McClatcy-Tribune News Service | Congress on failed to continue
funding to an extended benefits program for the unemployed that is set
to expire on Sunday. Bickering between Senate Democrats and Republicans centered on how to
pay for the $10 billion extension of benefits for one month.

Without a federal extension, an estimated 567,000 unemployed Americans
would lose their federally-paid benefits in March and April, and about
1 million people would lose those benefits by June, according to the
National Employment Law Project, a New York nonprofit that supports
policies to create good-paying jobs.