today, the house passes north of $1 trillion on a spending bill. there is stuff i don t like, stuff you don t like, stuff republicans don t like. of all the things, this is the hill you are going to die on. this is the war you are going to wage. you are going to compromise all over the place. these 1.3 million people who are unemployed, this is really where you are going to put your political capital. well, you know what really is astounding, while the house is saying, let s cut $40 billion out of food stamps, we will not discuss raising the minimum wage, does not want to leave in place the bridge to the next job that has worked so well during periods of high unemployment. about the poor and poverty and the challenges of the shrinking number of living wage jobs. well, let s not talk sympathetically. let s act to fix the challenge to create the living wage jobs, keep the safety net in place, make sure there s food on the table for the children.
the deficit. senate republicans blocked both proposals. despite gop arguments about the unfairness of the process, the simple process is, republicans chose to keep millions of americans from gaining benefits they desperately needed. they filibustered those folks. every day that goes by, brings the prospect of one more mortgage, one more eviction notice, one more mother who does not know how she will put food on the table, extending long-term unemployment benefits was a top priority for harry reid and the white house and for me. we are here, little reason for hope. joining me now is senator jeff merkley, democrat of oregon. a yes vote on extended unemployment benefits. senator, what are you saying to your republican colleagues at this point? i say, you really have to stop distributing lumps of coal. you need to allow an up and down
there is stuff i don t like, stuff you don t like, stuff republicans don t like. of all the things, this is the hill you are going to die on. this is the war you are going to wage. you are going to compromise all over the place. these 1.3 million people who ar over the place. these 1.3 million people who are unemployed, this is where you re going to put your political capital? you know what really is astounding is while the house is saying let s cut $40 billion out of food stamps, absolutely will not discuss raising the minimum wage. does not not want to leave in place the bridge to the next job that has worked so well during periods of high unemployment. they re getting advice they need to start talking sympathetically about the poor and poverty and the challenges of the shrinking number of living wage jobs. well, let s not talk sympathetically. let s act to fix the challenge to create the living wage jobs, keep the safety net in place, make sure there s food on the table for the ch
she got an education, got herself off welfare. she got a job before being laid off two years ago. she is among the nearly 4 million americans who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. on december 28th, 1.3 million of them lost their long-term unemployment benefits. yesterday, senate republicans voted to prevent those people and the 2.3 million children in their households from getting that life line back. the vote to extend long-term unemployment benefits went down as the chamber descended into partisan argument. the vote was 55-45. it needed 60 votes to advance. there were actually two votes yesterday, one, a bill that would have extended long-term employment benefits and paid with it with cuts to medicare providers and another that would have extended them for three months at a cost of $6.4 million that would have been added to the deficit. senate republicans blocked both