Barack Obama, Unemployment Benefits Extension | featured news

The Democrats' hard-won victory comes after the GOP tried to stall the $33.9-billion package for weeks. President Obama signed legislation extending unemployment benefits Thursday for 2.5 million jobless Americans, a hard-fought achievement his party will use to portray Republicans as callous to the needs of ordinary workers in a fall election campaign tied to the country's economic fate.

A vote on the package is set for Tuesday, minutes after the swearing-in of a new West Virginia senator gives Democrats the ability to overcome a filibuster.

On the eve of a vote to extend jobless benefits, President Obama urged Republican senators to set aside partisanship and vote for a package that would provide relief to 2.5-million out-of-work Americans.

President Barack Obama says Senate Republicans are playing politics with bills that would extend benefits to the unemployed and increase lending to small businesses.

The measure passes the Senate and House largely along partisan lines, with most Republicans opposed. By Richard Simon President Obama signed an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed Thursday night that will allow those whose aid ...

President Barack Obama is set to sign a $24 billion economic stimulus bill providing tax incentives to prospective homebuyers and extending unemployment benefits to the longtime jobless who have been left behind as the economy veers toward recovery....