On Thursday, Georgia’s Department of Labor announced that the state’s unemployment levels rose to 7 percent in October, the highest in 16 years; approximately 43,093 unemployed Georgians are looking for work. That same day, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who is locked in a tough run-off election battle with Democrat Jim Martin, gave a campaign speech on the state’s economic troubles:
It’s imperative that we continue down the road of putting liquidity, integrity and confidence back in the financial marketplace so that we can see the credit market free up and people having the ability to borrow money to to operate and expand their businesses.
However, Chambliss was so busy campaigning that day that he actually skipped the Senate’s vote on the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008, which extended unemployment benefits “by 13 weeks in states with an unemployment rate of at least 6 percent.” Chambliss was one of just four senators to miss the vote. WCTV reported that Chambliss later sent out a press released praising “the passage of the law and [said he] hopes it will help laid-off workers get by while seeking a new job.”
Yesterday, WXIA in Atlanta said that Chambliss claimed he would have voted for the bill anyway. Watch WXIA’s report:
Chambliss has been pulling in a parade of high-profile conservatives to campaign for him at the last minute, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and next week, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.