Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the Senate Republicans have spent much of this week offering this idea of a 1-week extension of the $600 unemployment insurance supplement. They have done this as an alternative to spending the week doing real negotiating, which is what I and many Senate Democrats have been calling for, for not just days but weeks and weeks--literally, months--as we called for an advanced proposal. In my view, the only thing worse than what the Republicans have done, cutting off desperately needed unemployment insurance to millions of families and communities, would be to allow a bill to pass that promises money without actually delivering it. That is snake oil, and I am going to be very specific in describing why that is the case. Even if this short-term extension were to pass, experts and State agencies have said in very clear terms that States don't have enough time to reprogram their systems and avoid a lapse in benefits. A lot of them just have, as my colleague from Ohio knows--I was talking about it for days in the Finance Committee room--that these State unemployment systems are not equipped to switch the benefits on and off. These short-term extensions won't work and don't work administratively. Nobody following this debate has to take my word for it. That is what the National Association of State Workforce Agencies have said. I think there was a comment about, well, this is an image problem. It is a problem of the national media.…”