We’re suspecting that State Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis, ran for the wrong office. Maybe he meant to file as a U.S. representative or senator during the last election cycle, because he seems to care more about national politics than what’s going on in his own state.
The senator and three other Republican senators led a filibuster of a measure that would reauthorize the state’s participation in a federal program that offers long-term unemployment benefits.
That means that Missouri will turn away about $105 million in benefits for the state’s unemployed.
In other words: While the state, with its 9.4 percent unemployment rate (for almost two years), struggles with how to create more jobs, about 34,000 unemployed Missourians will see benefits shrink and feel the pinch of joblessness much more sharply.
And that $105 million, part of a 2009 federal stimulus act, won’t go to other states. According to an Associated Press report, it will just sit there, locked away in a safe, instead of helping Missourians make ends meet.
Our frustration isn’t political, because this isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. The measure passed the Republican-led House with a 123-14 vote, and had the support of Gov. Jay Nixon.
All of our area representatives — all Republicans, by the way — voted yes. Lembke and Sens. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit and Robert Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, even bucked their party’s leadership to conduct their filibuster.
Our region is just as affected by Missouri’s unemployment as the rest of the state, according to January 2011 numbers (not seasonally adjusted) from the U.S. Department of Labor. Jasper and Newton counties are barely below the state average, with rates of 8.4 percent and 9 percent. But Barton County is particularly hurting: Unemployment is at 11.2 percent.
We understand Lembke’s frustration — our editorial board also believes that federal spending needs to be reined in, so that we can reduce the national debt. But why Lembke has to make his point in a way that hurts Missourians is beyond us.
Lembke could work on job creation to fix unemployment. He could write meaningful legislation that stretches far past the well-intended but employee-unfriendly “Fix the Six” plan.
Instead, he and others would rather play on the national stage and represent voters across the nation who crusade against government spending. Remember that Lembke and others were also behind a movement to send $189 million intended for schools back to the federal government.
Voters didn’t elect Lembke and these other filibustering followers to Congress. They voted them to the Missouri General Assembly, where they are supposed to take care of Missouri’s business.
Opinion
Our view: Jobless paying
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