OKLAHOMA CITY -
A new report says
thousands of millionaires have been collecting unemployment benefits. Now
two Oklahoma lawmakers are leading the charge in Washington to stop the what
they say is "welfare for the wealthy".
Sen. Tom Coburn calls
it a case study in out-of-control spending: 2,400 millionaires that received
unemployment benefits in 2009.
Terri Knighton
recently lost her job as a veterinary tech. She was at the Oklahoma
unemployment office Wednesday trying to find a new job.
"Never thought I'd
be in this situation, especially having a young child," said Knighton.
Knighton is a
single mom who's barely getting by. So news that millionaires are getting
the same benefits that she receives doesn't sit well with her.
"I think there's a
lot of people out there that need the help and [the rich] don't," Knighton
said.
According to a
study by the Congressional Research Service, 1,000 of those who received
benefits had a household income of over $1.5 million. Eighteen had incomes
above $10 million. It all amounts to $20.8 million in benefits going to
millionaires.
"If you made a
million dollars last year in income and you filed and got $8,000 in
unemployment benefits this year, that's a lack of responsibility, that's a lack
of planning," said Oklahoma Congressman James Lankford (R).
Lankford has taken
up a measure that Coburn presented in the Senate early last year. "The
Ending Unemployment to Jobless Millionaires Act of 2011" would stop
unemployment benefits for those who made a million dollars or more the year
before.
"The federal
safety net is really there for someone who is in an emergency, in dire straits,
to try and help them for a short period of time," said Lankford.
The other side,
however, women argue those millionaires have made payments into unemployment
insurance just like everyone else, so they shouldn't be disqualified for the
benefits.
Coburn's bill
passed the Senate unanimously but is now stuck in the House of Representatives.
Sen. Tom Coburn calls it a case study in out-of-control spending: 2,400 millionaires that received unemployment benefits in 2009.
