Polls Show Congressional GOP And Public Disagree On Unemployment Benefits

It looks like both political parties screwed up with what they included in the budget agreement that was passed a few days ago. It became immediately obvious that the Democrats had made a mistake by cutting the cost-of-living (COLA) for veterans. They know it, and although they voted to approve the agreement, I think they'll take some action soon to fix the problem (and restore the original COLA.

The screw-up for the Republicans was their refusal to include any money in the budget to extend unemployment benefits for workers who have been out of work for more than 6 months. It is the GOP's opinion that these workers are just lazy, and those extended benefits should be allowed to expire (in spite of the fact that more than a million people will see their benefits stop).

But the American people have a different attitude. They see these people as trying hard to find work in a poor economy that just doesn't have enough jobs, and many more want those benefits extended than want them to expire. That is what a recent YouGov Poll showed. The YouGov Poll was taken on December 16th and 17th of 1,000 nationwide adults, and has a margin of error of about 4.6 points.

And a different poll shows this could have an effect on the 2014 election. Public Policy Polling surveyed four House districts that are currently held by Republicans, but which could go either way in the coming election -- and they also surveyed the feeling of voters on this issue in Speaker Boehner's own district. The districts in question are:

California District 31 (Gary Miller) -- 515 voters surveyed with 4.3 point MOE
Colorado District 6 (Mike Coffman) -- 504 voters surveyed with 4.4 point MOE
Illinois District 13 (Rodney Davis) -- 573 voters surveyed with 4.1 point MOE
Michigan District 1 (Dan Benishek) -- 769 voters surveyed with 3.5 point MOE
Ohio District 8 (John Boehner) -- 705 voters surveyed with 3.7 point MOE

Speaker Boehner might want to reconsider his position, and allow a vote on restoring these extended benefits -- and the four GOP congressmen in question might want to think about changing their position and voting for those extended benefits. Note that a significant majority in all five districts want the benefits extended, and more say it could affect the way they vote than say it won't -- by a 15 point margin in California, a 12 point margin in Colorado, a 10 point margin in Illinois, a 9 point margin in Michigan, and a 2 point margin in Ohio. And in a close race, which at least the first four of those districts will be, every vote is important.