Washington — Key Senate Democrats tried unsuccessfully today to quickly pass legislation to give jobless workers in Michigan and other hard-hit states an additional 20 weeks of unemployment benefits.<\/font><\/p>\n That delays action on the high-stakes issue until at least next week.<\/font><\/p>\n Tom Clementson, a 58-year-old unemployed construction worker in Indian River, expressed frustration by the Senate’s slow pace.<\/font><\/p>\n "So many people are out of work and need this extra money to put food on the table," said Clementson, who cashed his last check six weeks ago. "It seems like the Senate should spend more time on getting this passed."<\/font><\/p>\n Today’s failed effort to quickly pass a bill followed the unveiling of a compromise bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and key allies. The bill would give all states an extra 14 weeks of jobless benefits, plus an extra six weeks for states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or greater.<\/font><\/p>\n […] Reid introduced the bill after reaching a deal with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who had balked at the House-passed bill, which only gives extra benefits to the hardest-hit states.<\/font><\/p>\n […] But when Reid asked senators to quickly pass the bill under a speedy procedure, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., objected. That’s enough to prevent a quick vote.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n Kyl said he wanted to have time to look at the proposal and consider possible Republican amendments, and also ask the independent Congressional Budget Office to estimate its cost\u2026 [emphasis original<\/em>]<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Inserted from <Crooks and Liars<\/a>><\/p>\n If you remember, the reason that the vote on BARF (Baucus Against a Real Fix bill) was delayed until Tuesday was because Repuglicans wanted to wait for the CBO to complete their cost estimate. When it came in that BARF, for all its faults, would reduce the deficit, they did an about face and said that the CBO estimate didn\u2019t matter. This is a standard GOP delay tactic. Kyl\u2019s claimed reason is a lie. So why did Kyl block quick passage of the bill? Does he hate the unemployed? I don\u2019t think so, despite the accusations sure to come from my side of the aisle. Is he ignorant of the suffering he is causing? I\u2019m sure he\u2019s too smart for that. Kyl wants something. I have no idea what it is. I\u2019ll let you know, if I find out. Whatever it is, Kyl is holding the unemployed hostage in an attempt to get it. Haven\u2019t these poor people suffered enough already as a result of the GOP No Millionaire Left Behind<\/em><\/strong> policies? If Kyl hated the unemployed and said so, I\u2019d still cry \u201cfoul\u201d, but at least he\u2019d be honest. Were he ignorant, I could feel empathy for him. Repuglican leaders don\u2019t care whom they harm, as long as they get their way. Only a true GOP Sweetheart would cause so much human suffering for political gain.<\/p>\n South Florida Republicans held a weekly meeting at a gun range, shooting at targets including cut-outs of a Muslim holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.<\/font><\/p>\n The GOP candidate to replace U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired at a full-body silhouette with \u201cDWS\u201d written next to its head.<\/span> […]<\/font><\/p>\n Robert Lowry, who\u2019s vying for Wasserman Schultz\u2019s seat, initially described his target as a joke. Minutes later, he called it a mistake.<\/font><\/p>\n Others refused to apologized [sic] for the Southeast Broward Republican Club event, featuring assault rifles and handguns. A conservative activist said they should stand up for their beliefs in the heavily Democratic county\u2026 [emphasis original<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Inserted from <Think Progress<\/a>><\/p>\n Fortunately Broward County is enlightened enough an area that the only way a Repuglican can win an election there is to steal it. This is obscene! Shooting a sitting member of Congress in effigy is bad enough when a normal wing-nut does it, but for a candidate for Congress to do so sets a deadly example for every wing-nut on Kool-Aid! Republican leaders will do anything, as long as they get their way. Only a true GOP sweetheart could be so irresponsible.<\/p>\n What do you think about these Repuglicans?<\/p>\n (To learn why I call Republicans \u2018Repuglicans\u2019, check today\u2019s Open Thread)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m reviving the GOP Sweetheart topic from the old Politics Plus. GOP sweethearts are those individuals who go above and beyond the call for practicing the GOP values of fear, greed and intolerance. Today we have two. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona and House candidate Robert Lowry of Florida. If your unemployment ran out this […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"jon-kyl\"](\"http:\/\/s217.photobucket.com\/albums\/cc83\/TomCat1948or2\/Blog%202009\/GOPSweethearts10112009JonKylandRobertLow_359E\/jonkyl.jpg\" "\\"jon-kyl\\"")
<\/a> If your unemployment ran out this week, you can thank Sen. Jon Kyl. Yes, the Republican whip<\/font> objected to a quick vote<\/a> that would have helped all those people. You can contact him<\/font> here<\/a> and thank him for his compassion:<\/font><\/p>\n\n
![\"Lowry\"](\"http:\/\/s217.photobucket.com\/albums\/cc83\/TomCat1948or2\/Blog%202009\/GOPSweethearts10112009JonKylandRobertLow_359E\/Lowry_thumb.jpg\" "\\"Lowry\\"")
<\/a> The Associated Press reports today that the South Florida-based Southeast Broward Republican Club held an event earlier this week at a gun range where targets included silhouettes of Muslim stereotypes and of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). Among those who<\/font> attended<\/a> the event was real estate CEO Robert Lowry, who is vying to replace Wasserman Schultz in 2010: <\/font><\/p>\n