He muddled some incomprehensible response when the host pointed out the hypocricy, especially since the first extension that the Democrat-controlled Congress and President Obama approved in February 2009 was first authorized using stimulus dollars.

This time, however, to prevent giving a “win” to Republicans, the Democrats refuse to use those funds.

And the unemployed American worker is the loser.

9 Responses

1. John Says:
   July 23rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm

   What about the Cobra extension, without that all your unemployment goes toward that, so it will not stimulate anything you bunch of morons.

2. JessicaPS Says:
   July 23rd, 2010 at 3:36 pm

   For those losing their COBRA subsidy or who are struggling to find free or low-cost healthcare services, there are many community-based programs for healthcare services you may not be aware of. I would suggest downloading a book called The Healthcare Survival Guide at http://www.healthcaresurvivalguide.com. This book contains tips to save money, information on free or low-cost services and more. The book is currently being offered for free as a download from the publisher’s website but it can also be found on retail sites like Amazon.com or Borders.com for $6.95 if you want a hard copy. To view the book, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, and must register with the website. But it’s worth it.

3. AnnMarie Says:
   July 24th, 2010 at 8:43 am

   My husband lost his job we got our Cobra elect statement, we couldn’t believe ours eyes. $1800 monthly..That’s a mortgage payment we can’t afford. I can’t believe the president & congress are not extending the
   the healthcare benefits. I’m so dissappointed & concerned. How are we going to make it, it’s getting harder & harder to survive in the US. What do they want people to loose their homes & everything. They don’t care because they & their families are well taken care of. It’s the hard working people who suffer all the time. I’ve always said it I never trust these politicians their in it for their own gain not ours.

4. H Silverstein Says:
   July 26th, 2010 at 10:55 am

   The Democrats just don’t get it. The american people aren’t stupid, even though they think so. Not to extend the COBRA benefits was an Obamanation. They want a single payer system so bad and on the other hand won’t support the COBRA extension makes no sense. They obviously have no idea what they are doing other than not working with the Republican party under any circumstances. Same rhetoric, same business as usual.

5. Gavin Maurer Says:
   July 26th, 2010 at 2:36 pm

   After working 18 years for a school district and now laid off work, Im unable to afford health care! Now instead of spending my money on goods and services I will have to spend it on health care, which I dont have enough money to cover that anyways. I dont know how its possible to work 18 years of my life and end up spending my savings and retirement (whitch was taxed so much because of early withdraw) Just to pay for health insurance, witch for me is $1294.00 a month.

6. Margaret Ciabattoni Says:
   August 9th, 2010 at 6:28 pm

   Thank you, Tony for the bad news…..will Congress review this issue again next year? Or do we have to wait for the next administration?

   Marge Ciabattoni

7. Shawn Says:
   August 15th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

   Dear Tony,

   I am regular reader of your stories on IFAwebnews. Never thought one day I will end up writing and reaching out to you for guidence.

   I was laid off from work late last year. To continue my health coverage,I went on Cobra as of 4-1-09. Have been making my subsidized Cobra payments regularly and on-time. I sent my latest Cobra Subsidy payment to my employer on July 1, 2010 and that check was received and cashed by them.

   To my surprise, I was just informed by Aetna that my Medical Coverage with them has been inactive with since June 30th, 2010. And that I need to contact my employer to get this matter resolved.

   My understanding has been that Senate last approved COBRA subsidy extension through end of 2010, and according to that, I am entitled to subsidized Cobra health coverage through Dec 31, 2010.

   Please understand I have critical health care needs and I cannot survive without medical care. I have called my employer over 20 times since last week, left repeated voice messages, and sent numerous emails to them, but they are not responding to me at all.

   I am reaching out to you to please help in any way you can to get my employer to respond and fix this problem.

   I would mean a lot to me.

   Thank you,
   Shawn

8. susan jonas Says:
   September 13th, 2010 at 10:16 am

   Your article hits home. The help the feds give me for cobra runs out dec. 2010. Then I will have no health insurance for 2 years. What a mess. I am 63 years of age and frightened. I hope all these bastards get run out of office without health insurance. What can we do.

9. Lorraine Coleman Says:
   October 27th, 2010 at 8:58 am

   This title of this article shows the unfair bias shown by the writer.
   For years the Republicans did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to improve the benefits of those let go from their jobs; Obama made three extensions to give help in this matter through the end of 2010.

   We should be grateful for what he was able to accomplish against the Republicans who only care to make him look bad and give him credit for nothing. It is their mess he is cleaning up.

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