Getting a late start today, but what the hell.
Showing that he has about as much originality as he has decency, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced today the state would be opting out of the federal unemployment extension by June 12. In this, we join Montana, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama in cutting out that extra $300 a week that apparently was allowing folks to live fatback high up on the hog a whole two months before it was set to run out anyway. Mississippi usually pays out $235 for unemployment and people have to prove they’re looking for work to get that.
The argument is, of course, that small business employers are having a hard time getting people to come to work because of that unemployment assistance, and not because folks have decided the $7.25 an hour minimum wage isn’t worth the crappy jobs. A bill to raise it to a whopping $9 an hour was introduced a couple of years ago but it didn’t even get a hearing in the House. Rep. Jeramey Anderson first introduced it and plans to do it again this year.
As we said the other day, the figuring is still out as to whether the stimulus money is the actual cause of a “labor shortage” for lower-paid workers or if said workers used to time to find something new. An even gloomier picture painted notes it could be the higher-than-average deaths due to COVID in the lower-wage world. In any event, Mississippi’s unemployment numbers, while slightly higher than the previous year, really haven’t changed much and we still rank 33rd in the nation when it comes to unemployment. We also rank dead last in poverty with 19.7% of the population living below the poverty line. We also rank dead last in vaccinations, so this is sure to work just swimmingly.
The unemployment assistance was set to run out September 6 and June 12 is the earliest states can opt-out. The White House really hasn’t taken much of a stand on the issue, noting that getting that unemployment money was contingent on being able to prove recipients were looking for a job. Reeves claims the Mississippi Department of Employment Security hasn’t been doing the job properly. It should be noted the support for this is pretty bipartisan, with even the Republican Congress and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann back Reeves even though they generally hate his guts.
Speaking of Republican Unity, we’re told we’ll probably see a vote Wednesday on the question of whether or not Colorado Rep. Liz Cheney, accused of being insufficiently worshipful of His Highness Lord Trump, will get kicked out of the third-highest position in the Republican House. While there has been some pushback from guys like Mitt Romney and Adam Kinzinger, the good money is on Cheney losing the Conference Chair seat – behind in power only to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, both of who have come out against her – in favor of Elise Stefanik.
This is, remember, despite the New York Representative having a markedly more liberal voting record than Cheney. Indeed, she voted against Trump far more often than Cheney. However, Stefanik did what was most valuable to future GOP electoral concerns: she backed Trump’s accusation that the election was stolen from him while Cheney, the traitor, said it was all on the level and Biden won fair and square.
I know it sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but this is really the lay of the land. The base is firmly in favor of Trump and against anything that doesn’t agree with everything he said. There may be a few holdouts in the Never Trump world, but when push comes to shove, lower taxes on the rich and gutting any sort of oversight for business is enough to keep them in line. There really is no conflict of any importance in the Republican Party. They’re just cutting out the dead weight.
Dear Y'all 