During their brief stay in Washington, U.S. House Democrats introduced legislation to create a fifth tier of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. Like a similar bill in the Senate, it would extend the maximum number of weeks of federal and state benefits available by 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates over 10 percent. (Illinois would qualify.)

The odds of passage are long. After all, no Republicans in the U.S. Senate backed the latest unemployment insurance bill, which was less expansive than this attempt. Undoubtedly, the Democratic leadership would have to carve out spending on other worthy programs to ensure the extension is deficit-neutral. But so long as the number of jobless workers far outweighs the number of job openings, it's a bill progressives ought rally behind.