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Unemployment extension vote may come Wednesday
November 2nd, 2009, 3:57 pm · 64 Comments · posted by Mary Ann Milbourn
Action on an extension of up to 20 weeks in unemployment benefits inched forward today when the U.S. Senate voted to end debate on the bill.
The procedural motion clears the way for a Senate vote on the bill as early as Wednesday, Nov. 4.
If approved, the bill would give jobless workers in all states an additional 14 weeks of unemployment benefits. High unemployment states like California, where the jobless rate was 12.2% in September, will get an additional 20 weeks of benefits for a maximum of 99 weeks.
House members approved their own version of the bill Sept. 22. It extends unemployment 13 weeks only in states with a jobless rate over 8.5%.
Quick action was expected in the Senate, but the legislation got bogged down over where the funds to pay for the benefits would come from and a host of proposed amendments, many of which had nothing to do with unemployment.
A breakthrough came last week when the two sides agreed to add two amendments. One would extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyers credit to April. It is due to expire this month. The second amendment would expand a tax break for businesses on net operating losses.
The $2.4 billion cost of the extension, however, will come from the $14-per-employee federal surtax being paid by employers. The surtax was supposed to end this year. Calling it unfair to burden businesses for the extended cost of unemployment, Senate Republicans had wanted to use stimulus funds to pay for the benefits.
Once the Senate acts, the House is expected to approve the changes and send the bill on to President Barack Obama, who has said he will sign it.
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Yeah, and if this bill was for senators, it would have been passed in 5 minutes.
Yeaph you are right
There are many factors of why I am unemployed. One of them is not for lack of trying. I have read the news of the extension every day on the internet since September. If it had passed quickly as expected I would still have some money. Now due to cash advances from my bank, I am under $500 with $8 being added every day. Every day I am in peril that they will close the account. I am blessed with an understanding branch manager who knows my story and who I have banked with for years.
I was once very "well to do" and then things changed. I believe these people in the senate have no idea how much they are hurting thousands and thousands of individuals. Just "tuck in our belts" ... not so easy if you had to sell yours to pay rent. The more frightening thought is that they don't really care. They are doing "their job" and if "a few eggs get broken" ... oh well. Sad state of affairs when one of the first things you teach your child "to do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is nowhere in the mind of those who can impact so many lives.
thats for sure
At what point does "benefits" become welfare though? You can now go over two years collecting. I know for some people it's a desperate lifeline but for others they are milking this and need to accept reality and get whatever job they can.
Well, look at that guy in the picture. He probably had a pretty good job. And when it came time to weed out the personnel... wham! It's not easy to get ANY job if your over 50. AND those that are out there probably pay less than the unemployment benefits. Would YOU take a job instead?
Tell ya what, offer your job to someone on unemployment and you can 'milk' the system when, too (gotta be 'let go' though. Can you arrange that?)
Agree with you but some places said overqualified or compiting against 600 applicants for one position
I am a 32 year old single mother with 2 children. I was let go from a job in January 2008 because they shut down after I had been working there for 10 years. I have applied for numerous jobs every week, well above the required minimum to keep your unemployment benefits. I have applied to everything from flipping hamburgers to mowing grass in a cemetary. I have an education, I am 6 credit hours away from a degree, but yet there are no jobs for me. Either I am "over-qualified" or "under-qualified". Heck I cannot even find part-time employmetn. So the extension would not only be a life-line, but a life saver for me and my children. We are a few weeks from having no money, every penny I have saved will be gone and I don't even have any debt, that is just paying for neccessities.
I agree. I am also a single mother. I have 4 kids and a deadbeat ex. I have been seeking employment for a year. I will take anything, I have placed ads asking begging for work. We are down to our last money. I have exhausted all my means. I have resorted to hhomeschooling because I dont have a car or money to put my kids in regular school anymore. I dont want to have to resort to unemployment. I hate for my kids to have to see me as a failure, because their father has failed them already.
pathetic you are obama. you are a small lil house negro.
They SUCK!!!!
JK You SUCK too!
No Job 20 years experience, = no hire = no check yet. Have and have nots. Haves need to cap the attitude.
I feel your pain, Nick. Hope something turns up soon...like the economy. I think the working stiffs need a wage decrease to get a taste of the bitter pill you've had to swallow. After all, aren't we in this together?
Some have the "I've got mine" attitude. As if they can't be touched, but some where, some time, someone will come up to you and say, "smile, you're on the Candid Camera unemployment line!
Pis off granny. You think this is the first recession we've been thru? Just because we aren't doing too bad now doesn't mean that we didn't lose everything several times before.Send back your social security checks to Obama. Thank you.
very true. I've never collected a dime, and been out of work too. worked harder and went back to school.
Nuff said!
