Financial reform passed, the oil cap may be working, new jobless claims this week dropped to the lowest number in 2 years, and another vote on the extension of unemployment benefits* has been scheduled for next Tuesday, BUT it's still the economy, stupid.
There are still 14.6 million unemployed Americans. Can you contact the President, your Representative and Senator again to let them know that now is the time to turn their efforts to fixing our broken economy?
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity Yes we can heal this nation Yes we can repair this world Yes we can
We know the battle ahead will be long But always remember no matter What obstacles stand in our way Nothing can stand in the way of the power Of millions of voices calling for change
*Thank you for all the calls, letters, and emails from Kossacks and fellow progressive who've finally gotten the President, some Senators, and some media to pay attention to the need to pass the extension.
Not to be overlooked, next week's possible passage (please God please let it pass) will stop some of us from starving, but it is only the most meager of stopgap measures and millions of people are overlooked by it.
Senator Harry Reid’s office sent me the following note regarding the unemployment extension vote:
Senator Reid said today on the floor that on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 2:15pm, the Senate will swear in the Senator-designee from West Virginia and that first vote next week will be on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 2:30pm, with respect to the Unemployment Compensation legislation.
That is great news for the more than two million of unemployed who have been waiting since June 2 for legislation to be passed. This legislation does not include the nearly two million 99ers who have been left out of this bill. Now is the time to get the 99ers some relief before the House goes on recess July 30.
Tales from the 99'ers:
What it's like being unemployed I am normally a happy go lucky person. I am married with 3 kids, and now my wife is the provider. I am depressed, and tired all of the time.
I am constantly filling out applications, but never do I receive a phone call; I even call to speak to managers. I feel as though I should be providing for my family. I have been collecting unemployment for almost 2 years and it recently stopped because I ran out of extensions. We are struggling more than ever, and have no clue what to do...
Excerpts from the 99ers' letter to letter to President Obama.:
According to Lawrence Mishel, PhD, President of the Economic Policy Institute, "The rest of the safety net has come to look more like a cement floor." TANF, for example, has been almost completely unresponsive to the recession. Note that case loads in Michigan – our hardest hit state – were lower in January 2010 than in January 2007, even though almost 100,000 workers have exhausted their entire entitlement to UI. Food stamps, thanks to the Recovery Act, have been made available without the normal three-month limit for able bodied adults, without dependents, and caseloads increased about 20% between January 2009 and January 2010. But the average benefit is less than $150 per month, too little to be more than a supplement to another source of income. Moreover, the waiver of the three-month limit expires in September 2010. General assistance programs, through which many states formerly provided cash payments to the unfortunate, have disappeared. And the federal mortgage foreclosure assistance program has helped only a fraction of the millions of homeowners facing foreclosure. When jobless workers exhaust their unemployment compensation, how will they pay their rent or pay off their mortgages?
According to a recent survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, suicide rates have risen approximately 75% (directly relational to the states with high unemployment rates) due to the physiological and psychological effects caused by a loss of income and, additionally, the reduced governmental funding which provides for social service and mental health programs.
This statistic hits very close to home for one of our representatives of the 99ers, Robert C. Robert’s father Steven C. committed suicide with a gunshot to his head in 2009. Steven C. was only 61 years old, living in Long Beach, California, and on the verge of losing everything he worked hard to obtain. Robert’s family still suffers from the devastation of this unnecessary act. Had Steven Curtis found the help he needed to survive, his life would have been saved. Still unable to find employment and having exhausted unemployment benefits, left him without means for living.
THE NUMBERS:
- 9.5% unemployment rate - 14.6 million unemployed - nearly half, 6.8 million of the 14.6, have been unemployed for longer than 6 months - An additional 2.6 million people are unemployed (total of 17.2 million!) and want to work but were not counted in the statistics because they've given up looking for work - An additional unknown number of older unemployed have taken early Social Security retirement or Social Security disability - 2.35 million (and more than 53,000 more each day) are no longer receiving any benefits because the Senate (including our Democrats) failed to pass an extension - 2 to 4 million are ineligible for benefits due to being unemployed more than 99 weeks