Obama blames Republicans for unemployment extension failure

In his weekly radio address this weekend, President Obama blamed the Republicans for preventing the passage of a bill to extend unemployment benefits through November, saying that their actions also risked holding back the nation’s ability to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s.

Still, at a time when millions of Americans feel a deep sense of urgency in their own lives, Republican leaders in Washington just don’t get it. While a majority of Senators support taking these steps to help the American people, some are playing the same old Washington games and using their power to hold this relief hostage – a move that only ends up holding back our recovery. It doesn’t make sense.

GOP leaders say they want to pass the extension, as long as it doesn’t add to the deficit. But the $34 billion price tag for this extension is a drop in the bucket compared to this year’s deficit of more than a trillion dollars.