Senate negotiators have struck a bipartisan deal that could renew federal unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. But the question becomes, what will happen when this legislation makes its way to the House?
US Congressman Mike Doyle has been in the House of Representatives since 1995, he's witnessed the emergence of an increasingly partisan congress and explained why he's hopeful for this legislation.
“I’m cautiously optimistic for two reasons. Number one, the bill has a pay for. Speaker Boehner has always said that he would not put a bill on the floor unless it was paid for. The second part that gives me some degree of optimism is that the pay for, for this bill, isn’t something that is a poison pill. A lot of times we’ll get a bill that maybe people want to vote for but then they say, ‘Well the way you pay for this is by eliminating the individual mandate on the healthcare bill.’ Something that no Democrat will vote for. The good news is the pay for on this deals with collecting fees on passport renewals and there’s nothing on that pay for that is objectionable to either party.”
