Thanks to more senseless GOP obstruction, the U.S. Senate won't be able to take its final vote on a bill extending the filing deadline for unemployment benefits until late tonight. But by Thursday, President Obama is expected to sign the extension into law, providing retroactive relief to an estimated 115,000 Illinois residents who have exhausted their jobless insurance since June 2.

As those who have been following these developments are well aware, this package does not provide an additional tier of benefits to Americans who have been out of work longer than 99 weeks (currently the maximum length of aid). The Illinois Department of Employment Security says there are currently 36,000 "99ers" in the Land of Lincoln. Nationally, there are 1.4 million, a population that has grown sixfold since 2007.

For them, lawmakers in Washington are yet to offer much in the way of hope.