Joni Ernst: “For far too many small businesses and their employees, federal bureaucracy stands in the way of economic opportunity.”

Because unemployment programs are funded primarily by taxing employers, this federal mandate is effectively a reverse Robin Hood tax that takes from struggling small businesses to give to the idle rich and self-sufficient.

“Doe a Deer has woven creativity, hard work, and community into every aspect of its business,” said Chair Ernst.

My message to the affluent finance bros being cut off from Uncle Sam's unemployment trust fund is simple: If you are fortunate enough to make $1 million or more per year without having to work, then you should be counting your blessings —…

From the fields in Iowa to the battlefields in Iraq, I have worked my entire life. Unlike most of my colleagues in the Senate, I am not a millionaire. I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck.