Unemployment Extension Fodder for Obama WHCD Joke
The long-stalled unemployment extension in Congress became fodder for one of President Barack Obama’s zingers at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend.
There are more than 2.5 million people who have been cut off from unemployment insurance benefits since December, when Congress allowed the latest emergency extension to expire. On May 3, Obama used this issue as an example of a Congress that can’t seem to get anything done.
“One issue, for example, we haven’t been able to agree on is unemployment insurance,” Obama said. “Republicans continue to refuse to extend it. And you know what, I am beginning to think they’ve got a point. If you want to get paid while not working, you should have to run for Congress just like everybody else.”
Unemployment insurance remains stuck in limbo , with Speaker John A. Boehner demanding a new offer from Obama before he’ll act.
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