Republicans Kill Unemployment Insurance Extension Again

This morning the Democrats were unable to break the Republican Party filibuster against extending unemployment benefits for three months, despite Democratic compromises with GOP demands. Harry Reid's attempt to shut down the filibuster through cloture failed 58-40. Almost two million American workers who lost their jobs because of the vicissitudes of the market-- almost entirely caused by conservative economic policies-- are now stuck with no income… as the GOP celebrates another victory in their Class War against America's working families.

Although 4 Republicans-- Kelly Ayotte, Susan Collins, Dean Heller and Lisa Murkowski-- joined Reid's bid to shut down the filibuster, it lost by one vote because of three particular villains in today's action: Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), who were thought to be a yes votes but who chickened out at the last moment, and Tom Coburn (R-OK), who had gotten the Democrats to agree to a hideous amendment to means test unemployment insurance, a camel's nose under the tent that some conservatives hoped would lead to weakening other social insurance policies, particularly Social Security, of course, which Republicans will apparently never give up trying to undermine. Even accepting GOP concessions wasn't enough for Republicans given an opportunity to inflict more pain on working families. This is the official White House response:

It is disappointing that Republicans in the Senate chose to again deny emergency unemployment insurance for 1.7 million Americans who need this vital lifeline to support their families as they actively search each and every day for a job. As the President said during the State of the Union, we need to give these hardworking, responsible Americans a chance. We cannot allow one vote to stand in the way of supporting these Americans as they struggle to find work. Both sides of the aisle have worked together to prevent this kind of hardship in the past, and neglecting to do so now is unacceptable-- especially given the high long-term unemployment rate.

  Last week the President took action on his own, bringing together CEOs whose companies have agreed to take steps to help give the long-term unemployed a fair shot at a job, and announced new steps to expand partnerships that connect the long-term unemployed to good jobs.  Republicans in Congress need to allow this bill to have an up or down vote and remove this needless drag on our economy and American families.

How could they? Maybe Matea Gold had it right in the Washington Post this morning by pointing out that "Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group backed by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, is emerging as the most powerful ally of the Republican Party ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, bombarding Senate Democrats with early air attacks that could help the GOP retake the Senate… As of this week, Americans for Prosperity has spent more than $27 million on ads since August, putting it on pace to far outstrip its overall $38.5 million budget for the 2010 midterms."