Bye
So some people want to claim that we people who are out of work are milking the system. Wait till it happens to you and you have to start selling your belongings just to pay your bills and you can't get a job no matter what kind of job. This is what I hear you're over qualified or I'm under qualified. I got laid off when this construction company closed it's doors back in March of 08. I was making around $63,000 a year and then $0.00 for a few Months. All you Jackasses who think it's a milking thing going on don't have much sense. The unemployment we receive is $320.00 a week, think you want to milk that system, I'd think not but if it's all there is to live on then you'd be there collecting as well, wouldn't you!!!!!!!!!!!
99 weeks! yeeeah baby, I need to get unemployed! woohoo
DO NOT WISH FOR THIS YOU MORAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COUNT YOUR BLESSING IF YOU HAVE A JOB YOU THINK UNEMPLOYMENT CHECK WILL PAY YOUR MONTHLY BILLS ,,,,,,,,,,,YOU MUST STILL BE LIVING WITH MOMY AND DADY OR A FREELOADER WITH SOMEONE
agreed, absolutely ridiculous
I'm only 35 & one thing I have learned from all this is to NEVER NEVER EVER depend on the Government for ANYTHING. They dont care about YOU! Save as much money as you people because the end is nigh...
Well now gentlemen, the economy belongs to the guy AFTER Mr. Bush. In case you SEIU fellows need a little insight you know, President Bush he's the guy you all said was the worst president ever . .! Well maybe you'd be glad to get Bush back? This guy in there now is worse than any president since Carter. By the way, you SEIU guys need to keep on working to help pay for the rest of us that are on unemployment! THANKS !
You have sawdust for brains. The economy went south BEFORE the election.
And it's a world-wide condition. The US suffered from the greed of the arrogant CEOs who bailed with their golden parachutes after causing this disarray.
Let them divvy up and pay for some of the pain they caused.
So much for the trickle down theory.
good call grandma. it so true and a good idea. they should take their $ to pay for ui
come on guy, Bush is the reason we are in this situation. dont use obama as the scape goat. obama has to take on this stuation left by the idiot that was our president for 8 long overspending always on vacation, greedy oil rich, who couldnt run a baseball team, years. he also who thugged his way to a presidency (florida) thanks to his bro, u think if gore who really won was our president would we have had 911 or be in a war? if u call this a war, i personally dont think so and our economy most likely would be good or better than now. thus no need for unemployment. remember gas at nearly 5.00 a gallon. all under bush.
yes lets spend billions on Iraq and the people of Iraq looking for WMD,s (ignoring Afghan where the real problem was) and let our own people suffer without unemployment to give many who need it food and shelter for their loved one's. lets get rid of teachers as well and let the poor get poorer so that south orange county and other nice areas can have the crime rates and poverty that some of the inner cities have.Lets also build a missile defense system 100 miles or so from Russia and piss of the one country that can wipe us off the map.THe government is going to take your money one way or another no matter democrat or republican i"d like to think at least they are going to take it for logical reasons as opposed to personal agenda!
It is a foregone conclusion that the benefits will be extended. If not, then Americans will start reconsidering exactly what constitutes jobs "Americans won't do". Once the welfare runs out, the fast food job or the car wash might start looking fairly good to an out of work American. These Americans will then start asking questions about why someone who shouldn't be in the country has that desirable job. Government would then actually have to deal with such issues rather than ignoring them. The government will never allow that to happen, therefore the unemployments will be extended. Done deal.
exactly, stop saying there are no jobs and get to work. sorry 100 weeks should be the absolute limit. nobody paid in enough premiums to cover that, which (shocker) is how -insurance- works.
ANYONE OUT OF WORK FOR 99 WEEKS SHOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE ANY JOB. I'd have been lined up outside Home Depot a long time ago!
hey Z thats a good answer. you are probably right .
How long did it take congress to approve the $850 billion bailout under Boooosh?? About a week at most?? And now it's time to throw some crumbs to the peasants and it takes them over a month! hah! That's your gobblement at work, folks. They are there to serve you!!! hah! Reward the Wall Street criminals and make the little people eat beans!!! hah! Welcome to the new America!
Obama needs to grow a set!! He sold us out to the big corporations. He wimped out on the healthcare too! What happened to we are a moral country and this is the moral thing to do! He's done nothing but ridiculous compromises since he got in! How did Bush get all his dirty bills passed in the middle of the night!!
really? what comprimises did Obama agree to? congress and Obama have been passing 1000 page bills that have never been read with no Republican support in the dead of night. hey, whatever works.
