Sen Lindsey Graham threw his own family under the bus in a budget hearing on Tuesday, telling a committee that he had family members who were avoiding work because of federal unemployment benefits.
“I got a lot of people in my family that ain’t working because they’re getting — I’ll show you some of my family,” Graham chuckled.
President Biden in March expanded federal unemployment benefits by an additional $300 through the end of August, but since May nearly two dozen Republican governors have pulled their states out of the program, saying workers are deciding to stay home because of the extra unemployment monies.
Economists say there is not sufficient data to show expanded unemployment benefits as the only or even primary driver of the labor shortage. Experts also point to lingering health concerns, a lack of child care options and the inability of many people — particularly women — to return to the workforce due to pandemic-related barriers.
From The Hill and the Independent