Washington -- Key Senate Democrats tried unsuccessfully today to quickly pass legislation to give jobless workers in Michigan and other hard-hit states an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits.
That delays action on the high-stakes issue until at least next week.
Tom Clementson, a 58-year-old unemployed construction worker in Indian River, expressed frustration by the Senate's slow pace.
"So many people are out of work and need this extra money to put food on the table," said Clementson, who cashed his last check six weeks ago. "It seems like the Senate should spend more time on getting this passed."
Today's failed effort to quickly pass a bill followed the unveiling of a compromise bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and key allies. The bill would give all states an extra 14 weeks of jobless benefits, plus an extra six weeks for states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or greater.
[...] Reid introduced the bill after reaching a deal with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who had balked at the House-passed bill, which only gives extra benefits to the hardest-hit states.
[...] But when Reid asked senators to quickly pass the bill under a speedy procedure, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., objected. That's enough to prevent a quick vote.
Kyl said he wanted to have time to look at the proposal and consider possible Republican amendments, and also ask the independent Congressional Budget Office to estimate its cost.
[...] While objecting to quick passage, Kyl said he expects "at the appropriate time," Republicans will "be able to work out some kind of agreement."
Kyl helped cause this mess. It's only good manners to help clean it up - but then, Republicans aren't big on personal responsibility, are they?
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Poster Comment:
I doubt it's that big a deal, but it just pisses me off. He did this just to jab a thumb into democrats' eyes. I certainly hope that is enough to guarantee his defeat in his next election, the dick. There are some 15 million people on unemployment and there are probably as many who have at some point in the past collected unemployment benefits. That's about a quarter of the voting public. Add to that another few million who are scared to death that they will lose their jobs and need unemployment, and you have a real good chunk of the electorate. This guy just said he doesn't care at all about a third of his potential voters. I think he just created a bunch of Democrats. Arizona was on the edge of going blue last year; I think this might finish the job, so to speak.
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