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Senate drags feet on unemployment extension
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(AP Photo/ Harry Hamburg)
Updated 10/9/2009
It has been nearly two weeks since the House passed H.R. 3548, seeking to extend Unemployment benefits to the long term unemployed and though Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promised brisk action, little has been seen.
Initially the reasons for inaction seemed to be a growing level of concern over the fact that the bill limited the availability of this extension to claimants living in those states with a sustained, high unemployment level of 8.5%. .
A new compromise emerged earlier in the week though, advocating a 20 week extension to claimants living in high unemployment states and a 14 week extension to claimants in the remaining 24 states. The Bill's passage seemed assured with the President offering vocal support and public opinion firmly behind an extension.
A funny thing happened on the way to the bill signing though as Arizona Republican Senator John Kyl voiced an objection over the speed with which the bill was being considered, saying "I have no doubt that at the appropriate time we'll be able to work out some kind of agreement. but our side is going to need some time to look at it. we'll need some republican ideas or amendments as well and need a c.b.o. score." A notion sure to inspire anger and debate.
Many American's feel that we are beyond the appropriate time. Nearly 5 million Americans all throughout this country have been unemployed more then 6 months. For them there simply must be a lifeline, a way to keep the heat on and the bills paid, a way to keep food on the table and money in the community. Beyond politics and statistics real people are losing their benefits every week, as many as one million are projected to lose their benefits by years end without action, real people dealing with economic suffocation and the Senates inaction and inability to find a quick resolution compares to nothing short of a fire company slowly walking toward an inferno.
So what do you think? Is this another instance of the GOP playing games in their ever growing campaign of obstructionism and division toward President Obama's agenda with hundreds of thousands of American economic lifelines serving as collateral damage or does Sen. Kyl have a point? Let us know. Let Senator Kyl and the GOP leadership know what you think by using the links below.
For more info: To contact your Congressional Representative click here. To contact your U.S. Senator click here. To contact Sen. Kyl click here.
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