Vacation, all I ever wanted...Congress heads home for 4-day break, fails to extend jobless benefits

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Congress takes long weekend, lets jobless benefits hang

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/10/95697/congress-takes-long-weekend-lets.html#ixzz0qYj7S1ol

WASHINGTON — Congress headed home Thursday for a four-day break, after failing again to extend jobless benefits for an estimated 325,000 people, fund summer jobs for at-risk youths or help newly laid-off people pay for health care.

"These are really pressing things, and we want Congress to stay, but it falls on deaf ears," said Judy Conti of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.

Funding for extended unemployment benefits ran out June 2 while Congress was in the middle of a 10-day Memorial Day break. The House of Representatives had voted to continue the benefits until Nov. 30, but the Senate hadn't.

The Senate returned Monday night, debated the provisions Tuesday and Wednesday, found widespread disagreement and spent much of Thursday on an unrelated energy bill.

Senators agreed to resume voting next Tuesday. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the break had been "long planned."

Meanwhile, the National Employment Law Project estimated that 325,000 people won't be able to collect benefits. This is the third time that Congress has missed on a deadline for extending the benefits; it's expected that they'll paid retroactively.

In addition, people laid off after June 1 won't be eligible for government help with their health insurance, and the government's program to fund summer jobs — which had been expected to provide an estimated 330,000 jobs for at-risk youths — remains unfunded and thus stalled.

[aquart]

1. Send marshals to bring those bastards back till they do some WORK.

[katandmoon]

2. Aw come on, give 'em a break! We have the best congress money can buy!

[Love Bug]

3. Don't blame the House, blame the Senate

The House has come through all along. It's the goddamn SENATE that lets benefits lapse time and time again. Fuckers.

[snappyturtle]

4. Yep. It won't be long back and they'll be out for the Fourth of July and then of

course AUGUST. Then back a bit in September and gone again for campaigning. Throw in Thanksgiving and the forever long Christmas 'break' and the year will be rounded out. Must be nice. The only ones I'm glad to see stop working is the SCOTUS in light of recent decisions.

[femrap]

5. I hate when the

SCOTUS is at work...:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Dappleganger]

6. Call, write and email your congress critters every day if you have to...

tell them that while they were enjoying their wonderful vacation, you spent your awesome 'time off' filling out job applications and trying to figure out the best way to be homeless with a family will be during the hot summer where there's no place to go. These people have no CLUE what real life is all about!

[chill_wind]

7. But first they got Gates his $33 Billion war supplemental . PRIORITIES, people!

We have our Sacred National Priorities. No strings. Blank checkbook!

http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/votes/?votenum=176&chamber=S&congress=1112


18 Senators Vote for Afghanistan Exit Strategy

On May 27, senators rejected the amendment to the Afghanistan war supplemental that would have required the administration to prepare an exit strategy from Afghanistan. The final vote was 80 to 18.

http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=15081456