Should the Republicans agree to extend unemployment benefits without spending cuts?

 Earlier today the Senate cleared a procedural hurdle on extending unemployment benefits and will now begin to debate the issue. The Democrats want to extend the benefits with no strings attached while the Republicans are willing to extend the benefits only if there are offsetting spending cuts made elsewhere.

  That seems like a reasonable enough request but should the Republicans hold firm on this when dealing with unreasonable Democrats? There is no doubt in my mind that the Democrats will be more than willing to let those who have lost their benefits suffer if in the end they believe it will hurt the Republicans. In fact I actually believe the Democrats want the benefits to remain expired so people will suffer because they feel the Republicans will also suffer at the ballot box at the end of the year.

   The Republicans would be playing right into their hands if they let this happen, this appears to be a losing issue to me and one that might not be worth fighting. And regular readers of America’s Watchtower know that I have taken the Republicans to task many times for caving in to the Democrats, so it pains me to say this, but this may be the one time where it is necessary.

  The only way out of this predicament, in my opinion, is to not let the Democrats get the upper hand. And to do this they must agree to extend the benefits with no strings attached if the Democrats do not bend and then claim that while they didn’t want to they also didn’t want to see people suffer due to Barack Obama’s poor economy. The Republicans can then refocus on the economy, job creation, and Obamacare and run on fixing the economy rather than being on the defensive about not helping the people who are suffering as a result of Barack Obama’s failed policies.

  In my opinion they can use the extension of unemployment benefits to their advantage if they can use it to highlight exactly how destructive Barack Obama’s policies have been to the American working class. If you like your economy you can keep it, you know what to do, but if you would rather have a job than continue to collect unemployment you also know what to do–that should be the Republicans’ talking point from this point forward. The Republicans must remind the American people that the reason why they had to extend unemployment benefits is because people are not going back to work and they must remind them who is responsible for that.

  This might be the only way they can turn the tables on what is otherwise a losing issue.