By Jackie Simmonds, NEJS Blog Editor

Andrew Taylor, AP reported that Sen. Jim Bunning on Tuesday again blocked the Senate from extending unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the jobless.  The extension needed unanimous consent to pass because Democrats have labeled it an emergency spending measure.

“Today we have a clear cut example to show the American people just what’s wrong with Washington, D.C.,” Patty Murray, a Democratic leader who  came to the floor to attack Republicans for blocking the legislation, said. “That is because today one single Republican senator is standing in the way of the unemployment benefits of 400,000 Americans.”

Because the Senate has not acted, the jobless will now stop getting checks once they run out of their state benefits or current tier of federal benefits.  That could be devastating to the unemployed who were counting on that income. In total, more than a million people could stop getting checks next month, with nearly 5 million running out of benefits by June, according to the National Unemployment Law Project.

CNN reports that Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, is involved in discussions to help end a stalemate over the extension of unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans.  When asked whether senators are close to finalizing a deal, Bunning said, “We’re trying.”

» Read more: Finances: Kentucky’s Bunning again blocks jobless benefits