Remember the big battle we had earlier this month over extended jobless benefits, when Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) blocked action for a week, demanding that the extra benefits be paid for with offsetting budget cuts?  We may be about to do that again.

That last extension of jobless and COBRA health benefit aid for the unemployed runs out on April 5, the day after Easter.  Congress isn't in session then, so lawmakers will have to approve a longer-term extension before leaving at the end of this week for their Easter break.

The Senate did okay a bill that would extend benefits until the end of the year.  That was packaged along with a number of popular tax breaks and credits that expired at the end of last year.

But as of now, that has not been approved by the House, meaning that we may see another effort by Democrats to quickly push through a new short-term benefits extension - which aren't paid for - meaning lawmakers will get to repeat the remarks they made earlier this month about the matter.

This time, instead of the cantankerous Sen. Bunning, it looks like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and others want to take the lead on forcing Democrats to offset the monthly cost of $9-10 billion for those benefits.

While Democrats are again rolling the procedural dice on this matter, many of them would probably love to see the GOP block another extension of jobless benefits.

The first time around, it definitely had the GOP on the defensive.  We'll see what happens this time.

Meanwhile on the jobs issue, Democrats yesterday pushed through the House two more small jobs bill, which Republicans charge aren't real job creators.

The first plan further expands what are known as "Build America Bonds", designed to help cities and counties with new construction projects.  That is about $13 billion, with another $3 billion-plus devoted to some small business tax breaks dealing with capital gains.

The second one was the disaster bill that I detailed on my blog yesterday, which includes a $600 million Summer Youth Jobs provision.

Those two bills seem unlikely to move in the Senate until after the Easter Break, but it won't stop Democrats in the House from talking about their accomplishments back home.