If Congress does not extend aid, more than three million people could lose unemployment benefits. The two parties are arguing about unemployment benefits, as well as the payroll tax cut. Advocates for extending benefits say that reducing the time that someone can receive benefits does not make sense given the long term unemployment present in the country. The Labor Department estimates that 2.2 million people could be affected by February.
See "3 Million Could Lose Jobless Pay in Impasse", Robert Pear, The New York Times, December 20, 2011