Unemployment Benefits...

In a recent article in the Houston Chronicle, Andrew Taylor wrote about the extension of unemployment benefits that is being pushed by the Democrats. His intended audience is probably a Democratic reader and people who are currently unemployed. His argues that that the Democrats are scoring political points because the Republicans have opposed this bill so many times. President Obama and his Democratic allies are blaming Republicans for this mess and stated that “The same people who didn't have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle-class Americans". In the article,Taylor notes that “2.5 million people will receive jobless benefits retroactively, injecting almost $3 billion into the economy once they're paid out”. I am not sure how factual this statement actually is because it seems very far-fetched for this to actually happen.
On the defense for why Republicans are opposing this bills, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch stated that, "What the president isn't telling the American people is that many of us in the Senate are fighting to make sure our children and grandchildren aren't buried under a mountain of debt". Although many people can’t help that they are unemployed or that they were laid off, but at the same time, why should the government be spending money on supporting these people when our economy is already in a deep enough hole? Shouldn’t we try and fix our debt before we start handing out cash to people?