Unemployment Extensions: Byrd Replacement Delayed Until Later Next Week

2010 Unemployment Extensions - Millions of eyes are already focused on the doors of the Senate chamber as they wait anxiously for the deliberative body to reconvene on Monday, July 12. A lot is at stake for the over 1.2 million Americans who are jobless and already cut off from their unemployment benefits lifeline. Much is at stake for the two to three hundred thousand more that join them every week, all waiting for just one more "yay" vote from the Senate to get that lifeline restored.

That critical "yay" vote is expected to come from the replacement for Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). Senator Byrd passed away just over a week ago - just days before the final Senate attempt to pass the unemployment benefits extension bill before the recess. That vote, unfortunately, went down to defeat, just one vote shy of passage. It was believed that Senator Byrd would have provided that final affirmative vote.

But now, Governor Joe Munchin of West Virginia has stated he will not appoint a replacement for Byrd until his state has sorted out the laws addressing the late Senator's successor and he does not anticipate that answer until at least some time next week.

This means no 60^th vote for the unemployment extension bill coming from a West Virginia appointee next week. And unless the Democrats agree to pay for unemployment extensions, that means more waiting, more worrying, more suffering for more and more of the jobless.

So what is going on?

As I reported yesterday (here), the State of West Virginia is wrangling over how to best handle Byrd's successor. The primary question is not whether a replacement should be appointed by the Governor until a new Senator can be elected, but about the timing and method of electing the successor.

Depending on how the laws are interpreted and applied, a special election could be held in the next few months or candidates put on the ballot this November to determine the next Senator. In either of these scenarios, the state runs into problems in that the time has passed to properly get candidates on the ballot or through the primary process. Also, considering what goes into a campaign, or even just the decision to run for a national office like this, it would be a major undertaking to get legitimate candidates into the race, let alone to give them a fair shot at a decent campaign for election.

Still, on the other hand, many feel it would be wholly inappropriate to allow a governor to appoint a U.S. Senator who would remain in that office for another two and a half years. Especially when that governor is eyeing the seat for himself.

Yes, Governor Joe Manchin has reportedly long been interested in Senator Byrd's Senate seat. So herein lies the rub (or at least part of it) with Manchin being able to quickly appoint a replacement for Senator Byrd.

It seems that Governor Manchin, a democrat, could appoint himself, vacate the Governor's mansion, load up the truck and move to Wash. D.C. But, first of all, politically that looks a little, shall we say, cheesy. And secondly, Manchin doesn't want to then potentially lose the seat later this year should West Virginia determine that they will go ahead with an election or in 2012. Some, like labor unions, are encouraging Governor Manchin to appoint himself. Others, like pretty much everyone else, would rather he not.

The other option for Governor Manchin, of course, is to simply appoint someone else to replace Senator Byrd (and get us that 60^th doggone unemployment extension vote!), but that choice isn't so simple as it may seem (for Gov. Manchin, anyway) either. Seems he will have to be very careful as the someone he appoints would have to be impressive enough that voters wouldn't be eternally ticked at Manchin for appointing him or her, but not so impressive that he (Joe Manchin) couldn't beat him or her when the next election (either this November or November 2012) rolls around. Ah, politics. Things are just never simple, are they?

So while millions of us are anxious for someone, anyone, to be appointed to the late Senator Robert Byrd's Senate seat and to provide that 60^th "yay" vote on the unemployment benefits extension package, the State of West Virginia and Governor Joe Manchin have got themselves some serious figuring out to do. Perhaps some of our calls, letters, emails and faxes need to be directed toward the Manchin mansion for a spell. Certainly, they need to factor in the fate of the unemployed and our desperate need for a quick resolution to the matter of unemployment benefits extensions.

Or again, maybe the Democrats are just going to have to prove they really care about the unemployed, not just scoring political points, and break down and vote for an unemployment extension bill that doesn't continue to add to the nation's already ridiculous national debt, like the Republicans have been asking for all along. (Read here and here) I dunno. Just a thought ...

Sources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6663RH20100707?type=politicsNews

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/17085

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39092.html