Harry Reid Blocks Bill to Extend Unemployment Benefits with Unspent Stimulus Funds]

The Senate failed once again late Wednesday to advance a plan to restore jobless benefits for people out of work more than six months, leaving millions of unemployed workers in limbo until after the July 4 recess.

The measure fell one vote shy of the 60 needed to end a Republican filibuster. Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) said he was prepared to provide that vote, but that Democrats had rejected his request to pay for at least half of the $34 billion measure with unspent funds from last year's stimulus package.

"Democrats are more interested in having this issue to demagogue for political gamesmanship than they are in simply passing the benefits extension," Voinovich, who is retiring, said in a statement. "I came to the table with a fair compromise and the ball is in their court."

Mitch McConnell asked for the Senate's consent to pass a two-month extension of unemployment benefits that would be paid for with unspent stimulus funds. And Senate Democrats, led by Harry Reid, objected. They wouldn't even meet Voinovich halfway. Why not? If there's a better explanation than Voinovich's claim that they ....
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/harr...-stimulus-funds