WE expect this from the repiglicans and tea-baggers. Behold how Pres Obama and the Jellyfish Democrats in the US Congress have abandoned the poor, the unemployed, some of the least among us. They gave in to the greed of those representing the rich and corporate America and left out of the budget agreement the emergency unemployment extension, exposing tens of thousands of families, millions of people, to unnecessary suffering. These people of faith, most of them Christians, should consider this....
"There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard."
- Arundhati Roy
[Jesus] proposed a transformative vision of God. God isn't the one
who condemns the poor and weak. God isn't the one who favors the rich and
righteous. God isn't the one who ordains the rich to be in the castle
and the poor to be in the gutter. God is the one who loves everyone,
including the people the rest of us think don't count.
- Brian McLaren
Here are articles on the fate of the unemployed from Mother Jones & the Washington Post.....
Job applicants line up at a new Target store in Albuquerque ZUMA/Dean Hanson
When Congress reconvenes next week, lawmakers will have to decide whether to extend federal unemployment benefits for about
1.3 million Americans.
These emergency benefits—which Congress let expire shortly after Christmas—are part of a
2008 program that allows workers who have been out of the job for more than six months to receive an emergency extension on their payments
up to 47 weeks.
If Congress fails to renew these benefits, only a quarter of jobless
Americans will be receiving any benefits at all, according to the
Huffington Post.
As
these charts show,
the United States is looking at the worst long-term unemployment crisis
since soup kitchen lines peaked during the Great Depression. Americans
who have been unemployed for more than six months are often hit with
major financial and personal hardship. Around 10 percent must file for
bankruptcy, more than half report putting off medical care, and many say
they have, "lost self-respect while jobless." But who are these
Americans who have lost their benefits? Some reached out to
Mother Jones. Here are their stories:
Name: Anonymous
State: New York
"My benefits run out this week. I'm thoroughly petrified…I am the
nice girl you went to high school with who was in the advanced classes,
graduated with an A average, and went on to college. I'm the girl who
always worked through high school, college, law school, and grad school.
I never thought I would end up a welfare mother, but here I am. I want
you to know how I got here and why I can't get out. I want you to
realize that your nasty comments on social media about the losers
demanding entitlements and benefits and hand-outs as compared to your
'hard-earned money,' hurt more than you know. Those comments may also be
hurting your friend or colleague or relative. I'm not alone in this
situation. I do not want benefits, or hand-outs, or entitlements. I want
a job. I want to be able to pay my own way. I want to be
self-sufficient again and earn the money I receive through hard work. I
don't want to lose my house or have to talk to another debt collector.
But in the meantime, I am grateful that some of our lawmakers saw fit to
protect the vulnerable in times of need."
Maureen "Momo" Kallins
Name: Maureen "Momo
" Kallins
State: Washington
"I am 65 years old. For three years I worked as the General Manager
and the Business Manager of a small public access television station in
Washington State. I lost that job in January 2013, which supported half
of our household. (I have two sons, 26 and 24, and I live with my
husband.) I was awarded unemployment insurance of less than half of my
salary that month, which was extended after six months. I have applied
for numerous jobs but never even get an interview. A friend of mine in
the film business said recently, 'When you apply for a job at 50 people
laugh at you. When you apply for a job at 65 people just look at you
like you are crazy.' Presently I am adding to my
video resume
and trying to build a business. I sincerely hope that the members of
Congress can agree to extend these benefits and throw us a lifeline."
Name: Carol Watterston
State: Nevada
"After being laid off after seven years [at my job], I have now been
unemployed since November 9, 2012. I job hunt for full-time employment
everyday. I've been to multiple interviews and nothing has worked out.
I've even attempted going back to school but I have bad credit and can't
afford it…I'm already struggling to pay my rent, my bills, my car
insurance and feed myself and my pets. I have never been one that
expects or wants any kind of charity, and this situation I'm in is
degrading and shameful, but I have to do whatever is necessary for
survival. However, I have a lot more than other people on this planet. I
have a roof over my head, I have food in my fridge, I have a car, and I
have a very supportive family, which I'm thoroughly thankful for."
Tara Dublin
Name: Tara Dublin
State: Washington
"I was a
very popular DJ on the radio in Portland.
When I lost that job, I could not find another job in local media. The
radio station that fired me has not replaced me. As a single mom of two
sons (15 and 10 years old), it was imperative to me that I show my kids
that we don't roll over and die when bad things happen; we fight. And
I've been fighting for the last four and half years. In the time since I
lost that dream job, I've had small opportunities, but nothing long
term. I'll get a voiceover gig just when a bill is due…I worked holiday
retail sales at Nordstrom but wasn't rehired for this season, and
despite applying for every retail and waitressing job I can find, I have
yet to be hired. I'm on the verge of losing my house yet again, and I
am terrified, I don't ask for a lot out of life—just to be in a job that
makes me happy and pays my bills."
Name: Anonymous
"I lost my marketing communications specialist position in April and
have not landed a job in nine months of looking, despite working at it
diligently and investing in expensive job-hunt strategy and technique
classes. I am 61. I believe my age and the reasonably good salary I was
earning were factors in losing my job. I was replaced by a 20-something
who could be paid a lower salary. I just do not get the assertion I see
in so many news stories that eventually, long-term unemployed people
just stop looking for work. Who can afford to do that? How can they
live?"
Name: Jeff
State: Indiana
"I have an associate degree in hotel and restaurant administration.
