Yesterday evening President Obama signed into law Bill H.R-4213 which will finally restore some unemployment benefits to those who are out of work. After weeks of stonewalling by Republicans who have seemed completely indifferent to the millions of Americans suffering under the massive unemployment burden, congress finally passed the bill which will help to restore benefits to 2.5 million out of work Americans.

The turning point came when the Democrats regained a 60 vote majority control over the Senate with the swearing in of Carte Goodwin as the replacement for the late Robert Byrd who was serving as a Senator for the state of West Virginia. The temporary appointment gave the democrats the 60 votes needed to break the Republican filibuster so that the jobs bill could finally come to a vote. It passed the Senate with a 59 to 39 vote and was returned to the House for a final vote which passed on Thursday with a 272 to 152 vote and was quickly signed into effect by President Obama. 

H.R. - 4213 will restore benefits for those who qualify retroactively back to June 2, 2010 when the federal extension ran out. Additionally the bill, also referred to as the Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010, will extend those benefits for qualified unemployed workers until the end of November of this year. The bill also expands certain tax credits such as those for hybrid vehicles or energy efficient appliances and other such extensions. It will likely take 2 to 3 weeks for the benefits to actually make their way to recipients and many will be watching the progress closely, the Open Congress Blog has even developed a wiki to monitor progress on the issue.

Politically speaking, the bill will do more than restore benefits to jobless workers who are still looking for work but who had expired their current; it marks yet another nail in the coffin of the dying republican party that is being strangled by the “tea party” wing. Millions of people have been suffering without benefits or any means of support since unemployment skyrocketed under the Bush administration and President Obama along with most of the Democrats have been fighting hard to restore the benefits to those in need due to a weakened economy and simple lack of jobs. The Republicans, particularly those in the “Tea Party” branch were standing firm and refusing to give workers aid claiming that the national debt should take priority over the needs and lives of American citizens. It is rather ironic that they are using the deficit as their talking point for the coming mid term elections when the right's policies of runaway military spending are largely to blame for the debt which has been an American constant since the Civil War (again caused by the very same politics) so why now, not under either Bush Administration, is the deficit their sole priority? And how can you argue politics when people have no way of feeding their families or keeping a roof over their head through no fault of their own? These are questions that will certainly be on voters minds come election day and the fact that the Republican Party has held American workers “hostage” and disregarded their needs is something that the unemployed workers of America, and their family, friends, and loved ones are not likely to forget any time soon.