John Yarmuth: “Senate Republicans continue to refuse to allow the extension of unemployment insurance benefits to the American people.…”

“Senate Republicans continue to refuse to allow the extension of unemployment insurance benefits to the American people. Let me tell you what that does in my State. If we don't extend those benefits within a very short period of time, 125,000 Kentuckians will be without the means to support their families. That means, in addition to human suffering, we're talking about $125 million a month that will not be spent in the Kentucky economy. Multiply that across the country, and you see the incredible effect that it can have. I don't think that Republicans really mean it when they say, Well, we're okay with supporting it, but we want to pay for it. They didn't say the same thing when they got into two wars, provided a new entitlement prescription drug benefit, and passed tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. You can't build a political philosophy on the pain and suffering of the American people, but that's the only conclusion that I can reach. They figure, create as much pain and damage as you can create, and then the American people will blame the party in power for it. That's a pretty cynical way to approach the lives of the American people and Kentuckians.”