Obama adviser:"economy has 3 people looking for every 1 open job". Racing against 3 bureaucrats trying to regulate it out of existence #tcot
— Fred Thompson (@fredthompson) January 14, 2014
Read the report from Reuters below:
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A White House-backed bill to extend jobless benefits for 1.3 million Americans narrowly cleared a Republican procedural roadblock in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, the first volley in a new battle to combat poverty.
In a largely party-line vote of 60-37 – 60 were needed to prevail – the Democratic-led Senate agreed to begin consideration of the measure, which, at a cost of $6 billion, would extend recently ended jobless benefits for three months.
The Senate may vote later this week on whether to pass the bill and send it to the Republican-led House of Representatives, where it would likely die unless there is a deal to cover the cost without increasing the record federal debt.
At the White House, President Barack Obama praised the Senate for moving forward and urged swift passage by both chambers so he could sign the emergency legislation into law.
“We’ve got to get this across the finish line without obstruction or delay,” said Obama, joined by some of the long-term unemployed, including Katherine Hackett of Moodus, Connecticut. She has two sons in the military and has had to turn down the heat in her home to make ends meet.
“When we’ve got the mom of two of our troops who’s working hard out there but is having to wear a coat inside of the house, we’ve got a problem,” Obama said.
House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, noted that he told the White House a month ago that any renewal of jobless benefits “should not only be paid for but include something to help put people back to work.”
“To date, the president has offered no such plan,” Boehner said in a statement.
The Senate vote and exchange of words helped kick off a new struggle over the growing gap between rich and poor.
