Al Franken: The Hardest Vote I've Taken:
"And for the Minnesotans truly suffering right now -- men, women, and children on the edge of economic disaster -- the alternative is simply unacceptable. If we let Republicans block unemployment benefits, even temporarily, there will be a lot more pain for working families, a lot more homeless kids spending Christmas in a shelter or a car."

So the only alternative is to immediately acquiesce to ALL Republican demands without a fight at all? This is nothing but extortion and to let the Republicans get away with it, without ANY political damage is just about the stupidest thing I've seen Democrats do and that is saying QUITE a lot. I thought Franken was smarter than this.