(NOTE: I would really like to make this a daily feature but don't have time. If anyone wants to tackle it, please let me know. We can work something out to compensate you for your effort.)

Unemployment Extension Blocked Again

The U.S. Senate failed once again to pass H.R. 4213 and provide extended assistance to the long-term unemployed. The stumbling block to passage remains how to pay for the measure. Republicans want to take some of the necessary $24 billion from the stimulus funds approved last year and the rest from Medicaid. Democrats want to borrow the money -- and take some from Medicaid.

What none of them seem to be talking about is raising taxes on the very rich back to Clinton-era levels. Boy, those high taxes on the rich were horrible for the economy back then, weren't they? Times were really tough back when the rich actually had to pay taxes.

Just goes to show what happens when the U.S. Senate becomes a place where only multi-millionaires are welcome.

Oh, wait, there was one senator who pointed out this very simple solution: Sherrod Brown of Ohio, speaking of whom...

Ohio's Senators Joust Over Unemployment Extension

In statements that sum up the debate very well, Ohio's senators issued vastly differing statements about the unemployment benefits extension that has been on hold for nearly a month.

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) made a statement blaming Democrats for holding up the bill based on the Thune amendment, which requires the extension be paid for without increasing the national debt. Funny, these Republicans never bat an eye at the defense budget, which is nearly a trillion dollars a year. Help the unemployed, though, and -- oh my, God forbid we should borrow a dime from the evil commies in China. Fine to borrow from them for idiotic wars, though...

On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), stated that a staggering 900,000 people have exhausted their benefits in June alone. If that's not a scary number, I don't know what is.

What will the cost be, ultimately, of 900,000 more desperate people each month? I can't even imagine the number, but it will be astronomical.

Wyoming's Jobless Rate Drops Slightly

Wyoming's unemployment rate dropped in May, but the state has had a net loss in the number of jobs over the past 12 months. This means that fewer people are looking for jobs, not that more people have found jobs.

And that's the way it was on this day in history, June 23, 2010.