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Thune Talks Unemployment And Healthcare

United States Senator John Thune is debating unemployment insurance on Wednesday in Washington DC.  Thune says the Senate is not tackling the unemployment problem the way it should.

Thune says it’s important to look at what’s causing unemployment rather than just grooming those affected, back to health.

"It’s an example of congress again, ignoring the underlying causes of unemployment and focusing just on treating the symptoms. Which is why, yesterday, I introduced six job creating amendments to the unemployment insurance extension bill that is currently being debated in the Senate," Senator Thune says.

Thune says another big issue on his table right now is the status of the government healthcare reform.

Over seven million people have now signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Senator Thune says the numbers of people who have signed up, don’t really surprise him. He says he has questions regarding the status of the ones signed up.

"How many of these people actually had insurance previously? How of these people didn’t have insurance? In other words, is this actually covering people who didn’t have insurance or is it people who have had policies canceled, that they are re-upping? And then the other question is, how many people are actually paying? Because that’s a real consideration and the insurance companies say that the administration has those numbers but they are not making them available," Senator Thune says.

The Senator says answers to questions like this will show if the program is working or not.

Nate Wek is currently the sports content producer and sports and rec beat reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism Broadcasting and a minor in Leadership. From 2010-2013 Nate was the Director of Gameday Media for the Sioux Falls Storm (Indoor Football League) football team. He also spent 2012 and 2013 as the News and Sports Director of KSDJ Radio in Brookings, SD. Nate, his wife Sarah, and two kids Braxan and Jordy, live in Canton, SD.