Last week President Barack Obama signed into law a restoration of unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for six months or more. As usual, Republicans in Congress were against it and it took the Democratic majority to make this needed restoration happen.

Unemployment benefits run out before the jobless find work. And those benefits are not exactly replacements for wages or benefits. They typically don’t provide as much income as can be earned by someone with a job. _Still, there are those who claim that extending benefits means the unemployed will not seek work if they are receiving jobless benefits. That logic makes no sense here.

What does make sense is doing all we can to help those who are out of work. In the deepest and longest economic crisis since the Great Depression, jobs are hard to find. Until the unemployed find work, they need help with their basic needs._We hope that the economy improves and businesses everywhere begin to hire again. Until that happens, extending unemployment benefits is an appropriate action.