President Obama is still going ahead with lots of reforms. I have to say that I admire his guts. Obviously, there are many things that American citizens are still skeptical about, but he just bulldozes ahead if he thinks it's going to help. This unemployment benefit is one of those really important items. That should help out many thousands of people who are still out of work. This article from the Liberal Examiner examines his effortsJune
--------------------------------
Jobless benefit finally clears the Senate, no thanks to Republicans
July 20, 6:12 PMJacksonville Liberal ExaminerWendie Razon
Finally, a bill to restore unemployment benefits to millions who have been out of work for more than six months has cleared the Senate.The 60-40 vote came moments after Carte Goodwin, a successor to late West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, was sworn in. Goodwin was the critical 60th vote needed to defeat a Republican filibuster that has led to 2.5 million people losing their unemployment.
"It shouldn't take a supermajority to help families afford the bare necessities while unemployment is rising," said Majority Leader Harry Reid after the vote. "It shouldn't take the slimmest of margins to do what is right."
Historically, Congress has never allowed federally-funded extended benefits to lapse when the national unemployment rate has been above 7.2 percent. The current rate is 9.5 percent, and that number is not likely to come down anytime soon.
Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were the sole Republicans to join Democrats on the 60-40 roll call.
Obama blasted Republicans for halting unemployment checks for people unable to find work. "The same people who didn't have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle class Americans," Obama said.
Read More
-----------------------------------
Do you think the republicans really wanted to keep these benefits from the unemployed? I don't, but darn it, politics shouldn't be played at the expense of people who are out of work. What do you think?
June
