Filibuster broken, jobless benefits may flow soon
July 20th, 2010 | Published in News
Jul. 20, 2010 6:35 PM ET
ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats broke through a stubborn Republican filibuster Tuesday and pressed to restart jobless benefits for 2½ million Americans still unable to find work in the frail national economic recovery. The Democrats were victorious by the single vote of a new senator sworn in only moments earlier.
Senators voted 60-40 to move ahead on the bill, clearing the way for a final vote in the chamber on Wednesday.
The recovery from the nation’s long and deep recession has produced relatively few new jobs so far, and millions of people’s unemployment benefits began running out seven weeks ago as Congress bogged down in an impasse over whether the $34 billion cost of a fresh extension of benefits should be paid for with budget cuts or be added to the $13 trillion national debt.