A popular idea in President Obama's new jobs bill could represent a step toward fundamentally transforming the existing system of federal jobless benefits. Some critics say such a move is long overdue--but others worry that a major overhaul could threaten a program that since the Depression has been a core component of the social safety net.
Obama's jobs measure, sent to Congress Monday, contains a provision that would encourage states to replicate a voluntary Georgia program that allows jobless workers to continue collecting unemployment benefits while training with potential employers. (Last month, we looked at how effective the Georgia program has been.)
But Cantor and his party seem to see the idea as more than a short-term fix for unemployment. He described the proposed overhaul as "reforming the unemployment benefit program in this country"--a goal Obama had not mentioned in his speech. And Cantor used similar language when first pushing the idea back in 2009 in a jobs plan of his own (pdf), calling on Washington to "reform the unemployment system."
So if, as looks likely, Congress passes a version of the idea, at least one party will view it as a step toward radically transforming the system. How? Currently, jobless benefits are treated as a temporary lifeline for those who can't find work. But those advocating a new approach to disbursing jobless benefits want them to be linked more closely to work or training. The idea--similar to the thinking behind the 1996 welfare reform law--is to encourage the jobless to remain productive, and to keep them connected with the workforce.
One major backer of an overhaul--and of the Georgia program specifically--is the American Institute for Full Employment, an Oregon-based group that helps states re-fashion both their welfare and jobless benefit programs with those ideas in mind.http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/could-obama-jobs-bill-help-end-jobless-benefits-150417721.htmlThe American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE) is a nonprofit organization that since 1994 has been promoting welfare reform programs, worked on unemployment insurance and social security...
It's a campaign that in no small part has been orchestrated by one of Oregon's wealthiest residents, Richard Wendt of Klamath Falls.
Anatomy of an anti-welfare millionaire
Wendt is used to getting his way. Since its founding in 1960, his company Jeld-Wen has become the world's largest manufacturer of doors, windows, millwork and specialty wood products. It has over 200 subsidiary companies in 40 states and 10 countries, in such diverse industries as wood products, real estate titles, and time share resorts. It employs some 15,000 workers worldwide, over 2,000 in Oregon. Forbes magazine has estimated the company's annual revenues at $850 million a year...
None of Jeld-Wen's Oregon employees are represented by a union. Union officials in southern Oregon describe Jeld-Wen as an octopus that runs Klamath Falls like a company town. It has a hand in a local bank and a local auto dealership. It hired right-wing circuit court judge Ted Abram right off the bench as its energetic political advocate...On the AIFE website are links to right-wing think tanks - Heritage Foundation, Cascade Policy Institute, Cato Institute and the National Center for Policy Analysis. board."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Institute_for_Full_EmploymentHere's how it works:
Employers hiring JOBS Plus workers are reimbursed by the state for the minimum wage portion of the worker's wages for up to six months, with no requirement to hire the employee at the end of the subsidy. Program participants receive paychecks instead of benefit checks. After 30 days on the job, employers pay $1 an hour into an individual account for the workers to receive additional job training and education after they are employed...
In 1994, to spread the anti-welfare gospel, Wendt founded and funded a non-profit organization, the American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE). AIFE works closely with Oregon's JOBS Plus, and it also sends people to state legislatures around the country to promote the idea of converting welfare and unemployment benefits into wage subsidies for companies...Boundaries between Jeld-Wen, JOBS Plus and AIFE are very blurry. Jeld-Wen executive Hobbs, a former Reagan Administration official, described AIFE as a "not-for-profit subsidiary of Jeld-Wen."
...It's clear that Jeld-Wen wrote the bill. At a March 29 hearing at which critics of the bill testified, when Representative Harper was unable to answer questions about the bill, Jeld-Wen attorney Heidi Neill stood and answered for him.
http://www.nwlaborpress.org/1999/4-16-99Jeld-Wen.html This President is touting policies developed by the FAR RIGHT. Unbelievable.