Collins joins Dems in urging Bunning to drop benefits objection

Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) took to the Senate floor Tuesday to try to advance stalled unemployment and COBRA healthcare benefit extensions, but Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) objected again.

Collins appeared right after the Senate convened to motion for unanimous consent on one hour of debate and a final vote on the $10 billion package. The centrist senator sought to emphasize that not all Republicans oppose the measure.

But Bunning, who has held up the emergency extension since last Thursday, objected to the motion again.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took to the Senate floor afterward to tell Bunning, "You've made your point; you've made it well" but that "this is a filibuster. I don't think it should take 10 days to get a 30-day extension. ... It just is not appropriate."

Bunning's move raised the ire of Democrats and others who wanted the expiring provisions renewed. Senate Democrats circulated information Monday saying that 2,000 Department of Transportation workers were put on furlough Monday because of Bunning's action.

The retiring Kentucky senator has said he is blocking the extensions because they are not funded. But Reid hit Bunning because he did not support pay-as-you-go legislation that would require that all spending bills be funded.

Reid also objected to Bunning's request to pass the benefits extension with an offset. But Republicans say that Reid bears some of the responsibility for the benefits' expiration.

“The reality is that Reid could have filed cloture on the bill last week, and Democrats are lying to suggest they have no culpability here," a senior Republican aide said in an e-mail.

The Senate Republican and Democratic leadership have reached an agreement to pass the measure as part of a larger tax extenders bill on Tuesday.

Bunning angrily rebuffed reporters Monday when asked how he thinks his move is affecting the unemployed.

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