Senate GOP Blocks Extension of Jobless Benefits

Senate Republicans defeated Democrats' election-year jobs bill, including an extension of weekly unemployment benefits for more than a million people out of work more than 6 months. The 57-41 vote fell three votes short of the 60 required to crack a GOP filibuster, delivering a major blow to President Obama and Democrats.

The rejected bill also would have provided $16 billion in new aid to states, preserving the jobs of thousands of state and local government workers and providing what White House officials called an insurance policy against a double-dip recession. "This is a bill to put Americans back to work," said Democrat Max Baucus, its chief author. Nope, said Mitch McConnell. "It adds new taxes and over $30 billion to an already staggering $13 trillion national debt." (More unemployment benefits stories.)