Be careful what you wish for "anonymous"!! You think it is some kind of party being unemployed? You are an as@#@!!! I've been a homeowner since 1975-nobody gave me a dime! I've also worked since I was 16. I have never been on unemployment in my life until now. Apparently there comes a time in this great country when you become too young to retire but apparently too hold to hire. You become an insurance risk because you are too costly to insure. I don't smoke or drink and could count on one hand the days missed of work over the last ten years! Maybe when you are in this position you will re-think things!
way to go susan excellent reply to anonymous. lots of people are like you in the same situation. people like anonymous and there are a lot like him need to understand that and hope they are not in this boat like us. i never thought this would happen to me and i kinda thought like anonymous but let me tell you its tough to find a job at 45 that will pay what you made or close to it. ui pay is ok and gets u by. but to think that people enjoying not working and getting ui just to are just ignorant people.
so, I'm guessing that most of you leaving comments are employed. count your blessings. My husband has been out of work for over a year. 14 months to be exact. He worked in the home theater industry. There are no jobs, anywhere. he's looked, and he always gets the thanks, but no thanks, we need someone with just a tad more experience, and they take the ones that have that tad more experience. . And for those of you that say the ones that milk it need to find anything, well the anything jobs are going to those who have also lost their jobs. He's competing with between 6 and 15 people for every job he applies for. WE have lost our house and have had to file for bankruptcy. Do you think this is what we want? do you think this is a free ride for my husband? It's not. It's very, very hard for him, and for me. I am now the breadwinner in my house, and we have 2 kids. So, really think about what you are saying before you spew your hurtful comments.
me,
You know what? you should start a blog. Your story is very compelling, and others in the same boat could see that they're not alone. Losing your home is the worst thing. My heart aches for you... altho I'm unemployed, also, and the chances (for a senior like me) of being hired are slim to none. Maybe as a greeter at WalMart.
Young adults have choices... go into the military, go to school on a loan & work part time.
The cyber world is the great equalizer. Nobody cares about your age or your looks or you clothes. But entry into a viable online career is not easy either.
I hope things turn around for you.
Agree with you Grandma But wait till next year that is not far away when we have to report taxes and we did not had any income except fot the unemployment check and the they are going to ask us to pay TAXES ON THE MONIES THAT THEY SEND US AND WE HAD EARN THRU OUT THE YEARS OF BEEN EMPLOYED
me, thank you for speaking from the heart. i feel for you as i and my kids are in a similar boat. i lost my house and now rent and can barely afford that as well as child support and regular needs a family needs, people just like to feel their above other people to feel good about them selves. and thats a sad thing.
They SUCK and dont give a rats ass about this country anymore. Any of them. They are building the one world order...
Prepare for survival. If you can find a place away from the masses, go...
Nick is right people, they dont care about you & if you or your family members were homeless in the streets the Government & Corporations would laugh at you while driving to a nice restaurant & then to the banks to make a fat deposit. Prepare for the NEW America & get away from the masses.
**More Tent cities are coming!**
You can come and stay at my house. But you need to cut the grass.
Yes, before my husband and I both age 57 lost our jobs in 2008 I scoffed at food stamps shopper at the grocery store. Maybe because we were bringing in 85K annually, had a nice 402k balance,perfect credit and 40 years of work experience
Well that was then, now my husband unloads trucks with 20 year old's and earns $9.00 no benefits. So far no one is interested in hiring me so I cling to unemployment benefits and pay for COBRA which cost one and a half weeks of my husband's pay, lost most of our 401K, depleted our savings, our home is in default, credit scores not even on the scale and now I get scoffed at when I pay with food stamps at the grocery store.
I's difficult to go on another job interview when you've been rejected by so many. I know I am a hard, loyal employee and all my performance reviews were above average, but 58 is a hard sell.
All you young employed should appreciate what you have and all you old employed worry about yourself most of us are only one paycheck from the street.
This in no vacations it's a great burden we never though we would have.
Jen, I hope you read the comments of those in your same situation. None of us were prepared for this. And as long as 80% of the work force is still working, the businesses can still function. It's easy for them to feel secure, because some businesses have bare bones staffing, and they can't be let go unless the business closes. A lot of high income jobs are gone, and sadly these people, like you are having to start at the bottom again.
It's plain to see that this country needs a health care system so people like you don't have to shell out for stiff COBRA payments. In Europe and Canada they never have to worry about not getting medical care. They are more than satisfied with their programs, and can't understand why a big country like ours has nothing in place for it's citizens.
Hang in there. It's bound to turn around.
The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in February and was promised as a job saver and economy booster. Here is where some of the money went:
- $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
- $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
- $11 million for Microsoft to build a bridge connecting its two headquarter campuses in Redmond, Wash., which are separated by a highway.
- $430,000 to repair a bridge in Iowa County, Wis., that carries 10 or fewer cars per day.
- $800,000 for the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., serving about 20 passengers per day, to build a backup runway.
- $219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
- $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.
- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.
- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.
- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.
- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.
- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.
- $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
- $1.5 million for a fence to block would-be jumpers from leaping off the All-American Bridge in Akron, Ohio.
- $1 million to study the health effects of environmentally friendly public housing on 300 people in Chicago.
- $356,000 for Indiana University to study childhood comprehension of foreign accents compared with native speech.
- $983,952 for street beautification in Ann Arbor, Mich., including decorative lighting, trees, benches and bike paths.
- $148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
- $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
- $3.1 million to transform a canal barge into a floating museum that will travel the Erie Canal in New York state.
- $1.3 million on government arts jobs in Maine, including $30,000 for basket makers, $20,000 for storytelling and $12,500 for a music festival.
- $71,000 for a hybrid car to be used by student drivers in Colchester, Vt., as well as a plug-in hybrid for town workers decked out with a sign touting the vehicle's energy efficiency.
- $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles.
Sources: News reports, Office of the Senate Minority Leader, Office of Sen. Tom Coburn
sferrechio@washingtonexaminer.com
What a counthry we live in..sounds like old home in USSR.
Did you also protest the BILLIONS that went to the war contractors? Probably not, typical conservative worried about peanuts instead of the true waste that was given to your cronies.
idontbuyit must still not be working to have that much time to find all that info for us thanks lol
(Even returning military members have to fight yet again -- at home)
Guardsmen in a new battle — to find jobs
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33492946/ns/us_news-the_elkhart_project/
California state, counties, and cities are hiring with very good pay, generous health insurance, great retirement and pension, nice overtime, and cool working environment, Unless you are a moron to screw up, it is a job for life....No more layoff, headache, heart attack, sleepless nights, etc. Make sure you join Unions. .Check out Orange County and cities.
Carlos congratulations you found a job you must have connection with some employees or the HR manager I have try for the last 20 months and NOTHING not even an intreview
translation = the only jobs in the 21st century will be government workers who can't wipe their own behinds, provide no benefit to anyone and can only speak broken English. thanks Obama
carlos where in calif u find a job like that in this day and age. sounds like smoke up my ass
It’s very painful when we finally face the reality, that most of us, who have been unemployed for extended time, have little or no chance to get hired again, specially in a sluggish job market!
Almost all employers do not wish to hire people with huge employment gap, regardless of the situation.
I applied for more than 500 jobs over the last 18 month, not even one interview!!!!
No moron here Carlos...I've applied and tested, when required, along with hundreds of applicants for the county, many cities in OC and the federal. Most of time for one available position or to be put on a waiting list.
Passed all exams taken and haven't got an interview yet. I have been on and off many waiting lists haven't got a call.
Connection are a big plus in any industry more now that ever, I know someone that works for L.A. county and just got her daughter in earning $17.00 with no experience, one opening hundreds of applicants.
Since I am guessing that you are not a MORON, you should know that most job seekers know all the perks government job offer.
you said it well Jen. good luck to you.
nice reply jen to carlos the moron
whats the big problem about passing another extension if the senators would stop being big babies and come together, we
the American people would not have to lose our homes,cars,or our sanity you have a job if it wasn't for the people you would't have a job either ,so lets just come together for the sake of our children so we can give our family a decent holiday. GOD BLESS US AND YOU
http://economy.freedomblogging.com/files/2009/11/ui-trust-fund-2009.jpg
OK, amateur mathematicians, rocket scientists, state politicians how do you expect California to escape bankruptcy from THIS one? please let the rest of us know.
they keep saying the same crap every week .they are quick to bail out the theives in the banking and wallstreet industries. the people that put money in their pockets.
i wish everyone would stop saying that god will save us. god didn't save us from anything, and i'd like to think that MY god would never have let this happen, however, i still sit here poor and defeated, and thinking more and more about offing myself. thanks god.
At 57 years old and out of work for over a year this is scary . I have nothing left and can't seem to get hired even in the field where I have 20 plus years experience. Ive been working since I was 17 so now I have to hear someone say were milking the system ! You should be in my shoes buddy I'm healthy and willing to work another 20 years Show me a job and I'll take it!!!!!!!!
you people suck! boo hoo i lost my job wahhh ilost my house so what
Your comments really don't dignify a reply-but you better hope there is no such thing as karma!
CA. EDD is a joke. They could care less how many people will continue to go without basic necessities or be able to keep a roof over their head. Levy is the CA. EDD spokesperson who once again announces EDD is not prepared for this extension. Compelx programming was the excuse last time. It took weeks to get claim forms out to claimants and longer to get a first check.
Most states are automated, No mailing is required. What is wrong with this state, why can't they ever get up to speed? It is appauling this great state has been reduced to being run by a bunch of bumbling, incompetent and self serving lazy idiots. Makes me sick!