Editorial: GOP failure a win for jobless

Editorial: GOP failure a win for jobless
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
July 21, 2010
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/2517490,CST-EDT-edit21b.article


If it were U.S. senators getting laid off left and right, they might be more sympathetic toward average Americans who have been left jobless by the worst economic downturn since the Depression.

As it is, it took months of legislative battling to restore checks to 2.5 million men and women whose unemployment benefits started running out seven weeks ago.

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 60-40 to break a filibuster by all but two Republicans and one Democrat, clearing the way for a vote on extending payments to those who've been out of work for more than six months. The bill was expected to clear the House promptly and go to President Obama for his signature.

Complaints in some quarters that benefits encourage recipients not to look for work are offensive. At a time when unemployed workers outnumber job openings by almost 5-1, there's no way most of them can find work, no matter how much the GOP tries to shame them.

And Republican concerns that the extra spending will add to the deficit would sound sincere if they had showed the same concern for other measures, such as tax cuts, that benefit wealthier Americans.

Extending unemployment benefits will not only help cash-strapped families, but it will also boost the economy as recipients put the money back into circulation. The Senate should have acted more quickly, but it did get the job done.