CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When Carte Goodwin was appointed to temporarily fill the seat held by the late Sen. Byrd, he had the good fortune of being able to cast a vote right away that made a real difference for millions of Americans.

West Virginia's newest senator, Joe Manchin, might have a similar chance in the lame duck session of Congress.

This summer, a bill to temporarily extend unemployment benefits was hung up in the Senate for nearly two months. Goodwin was able to cast the deciding vote, which brought relief to around 2.5 million jobless Americans.

Unless Congress acts very soon, 2 million Americans will lose unemployment benefits in December, just in time for the holidays, an outcome that would out-Scrooge Scrooge. This would hurt retail businesses as well, which depend on the holidays for around 20 percent of sales. And the number of people hurt by inaction will only grow in the coming year.

Given the composition of the new Congress that will take its seat next year, this lame duck session may be the only chance there is to help hard-hit families make ends meet.

It's sad that things have come to a point where we have to struggle to get this done. Ever since World War II, Congress has always acted to extend benefits beyond the ordinary 26 weeks when the unemployment rate was above 7.2 percent. We're holding steady at 9.6 percent now.

There are five jobless workers for every new job that opens up and that situation isn't likely to get better in the coming year. To get through this mess, such benefits should be extended through 2011 or until the job market recovers.

Unemployment benefits are a lifeline to millions of Americans struggling in the wake of the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression. In 2009, such benefits kept 3.3 million Americans, including one million children, from falling into poverty.

They are also a lifeline to local economies. Unemployment benefits generally don't sit around collecting dust. Rather, they are spent right away in the community. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that extending benefits through 2011 would produce 700,000 jobs.  And generate tax revenues.

Such a step would enjoy overwhelming public support. According to a new poll by Hart Research Associates, 60 percent of Americans support an extension of benefits.  Fully 73 percent of those polled agreed with the following statement: "With unemployment at 9.6 percent and millions still out of work, it is too early to start cutting back benefits for workers who lost their jobs." And 67 percent favored continuing benefits until the unemployment rate drops. 

Such measures enjoyed majority support in all regions of the country and among Democrats, Republicans and political independents.

Some people cite concerns over the deficit as a reason to oppose the extension. Ironically, these tend to be the same people who don't bat an eye at the prospect of increasing the deficit $700 billion by extending Bush era tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. To use one of Jesus' best one liners, this is a case of straining at gnats and swallowing camels.

Others may worry that unemployment insurance keeps people from taking available jobs. But a study by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank found that "extended unemployment insurance benefits have not been important factors in the increase in the duration of unemployment or in the elevated unemployment rates."

Let's talk basic economics. If you ask most Americans what they remember about that subject, chances are they'd say "supply and demand." That's about all you need to understand why we need to extend these benefits.

There is plenty of supply out there; the stores are full, profits are at or near record levels, and businesses are sitting on something like $2 trillion in cash reserves, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve. If supply side snake oil economics was true, we'd be sitting pretty. You may have noticed this is not the case.

The problem in a recession is on the demand side. Jobless workers, the underemployed, people who have lost savings, and people concerned about losing their jobs either don't have or are afraid to spend enough money to get the economy rolling. Cutting the lifeline of unemployment insurance at a time like this will only make a bad situation worse.

I hope that Sen. Manchin and his colleagues in Washington will seize this chance to make a real difference this holiday season.

Wilson, director of the American Friends Service Committee WV Economic Justice Project, is a Gazette contributing columnist.