From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

The politics of unemployment.

I'm Barbara Bogave sitting in for Warren only, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most. The Senate returned from recess today to take up an issue that goes to the

heart of the debate about government's role in alleviating poverty, whether to restore

long-term unemployment insurance for more than a million Americans out of work. The benefits

lapsed over the holidays. Does federal aid help job hunters stay in the labor

market, or does it discourage them from looking? We'll hear how the loss of benefits affects

one family and the economy as a whole. Also, on today's talking point, the Supreme Court has put

same-sex marriages on hold in Utah. What about the thousand-plus newlyweds there? More later. First, the news.

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kCRW.com. Support for To the Point comes from the members of KCRW and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund. We're back with To the Point. I'm Barbara Bogave in for Warren

only. Just ahead, the uncertain

future of long-term unemployment benefits, the politics, the history, and the economics of

extended federal jobless aid. And on today's talking point, the Supreme Court put same-sex

marriages on hold in Utah today until a federal appeals court takes up the issue what this game of

legal hot potato means for gay marriage. First, this news update, an evocatively named Cold Front

is slamming much of the nation today, causing record-breaking dangerous temperatures in states

from Montana to Alabama. It's being blamed for more than a dozen deaths and its grounded

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