About 18,000 Kentuckians will lose long-term unemployment benefits on Jan. 1 and another 18,000 by summer unless Congress reauthorizes the emergency program before breaking for the holidays.
In Sen. Rand Paul's world, those 18,000 Kentuckians would hustle out and find jobs.
Extending their benefits would be a "disservice" to them, Paul recently told Fox News, citing research that shows the longer someone is out of work the less likely an employer is to hire that person.
In the real world, most of the 18,000 Kentuckians would drop out of the job search and become discouraged workers. The unemployment rate might decline but the disability rolls would swell.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Jobless benefits not a 'disservice'
From today's Herald-Leader:
