What should have been passed long ago took another step toward resolution Tuesday. The Senate voted 87-13 for cloture on a motion to proceed to a debate on extending unemployment insurance benefits. It will probably take yet another cloture vote to end that debate and finally get the extension passed, which Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to accomplish this week.
The House already passed a bill to extend UI benefits by 13 weeks in those states with unemployment above 8.5 percent. But the Senate version would extend benefits by 20 weeks in states with the highest unemployment and by 14 weeks in other states.
The hang-up has been Republicans. Please contain your surprise.
Sen. Byron Dorgan noted in today's cloture debate: "Some of the people who are stalling the unemployment extension benefits were the same ones who rushed to the starting line last fall to see if they couldn’t hand hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks that ran this country into a ditch."
Republicans had sought to have two amendments added to the extension bill, one to keep federal funding away from ACORN and another to screen the immigrant status of recipients of UI benefits. Both proposals have been voted on several times in previous bills. Other amendments that would have extended the homebuyers' tax credit and a small business tax provision were also squeezed out by the cloture vote despite support from both Democrats and some Republicans.
Sen. Carl Levin, whose state of Michigan has been especially hard hit by unemployment (officially 15.3%), spoke for the UI extension:
As of October 16, more than 44,000 Michiganders have exhausted much-needed unemployment benefits and by the end of this year, this number will rise to almost 100,000 people. Since the beginning of this year, Michigan has been losing on average 27,000 jobs per month. Our people need help.
Every day, constituents call my offices with a simple request – please act so our benefits don’t run out. These people are eager, even desperate, for work. ...
Economists tell us that direct payments such as unemployment insurance are also the best, most efficient way to boost economic activity in a downturn – more efficient tha[n] tax cuts, for example. In fact, economists estimate that for every dollar we provide to Americans in extended unemployment benefits, we generate $1.64 in new economic activity.
Here are the Republicans who voted against cloture. with their state's official (U3) unemployment rates in brackets:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) [6.8%]
Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO) [9.5%]
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) [10.9%]
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-OK) [6.7%]
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) [8.2%]
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) [11.6%]
Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) [6.8%]
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) [11.6%]
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) [6.2%]
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)[6.7%]
Sen. Jefferson Sessions (R-AL) [10.7%]
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) [7.4%]
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) [9.2%]