Prior to the subsidy, Salerno says, 20 percent to 25 percent of laid-off workers at the company continued their insurance under COBRA. "We're running close to 50 percent now, " he says.

NPR: Laid-Off Workers Anxious For COBRA Extension

Moreover, they are in no hurry to agree to a new law, since they think the woes of exporters, and their laid-off workers, can only help them at the polls.

ECONOMIST: The spat between America and Europe heats up

Earlier this week, Blagojevich was in the news again -- standing beside and supporting the workers suddenly laid off at the Chicago window factory.

CNN: Blagojevich made name as a friend of the common man

They, first of all, these are - it's a largely Republican area, but more than that, they are furious at the idea that South Carolina is nothing but a bunch of laid-off textile workers.

NPR: S. Carolina Towns Cope with Economic Fallout