Republicans kill Senate jobless aid measure

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_spending;_ylt=Ao9wOlDWVPkVdEuNO8wDdkSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlZW9iY3A5BHBvcwM4MQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3BvbGl0aWNzBHNsawNyZXB1YmxpY2Fuc2s-

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – 28 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Republicans in the Senate have defeated an election-year bill to continue weekly jobless benefits for millions of long-term unemployed workers.

The 57-41 loss was a major blow for President Barack Obama and Democrats. They needed three more votes — for a total of 60 — to stop a GOP filibuster.

The rejected bill would also have provided billions of dollars in new aid, protecting the jobs of tens of thousands of state and local government workers as the country begins to emerge from the worst recession in seven decades.

Democrats have been trying to advance the measure for months as an insurance policy against a double-dip recession.

Despite another round of cuts to the measure aimed at pacifying GOP deficit concerns, not a single Republican broke with party leaders determined to kill the measure for adding more than $30 billion to the deficit.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37904586/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

By ANDREW TAYLOR
updated 50 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Republicans in the Senate appear likely to kill legislation to provide continued unemployment checks to millions of people and provide states with billions of dollars to avert layoffs.

It would be a bitter defeat for President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats, who have been trying to advance the measure for months as an insurance policy against a double-dip recession.

Despite another round of cuts to the measure aimed at pacifying GOP deficit concerns, the measure seems doomed to die by a filibuster in a vote expected as early as Thursday.

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The death of the measure would mean that more than 200,000 people a week would lose their jobless benefits because they would be unable to reapply for additional tiers of benefits enacted since 2008. People seeking the popular homebuyer tax credit would be denied a paperwork extension approved by the Senate last week.

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By the end of this week, about 1.2 million people will have lost their jobless benefits since a temporary extension expired at the beginning of the month, according to Labor Department estimates.

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Crestfallen Democrats tried in vain to win support from moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, leaving them apparently two votes short of the 60 needed to defeat a filibuster. But talks collapsed Wednesday, aides said

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