Senate Still Seeking 60 Votes for Unemployment Benefits "Extenders Bill" on Wednesday

Millions of unemployed Americans remain on the edge of their seats - and their sanity - waiting to find out if the Senate will find the 60 votes necessary to pass the unemployment benefits "Extenders Bill" tomorrow. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) is apparently still having difficulty gathering the needed votes, even encountering resistance from many deficit-weary lawmakers on his own side of the aisle.

Interestingly, though, even as the Democrats will no doubt continue their finger-pointing at the Republicans should the unemployment benefits "Extenders Bill" not pass tomorrow, the Republicans say they are in favor of continuing to help the unemployed as long as Congress finds a way to pay for it rather than add another $80 billion directly to the deficit - And they have even, once again, provided the means to do just that.

According to FoxNews.com, Senator John Thune (R-SD) has proposed a bill that would actually cut the deficit by $55 billion by first taking $38 billion from the 2009 stimulus funds that have yet to have been used or even allocated. The bill would also freeze federal salaries and impose a "5% across-the-board cut in government spending for all agencies except the VA and DOD, among other provisions." (Read 'Crucial Vote Set On Unemployment Benefits, Tax Credit Extensions Bill - Failure Possible'; FoxNews.com)

Additionally, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) proposed an amendment to pay for the unemployment benefits extenders bill by such means as reducing Congressional members' office budgets by a one-time $100 million, selling off unnecessary government property and ... get this ... collecting $3 billion from federal government employees - for unpaid income taxes!

Personally, I don't know how the Democrats can argue with any of this. But I don't doubt they will. Only a few months ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled a fast one and reneged on a deal with Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) which would have offset the cost of a previous unemployment benefits extension. (Read "Unemployment Benefits Extension Delayed: Was Senator Jim Bunning Right?")

And now, it seems, many Dems have something to gain from millions of unemployed falling off the unemployment benefits rolls. As the November elections draw near, many Democrats need the unemployment numbers to appear to go down in order to have any hope of regaining their seats. (Read "... Why the Democrats May Not Want to Extend Your Benefits")

Remember that things are not always as they seem in the world of politics. If the Dems truly "care" about the plight of the over one in ten Americans who are without work and without any other means of survival should we lose our unemployment benefits, surely they will be willing to do a little "belt-tightening" up there on Capitol Hill as the Republicans have proposed, thus allowing those benefits to be funded without further crippling our economy and our nation with additional debt.

Tell Congress to pass the employment benefits Extenders Bill and Republicans' bills to pay for these benefits. And tell them to pass Tier 5 Unemployment Benefits to help support the unemployed until jobs return to our economy. Contact information for Congress and the Administration can be found here.

Sources: http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/14/crucial-vote-http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5484556/tell_congress_to_pass_tier_5_unemployment.html?cat=75set-on-unemployment-benefits-tax-credit-extensions-bill-failure-possible/