Senate Republicans were successful in their effort to block a “tax-extenders bill” that would have provided unemployment subsidies for hundreds of thousands of Americans who have exhausted their jobless benefits. The bill — which also included tax cuts, aid to states, and a delay in a cut to Medicare payments to doctors — was voted down by a 57–41 vote, with Democrat Ben Nelson and Independent Joe Lieberman voting with the Republicans, who claimed the spending wasn’t offset with other spending cuts or tax hikes.
On her show tonight, Rachel Maddow presented an array of other arguments offered by Republicans in their opposition to the bill, including Senator Orrin Hatch’s “You know, we should not be giving cash to people who … are basically just going to go blow it on drugs.”
