“The Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay,” columnist Paul Krugman wrote. “But that’s not how Republicans see it.” Sen. Jon Kyl (in photo), R-Ariz., in defending the block on unemployment benefits by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said that unemployment relief “doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work.” In Kyl’s view, Krugman wrote, “what we really need to worry about right now — with more than five unemployed workers for every job opening, and long-term unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression — is whether we’re reducing the incentive of the unemployed to find jobs. To me, that’s a bizarre point of view.”
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