Last week, we debunked Rep. Mark Kirk's bogus argument for why he opposed the federal unemployment insurance benefit extension: that it would lead people to cash in after two weeks of work. Take a listen as he tells a Chicago radio audience: "I think that in this tough economic time. A temporary extension for people that held the job for a long time, that makes sense. But two weeks, that's probably not enough":

Internal mp3

Of course, as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities pointed out: "Only in rare circumstances could a worker with such a limited work record meet his or her state’s regular UI requirements, which target assistance on workers with a demonstrated attachment to the labor force." They added: "the share of the additional benefits under the bill that would go to workers with very limited work records is almost surely miniscule."

But while Kirk is manufacturing excuses for his vote against this common sense legislation, unemployed workers are hurting. Check out some of the comments that appeared below our original post on this subject:

my husband ran out of benefits and can't find a job. we filed bankruptcy and lost our home. i'm on food stamps for the first time in my life but the problem is we'll no place to live to use them.

I have over 20 years of experience and can't even find a min. wage job!! Now that's bad! I guess we are supposed to support our goverment but they won't support us!!

Laid off for a year now after working for the same company for 17 years. ... I have been actively searching for a job, even applying out side the box jobs, the few that have contacted me, either have said I was over qualified or the position has been filled. The majority do not even respond, even after a follow-up. ... Savings account is long gone. I'm tapping into my retirement funds just to keep the house payments going.

Oh, and did we mention that the unemployment rate jumped almost a full percentage point in the past month?