With the full U.S. Senate set to debate a more substantial extension of the filing deadline for federal unemployment benefits (possibly as soon as today), Republican critics are attempting to characterize long-term jobless aid as a new and costly "welfare" program that impairs the labor market.

Both TAPPED and the Washington Independent rebut this argument from a macroeconomic standpoint.  But as a political strategy, the GOP's line of attack seems even sillier. "I understand the politics of trashing bailouts and government subsidies to Wall Street -- most of the country agrees," writes Salon blogger Andrew Leonard. "But when you've got 10 percent unemployment, you are directly telling a not insubstantial portion of the electorate that you just don't care about their well-being."