Dina Titus goes on the attack in defense of jobless benefits

By Lisa Mascaro

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Ignoring that she’s a freshman congresswoman and he’s a two-term senator, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus leveled a broadside against Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who is holding up an extension of unemployment benefits for out-of-work Nevadans.

For days, Bunning has blocked a vote on extending jobless benefits, saying he believes the aid should not be added to the national debt.

But as he makes his case, nearly 20,000 out-of-work Nevadans, among more than 1 million Americans nationwide, will run out of benefits this month unless the program is extended. Nearly 176,000 Nevadans are out of work.

“Sen. Bunning’s obstructionist delay tactics are a perfect example of why the American people think Washington is broken,” Titus said.

With Southern Nevada residents “facing high unemployment, a foreclosure crisis and skyrocketing health care costs, they want to see elected officials working together,” she said. “Unfortunately, one Republican in the Senate is standing in the way.”

Titus is in many ways a foot soldier in the Democrats’ new strategy to call out Republicans on their opposition to popular legislation.

Democrats, particularly those in the House, are frustrated that so much of their work has stalled in the Senate.

The case of the lone Kentuckian blocking unemployment benefits — like the objections last month of one Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, to President Barack Obama’s nominees for various federal posts — puts a face on a sometimes confusing tactic.

In response, Democratic leadership armed rank-and-file lawmakers with information about the stalemate, making no secret of their frustration.

Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley fired off a pointed statement — though she did not name names.

“With Nevada’s unemployment rate in double digits and families relying on these benefits to put food on the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this move will only punish those in our community who are already struggling,” Berkley said.

The jobless benefits are part of a House bill that passed unanimously last week to extend several safety net programs that were part of the stimulus bill.

The bill would extend for one month the unemployment benefits as well as the 65 percent COBRA subsidy, which helps pay health insurance costs for laid-off workers who remain on their previous employers’ health plans. It also includes an annual pay adjustment for Medicare doctors and an extension of highway spending.

Bunning argues that he is not against the aid, he just believes the government should not provide further benefits by tacking the costs onto the federal debt. The safety net provisions would cost an estimated $10 billion, which he favors paying for with unspent stimulus funding.

“We can’t keep shipping our spending to our kids and grandkids,” Bunning said.

Bunning points to the pay-as-you-go rule that was adopted by Congress last month. It requires new spending to be offset by cuts elsewhere.

On Monday, Day Four of his objections, Bunning vowed to press on: “I will be here.”

Democrats argue that COBRA and jobless benefits have been treated as emergency aid, not subject to the pay-as-you-go rule. Democrats on Monday released a list of Bunning’s past votes for bills that were not paid for — earlier jobless benefits, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and President George W. Bush’s tax cuts.

Titus spokesman Andrew Stoddard said the congresswoman decided to make a statement against Bunning because his objection was directly hitting her district.

“This is a case where it’s very clear what is going on,” he said.