As Congress continues to debate the merit of extending the emergency unemployment insurance filing deadline through November, a group of jobless Chicago-area workers are making sure lawmakers know just how important those benefits are to millions of Americans.

At a rally outside of an unemployment office in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood yesterday morning, about 50 unemployed people affiliated with Chicago Jobs With Justice (JWJ) called on the federal government to approve an extension immediately and pass a federal jobs program to reinvigorate the economy. According to JWJ executive director Susan Hurley, her organization collected between 60 and 70 letters from neighbors using the facility asking Congress for more assistance. Below is some footage shot by JWJ:

The council hopes to hold similar events every Monday, which is typically the busiest day at unemployment offices. Next week, the action will move to 47th and Cottage Grove on the South Side. Hurley says the activists may also hold events in targeted congressional districts like the 8th district. Rep. Melissa Bean was the only Democrat to vote against the jobs bill last week. "We want to highlight the need in [Bean's] area and ask, 'what in the world is she thinking?'" Hurley says.

JWJ and its jobless allies will surely keep a close eye on the U.S. Senate when it returns from recess on June 7. Senate President Harry Reid (D-NV) has promised a prompt debate on the latest jobless bill, which would prevent an estimated 1.2 million Americans from losing federal unemployment benefits this month.

Deficit hawks, who already scaled back the bill in the House, are skeptical that the legislation is worthwhile. The economy is improving, they argue, and the price tag -- $54 billion added to the deficit over the next decade -- is too steep. The New York Times' David Leonhardt puts those worries to rest in his column today, arguing that the cost of this bill is small when measured against the total cuts required to lower the debt over the next decade. Congress, he adds, "does not have to choose" between short-term stimulus and long-term deficit reduction:

Looking at the problem this way makes the jobs bill seem like less of a tough call. Luckily, the country’s two big economic problems — the budget deficit and the job market — are not on the same timeline. The unemployment rate is near a 27-year high right now. Deficit reduction can wait a bit, given that lenders continue to show confidence in Washington’s ability to repay the debt.

Along those same lines, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told progressive reporters Tuesday that the House would revisit the debate over COBRA subsidies and Medicaid assistance to state governments next week. Both of those extensions were stripped from the jobs bill that passed the House last week.