The Washington Post has latched onto the Michigan unemployment benefits story in a big way, placing it on the front page of today’s paper.

According to the Post, other financially strapped states are thinking about following Michigan’s lead and cutting unemployment insurance from 26 weeks to 20 weeks for new filers.

Here’s how Peter Whoriskey and Michael Fletcher of the Post begin their piece:

“Michigan moved Thursday to significantly cut its unemployment program, becoming the first of what could be a flurry of debt-laden states to reduce aid even as high jobless rates persist.

“The …state’s economic troubles, aggravated by the recession and its shrinking manufacturing base, have turned Michigan into a bellwether of bust. Its unemployment rate stands at 10.7 percent — one of the worst in the country.

“The move comes as other Republican-dominated legislatures, including in Florida and Arkansas, are weighing similar efforts to restrict payments to the jobless, and states such as Wisconsin,Ohio and Indiana are implementing far-reaching, controversial plans to close budget gaps.

Although critics have decried the benefit reductions during a time of high joblessness as part of a political ‘war on the unemployed,’ advocates of the cutbacks say they are necessary to ease the burden on employers, who pay for the programs through a payroll tax.”

A bellwether of bust – a devastatingly effective phrase, but let’s hope that it doesn’t catch on.

I wonder if Gov. Snyder is willing to join the ranks of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by emerging as the leader of the first state in half a century to discard the standard 26 weeks of unemployment insurance.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, who has led the fight against the 20-week legislation, told the Post this: “This is frightfully shortsighted for the individual families.It turns back the clock on 50 years of these benefits. What concerns me is that it could go viral.”

The measure has passed the state House and Senate and it appears Snyder will sign it into law any day now.

The Post goes on to report that one of the states that’s looking to follow Michigan’s lead is Arkansas, which may trim its unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 25.

Hmmm. It seems we are becoming a more backward, regressive state than even Arkansas.

You can read the entire WaPo story here.