The Senate voted down the 2010 unemployment extension bill which would have extended the unemployment compensation until Nov 30th. All Republic Senators united and voted “No”. Democratic Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska joined the Republicans and also voted against the bill, according to The Washington Post.
The Republic Senators will not budge, the same things about spending are being said today that were said when the first vote shot down the bill. The bill is for emergency economic provisions. This is an urgent need by almost one million Americans today and soon millions more will be joining them.
What comes next? The Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid said it all when stating that “the only path forward would require Republican Compromise”. This is basically what needs to happen if the unemployment extension bill is ever going to see the light of day.
After 4 months of talks, it is likely this bill will not be voted on again until after the July 4th holiday. It is amazing to me how the Senate seems to conduct business by using the next holiday coming up as some short of a time line. In other words, too many are getting ready for their July 4th holiday and the bill will sit until they return from their holiday.
The people who are waiting to receive the unemployment benefits will not be having a very happy holiday. The Senate’s vote of “No” took care of that.
This unemployment extension is seriously needed and the people waiting for this are not waiting to go on a holiday or a vacation, they are waiting to feed their kids and keep the lights on.
On June 2, unemployment benefits ran out and since that time 1.2 million people have had their checks cut off. By the time Congress returns from its week long break, the number of out of work Americans who have no more unemployment benefits left is expected to rise to 2 million.
Today is June 24; it has been three weeks for some people since they have gotten their last unemployment check. What are these people going through right now?
Senator Kent Conrad from North Dakota said, “People are in the mood of letting the dust settle before finding the next step,” when talking about what will happen with the unemployment extension bill from here.
SENATOR KENT – PEOPLE ARE IN THE MOOD TO EAT AND WERE COUNTING ON THIS EMERGENCY EXTENSION TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES!
How out of touch the Senate is with the people they are supposed to be serving. Can you imagine that we need to let the “mood” of the Senate settle down before we can expect any consideration to be given to the people in dire straights? I think that comment did it for me. This is the attitude the Senate is exhibiting about the urgency of the unemployment extension.
This ordeal the Senate is putting the unemployed Americans through cannot be forgotten on voting day. Show them that we, the voters, are in a mood that day. We are in the mood of having Senators that will work for the people they represent.
Reference: Washington Post
