President Bush Extends Jobless Benefits for Millions

The Bush Administration agreed to sign into law a bill that was passed through Congress, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will continue to receive jobless benefits through the end of the year. Recent data indicates that the number of jobless Americans has risen to a 16-year high, with the total number of people out of work eclipsing 10 million.

With no sign of a recovery, or even a stabilization on the horizon, it would seem that this move is prudent both economically and politically. While billions have been committed to corporate bailouts, very little direct action has been taken to ease the pain of the average American taxpayers, homeowners and workers. This is at least a small gesture in that direction.

As the economic situation continues to deteriorate and the collapse of the auto industry grows in likelihood, the task at hand for the incoming Obama administration is only going to get more difficult. The lame-duck Congressional session currently underway has made little legislative progress in addressing the situation and it would appear that there will be as much wrangling over details once the President-elect takes office in late January.

And while jobless benefits for millions of Americans is important in the short-term, it doesn't appear as though any long-term solutions or proposals have been implemented to address the overall financial collapse. Bailouts are great for a brief period in time, then the fundamental issues that created these crises must be identified and corrected, or all we've done is thrown good money after bad. Unfortunately, that's the road we're on at the moment.