2010 Unemployment Extensions - Reid Could Lose Two More Votes

2010 Unemployment Extensions - The Senate had wrangled for weeks over H.R. 4213, the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010", which included approximately six months of unemployment benefits extensions, carrying the jobless through November 30, 2010. After failing to achieve cloture on several Democrat iterations of the bill and rejecting every Republican alternative bill, amendment or even temporary extension, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had finally come within one vote of cloture with a semi-standalone unemployment extension bill.

Prior to that vote, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) had written a letter to Senator Reid urging him to please separate the issue of UI benefits extensions from the broader "Extenders" bill as there were many other issues on that bill that were objectionable to her and to the rest of the Republicans.

One of the major problems with passage of the "Extenders" bill has been that the Democrats have agreed to pay for all other spending except the unemployment extensions, choosing to add the $34 billion price tag for UI benefits to the already smothering deficit. Republicans refused to vote for any bill that added any more to the deficit, finally agreeing that enough is enough and seeing that the deficit is contributing to killing economic growth and job creation.

But out of concern for the unemployed, many of whom had already lost their benefits while the Senate debated the issue, Snowe also told Reid in her letter that she would vote for a standalone unemployment extension bill, even if it was not paid for.

Snowe's associate from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, soon followed suit and agreed to vote for the bill when Reid did, in deed, prepare a semi-standalone unemployment extension bill.

Even without support from Democratic Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), these two Republican votes would have given the Democrats their 60 votes needed for cloture on this newest rendition of the Democrats' unemployment extension bill. Unfortunately, with the passing of Senator Robert Byrd (D-W. Virg.) just days before the vote, Reid came up one vote short again and the Senate went home for a 12 day recess.

But now the Senate has come back from their vacation and Reid is said to be waiting on the 60^th vote from the replacement for the late Senator Byrd which is expected to be in place probably early next week.

But might Reid blow his 60 votes again?

Rumor has it that Reid may try to put up an earlier iteration of H.R. 4213 which would include provisions beyond unemployment extensions again - provisions that Snowe and Collins do not support. According to an article in International Business Times quoting Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, "... both the senators are balking now and Reid may not be able to count on their votes. If the vote were strictly for the extension of unemployment insurance, he would probably still firmly have the senators from Maine, and probably a few other Republicans and Sen. Nelson," Tanner said. "But the UI extension is tied to a bigger bill granting other extensions and Collins and Snowe are expressing doubts about backing the larger measure."

This has been going on for months and months, even preventing the unemployment extensions that had bipartisan support way back in February 2010 from passing when Reid tried to attach all sorts of other unpalatable provisions to the bill and causing us to have to go through this month after month after month.

Clearly, Harry Reid is going to have to stop trying to attach other things to unemployment extensions if an unpaid Democrat version of UI extensions is ever going to pass, even after the West Virginia senate seat vacancy is filled.

Or, Reid could simply put up any number of fully paid for unemployment benefits extension bills that don't add to the deficit, don't further damage the economy and prevent job creation, and get unemployment benefits back to the jobless, myself included, so we can all get on with our lives - such as they are in this horrible economy.

Sources:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/34924/20100712/unemployment-insurance.htm