Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is clearly the most conservative of all Democratic Senators!
He tends to vote with Republicans a good deal of the time, since he represents a state which is more conservative than most!
It is understandable that Nelson is often on the fence on party issues, but it is unconscionable that he would block the extension of unemployment compensation to millions of people who are desperate, many of them out of work for nearly two years in the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression! 🙁
These people will lose their homes or apartments; many will go hungry; their children will experience the horrors of total poverty; and the health of these unfortunates will deteriorate under the stress! 🙁 The Great Recession is still raging! 🙁
And yet Nelson, and the entire Republican party in the Senate, with the exception of the two Maine woman senators–Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins–seem unconcerned about the human suffering they are causing! 🙁
The longer people in the millions are out of work, the longer the deep recession will last, as if one does not work or have disposable income, then it brings down the economy for other Americans! This hardheartedness on the part of Nelson and the GOP is incomprehensible! 🙁
And ironically, as Robert Bryd left the Senate chamber for the last time after being in a casket in the legislative body he loved, the Senate Republicans and Ben Nelson dishonored their colleague, as had he been alive and able to vote on unemployment compensation extension, it would have passed in time for the July 4 holiday! 🙁
Now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have to struggle to find a 60th vote to overcome a filibuster, and that cannot be done until the Senate returns on July 12 after the holiday break! 🙁
How can Ben Nelson and his GOP colleagues enjoy their break on the backs of the unemployed and needy? 🙁
This whole situation is absolutely a disgrace! 🙁