2010 Unemployment Extensions - Vote Put Off Until Next Week

2010 Unemployment Extensions - Millions of unemployed Americans were forced to wait an additional 12 days while Congress went on their 4^th of July vacation for what we were led to believe would be the final passage of an unemployment benefits extension bill. Over that time, nearly a million more people lost their benefits, bringing the total number of jobless with no means of support to over 2 million.

Over the course of that 12 days, a successor for the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Virg.) was supposed to have been appointed by Governor Joe Manchin (D), the governor of that state, presumably providing the 60^th vote necessary for passage of the contentious unemployment extension bill.

Instead, however, what transpired over the recess was a roller coaster ride of legal and political positioning for West Virginia's government. While some of the positioning is political, much is simply sensible and appropriate governance. Still, for the millions of unemployed waiting on the edge of starvation and homelessness, no rationale could possibly seem adequate for the delays.

So, as of Monday, July 12, when the Senate reconvened, there was no promised replacement for Senator Byrd. Still, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could have done what was best for the unemployed and put up a fully paid for unemployment benefits extension bill penned by Republican Scott Brown (Mass.) or he could have accepted a compromise from Republican Senator George Voinovich (Ohio) to pay for just half of the unemployment extension bill with unallocated stimulus funds in exchange for his 60^th vote. But Reid did not choose to do either and now the unemployed are left to wait even longer.

Governor Manchin had said he would have to wait until Thursday for the West Virginia state legislature to meet and give him the go ahead to appoint Senator Byrd's replacement. But feeling the heat from the unemployed for quicker action, Manchin met with a group of attorneys to determine if he could make the appointment sooner.

Unfortunately, Manchin was not satisfied by the attorneys' advice that he could move forward with the appointment without his legislature's approval. So the latest word is that the soonest Governor Manchin can appoint Byrd's appointment is this Friday. According to OpenCongress.org, that means that the soonest the vote could come for unemployment extensions would be next Monday or Tuesday and, according to OpenCongress.org, under "the best-case scenario, it will take the Senate until the end of next week to get the bill to final passage. And then the process of implementing the extension in the 50 states begins..." Welcome relief that it will be to all, it may be too late for far too many, and the suffering so many of us are going through in the interim is truly cruel.

This could have been over many, many weeks ago, of course, had Harry Reid and the Democrats simply agreed to pay for the unemployment extensions as the Republicans have been requesting. They have offered a number of ways to do so, including using unallocated stimulus funds as well as making cuts in unnecessary government spending.

But the Democrats have refused, preferring to use our pain and desperation to demonize the Republicans for political gain. Some Democrats and their media allies have argued that they can't use the unspent stimulus funds because they need those funds to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

What's interesting is that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal) and the Democrat's have all said that unemployment benefits create jobs. According to Fox News (and dozens of other news sources), Pelosi said last Thursday that "Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday." Well, if that's the case, then what better use for those stimulus funds could there possibly be?

Tell Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and the Democrats to quit stalling for political gain. Tell them NOT to wait for the Byrd replacement. Tell them to pass unemployment extensions NOW, using any one of the paid for or partially paid for alternatives they have been offered by the Republicans. We, the unemployed, can't wait any longer for their political gamesmanship.

Sources:

http://washingtonindependent.com/90637/brown-offers-deficit-neutral-unemployment-benefits-extension-bill

http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1972-Dems-Will-Have-60-Votes-for-Passing-the-Unemployment-Extension-Bill-Next-Week

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/01/pelosi-unemployment-checks-best-way-create-jobs/