Senate Restores $18 Billion In Jobless Benefits

President Obama will be getting a bill to sign that provides $18 billion to restore benefits to those who have been out of work for months, looking to avoid unemployment lines like the one pictured.  In addition, the bill resumes full Medicare payments to doctors who have been threatened by a 21% cut.

The House cleared the bill Thursday night by a 289-112 tally taken just two hours after it emerged from the Senate on a 59-38 vote that capped an unusually partisan debate. Republicans largely chose to take a stand against the legislation for adding to the $12.8 trillion national despite backing it by wide margins in December and again recently.

…

Several other popular programs had also expired, including federal flood insurance, higher Medicare payment rates for doctors and generous health insurance subsidies for people who have lost their jobs.

The situation became more urgent Thursday afternoon when Medicare announced that it would start paying doctors’ claims at a 21 percent lower rate. That won’t be necessary now.

Fewer than one in three House Republicans voted for the measure and only three Republican senators voted for it.  A bill that helps people while they are looking for work is, contrary to what most Republicans believe, a way to bolster the economy.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.