I mentioned here the concepts of "redistribution" and "predistribution" that are in tension within Democratic politics, as described by Matt Bai here.  This New York Times article is a good example of one reason why the predistributionists object to the redistribution concept--it's unreliable.  The House passed a bill to extend jobless benefits but Bush has threatened to veto it and there is not (yet?) a veto-proof majority in the House.