The Party of "Say What?"

Apparently, the GOP has morphed from the party of "no" into the party of "say what?" Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky is staging a one-man show to hold up unemployment and healthcare benefits and several roads projects that provide jobs for needy workers. Now, Senator John Kyl of Arizona has stated that unemployment benefits provide incentives for people not to find a job. What a crock, Kyl.

First of all, people are usually eligible for unemployment insurance only if they are laid off -- not simply because they do not have a job. With unemployment hovering around 10% and Republicans complaining daily that nothing is getting done about it, Kyl's analysis is especially disturbing. The unemployment rate is dangerously high, but apparently, we can explain it away because people are not trying to fill the abundance of jobs that are screaming for warm bodies. Instead, these silly laid-off workers would rather live off of the pittance called unemployment insurance. Give all of us a break, Senator Kyl.

Bunning's Filibuster Causes 2000 Workers to Lose Pay; Furloughed

Senator Jim Bunning -- a Republican from Kentucky -- has filibustered a bill to extend unemployment and health benefits and to pay for transportation bills. Bunning's actions could result in the expiration of unemployment benefits. It has, however, already impacted the jobs of 2000 federal workers. According to ABC News, the Department of Transportation has furloughed 2000 workers, and this number could grow as the week progresses:

So, the Department of Transportation as of Monday morning, furloughed 2,000 federal workers. DOT says that number could climb if this stalemate over funding drags on. Employees affected include federal inspectors overseeing highway projects on federal lands. If the inspectors aren't there, the projects must shut down. DOT says that will affect 41 critical construction projects from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands. . . .

Without the highway trust fund dollars, the federal government also cannot reimburse states for any ongoing construction projects. There is usually a federal-state match and the states get reimbursed on a real-time basis. States are scheduled to get some $768 million dollars from the feds this week. They will get the money eventually, but will have to figure out how to make do without, for now.

Source: ABC News