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GOP Unemployment Extension Fails - Click here to find out more! Money & Company Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances. Real Estate | Autos | Consumer | Economy « Previous | Money & Company Home | Next » Failure to pass unemployment insurance extension could cost billions, reports say November 19, 2010 | 1:17 pm Line Letting the nation's unemployment benefits expire could drain billions from the economy and cost millions of jobs, according to two reports out this week. On Thursday, House Republicans voted to deny an unemployment benefits extension, unhappy with the method planned to fund it. Ending federal extensions would drain the economy of $80 billion of purchasing power, according to a report by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Every dollar spent on benefits increases the gross domestic product by $1.60, the report said. "Workers receiving unemployment insurance payments are typically cash-strapped and will sp...

GOP Unemployment Extension - The House of Representatives failed to pass a 90-day extension of expiring unemployment benefits Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 258-154. The measure, considered under suspension rules, required a two-thirds majority of 275 votes for passage. The $12.5 billion dollar package would have kept two million people from losing their unemployment checks in February. House Democrats lamented the measure's failure, and blasted the GOP for voting against it. "This vote was a stark test of our priorities, and House Republicans are decidedly in the wrong place for middle-class families," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., in a statement. Republicans say the measure would have added to the budget deficit, and an extension that did not do so would have passed easily. "Just two weeks after the election, the Democratic Leadership is playing politics with people's unemployment benefits," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minor...