Right now I live in an old mobile home in pretty bad condition, but at
least it is a sheltering place. I do not have a high standard of living,
so really my only worry about not having a job and losing my
unemployment benefits is becoming homeless. I only have rent, car
payment and insurance, utilities, and food as expenses. I also worry
about my three cats because I don't want to see them suffer because of
what is happening to me. I have pretty much been taking care of myself
since I was 13, and the thought of not having a roof over my head is
terrifying…I do think Congress needs to extend benefits, because people
are suffering and it would be a catastrophe to let all those who are
hurting slip even lower."
Name: Anonymous
State: Washington
"I had a baby in July 2012. I was on unpaid maternity leave until
November 2012. I was informed that I would be getting laid off in
October 2012. I was in a unionized position but I got bumped by a more
senior union member. We had insurance through my work. So we went on
COBRA for $1800 a month. The unemployment benefits extension was
covering the COBRA payment. Now we'll be paying for COBRA out of pocket.
And we have another baby on the way. I know I'm one of the lucky ones
out there. I have enough in savings and an overall family income that I
can make a choice to stay with the expensive COBRA, so that I don't have
to deal with this hassle [of changing to Medicaid] mid-pregnancy."
And here are some stories from other news outlets:
- David Davis, Virginia: "That’s one goal, to avoid living on the street or in my car." (The New York Times )
- Adaline Irizarry, New Jersey: "If I don’t get an extension, I’m screwed. I think a lot of people are in that situation." (The Star-Ledger)
- Celeste, New York: "I don’t buy books; I get everything from the library. We go to maybe one movie a year." (Buzzfeed)
- Kaitlyn Smith, California: "I have to keep the house at 55 degrees even though I have two little girls, ages 2 1/2 and 1 1/2." (Los Angeles Times)
- Mary Lowe, Ohio: "We didn't do anything for Christmas—50 bucks for our daughter, that was it." (CBS News)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/unemployment-benefits-stories
Obama is off-message on the unemployed
Why is it so hard for President Obama to stick to a theme?
Wednesday afternoon provided a vivid juxtaposition that
underscored his on-again, off-again relationship with message
discipline.
On the House floor, 25 Democrats interrupted debate on a
spending bill, coming forward one at a time to ask Republican leaders to
take up an extension of unemployment benefits, which lapsed last month.
The previous day, Senate Democrats had been doing their part to keep
the issue prominent, provoking Republicans to block the legislation with
a filibuster.
This is exactly the sort of time when presidential
leadership is most effective, when consistent use of the president’s
megaphone can focus national outrage and force holdouts to relent. But
at the moment House Democrats were having their rebellion, Obama was
giving a speech in Raleigh, N.C. — about wide bandgap semiconductors.
“Wide
bandgap semiconductors, they’re special because they lose up to
90 percent less power,” he informed his audience as he announced that he
was creating a high-tech manufacturing hub in Raleigh to produce such
things. “They can operate at higher temperatures than normal
semiconductors.”
I’m all for wide bandgap semiconductors, whatever
they are. And the broader themes of Obama’s speech — training,
technology jobs and broadening “the circle of opportunity for more
Americans” — are worthy. In fairness, the president did call on Congress
to extend the unemployment benefits — but he gave the topic all of 47
seconds, a third of the way into his speech.
We’ve seen this
before on health-care reform, gun control and other subjects: Obama will
speak about a topic (as he did last week on unemployment benefits) and
then move on before the job is done. But unemployment benefits should be
a particularly easy sell for Obama, because Republican opposition to
helping job-seekers (unless the money is taken from somewhere else)
makes them sound heartless.
The House was debating the 2014
spending bill on Wednesday. The measure was being rushed to passage (as
if to emphasize the haste, it was attached to a bill called the Space
Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act) and it was full of
goodies for defense contractors and other powerful interests. But the
alternative to passage was a government shutdown, and so the measure
sailed through with only token opposition.
The absence of controversy gave House Democrats the opportunity to draw attention to jobless benefits.
“I
ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 3824 to end the Republicans’
refusal to extend unemployment benefits that affect 355,000” in
California, said Rep. Eric Swalwell.
“I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 3824 to end the
Republicans’ refusal to extend unemployment benefits that protect 49,965
workers in Michigan,” said Rep. Daniel Kildee.
“I ask unanimous
consent to bring up H.R. 3824 to end the Republican majority’s refusal
to extend unemployment benefits that would protect 137,315 workers in my
home state of New York and that number is growing as we speak,” said
Rep. Paul Tonko.
Each time, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who was
controlling the Republicans’ floor time, was forced to object to the
request. At the end, he thanked the Democrats for “the opportunity to
renew so many acquaintances with my good friends on the other side and
to make new ones.” But Cole also felt the need to defend the Republican
refusal. “Supposedly we’re in the fifth year of a recovery and we have
extended these extraordinary benefits for five years at the cost of
hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said, repeating GOP leaders’
position that Democrats had to find a way to pay for another extension.
This was an argument Democrats wanted to have.
“Nobody
talks about pay-fors for tax cuts for Donald Trump or subsidies to big
oil or any special deals for corporate donors to the Republican National
Committee,” answered Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). “But when it comes to
extending benefits to unemployed Americans, we’ve got to find
pay-fors?”
Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) called it “unconscionable”
that Republicans plan to shut down the House on Thursday for another
recess while giving the jobless their “cold shoulder.”
And Rep.
David Cicilline (D-R.I.), pointing out that 2.3 million children live
with a long-term unemployed parent and 1.5 million long-term jobless
Americans have been cut off, called it “outrageous that the House of
Representatives would leave town again without taking time to renew this
critical program to help struggling American families.”
Outrageous. Unconscionable. Strong words, but valid — and missing from Obama’s speech about semiconductors.
Twitter: @Milbank
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-obama-is-off-message-on-the-unemployed/2014/01/15/90e0dcee-7e3c-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html?tid=pm_pop
