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14 Senators Urge Unemployment Extension |
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More than 1 million people hurt by the bad economy are at risk of losing their unemployment insurance by the end of the year. During the toughest economic crisis in more than a generation, 7,000 people every day are seeing their UI expiring—and it’s due to the petty obstructionism of two senators who are blocking the needed extension of UI benefits.
This afternoon, 14 senators from across the country joined together to urge swift passage of a UI extension, to give workers access to the system they’ve paid into and to keep families and communities economically secure. With unemployment officially at 9.8 percent and an estimated 26 million out of work or discouraged, we can’t wait any longer to extend UI.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said that the obstruction of desperately needed assistance to struggling families must end:
We can stand together now, pass this vital piece of legislation, and provide families with the means to stay in their homes and pay the bills as they look for work in these extraordinarily turbulent times. Slow-walking these benefits doesn’t just hurt individuals and families; it is bad for businesses and the broader economy. Helping people stay afloat is not a partisan issue—it is an urgent national issue that demands action now.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said that UI extension is necessary to prevent even further weakening of our economy:
The unemployment extension bill before the Senate is a great bill—one that will stimulate the economy and help unemployed workers across the country struggling to get back on their feet. Helping people who are about to lose a lifeline is the essence of what we do as public servants—that is why this delay is so disappointing. I ask those members who are holding up this urgent legislation for political purposes to do the right thing and pass this extension immediately.
The pending bill in the Senate would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 14 weeks, or 20 weeks in states with especially high unemployment. Unemployment benefits allow workers looking for jobs to continue to support their families and local businesses, providing a needed economic boost. Unfortunately, efforts to pass this bill have been blocked twice by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).
Click here to tell the Senate it’s time to pass an extension of UI benefits.
19 Comments
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Dear Senators Kyl and Hatch:
I am a Union Ironworker. What do you fellows do for a
living?
Obfuscation and obstruction are two weapons which,
like revenge, are best served cold.
Since selfishness is the lynchpin of conservatism,
your actions in blocking unemployment extension
benefits was expected. Who are you really working
for? We already know the Health Insurance industry
has your ear. So too,BIG OIL, BIG PHARMA,
THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, WALL STREET,
and on and on!
Your disgusting actions as legislators in fronting
for the privileged against the common man are
contemptible!
Wake up before the GNP (GRAND …NO… PARTY)
goes the way of its ideological predecessor, THE WHIGS!
In addtion to extended unemployment benefits, the government really needs to start looking into extending ARRA/COBRA for those that are about to loose their individual and family benefits.
By the way… if you are unemployed and looking for information and resources to assist you, please check out http://WWW.WERQIN.COM
Facebook event created titled “Unemployed benefit extension virtual march on Washington”
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156123314182
Holding up this unemployment extension bill is tantamount to taking a gun and shooting 14,000 American families DAILY who have lost this lifeline. More than 500,000 have had benefits expire. More than 2 million people, and by extension their families, will lose this lifeline by Christmas.
Yet the Senate continues to stall on this lifeline help. Republicans twice have blocked consideration on bogus grounds. Now they have loaded on EIGHT amendments — some highly controversial — having nothing to do with the benefits. They also object to continuing a $14 per employee per year tax for businesses already funded through 2011 to fund the benefits.
However, the Democrats won’t formally bring the extension to a vote because they say the Republicans will filibuster.
Huh?
Unemployed people have worked for years in most cases actually contributing to the benefit system intended to aid them in their hour of need. This is life and death.
WE MUST COLLECT TOGETHER IN CYBERSPACE AND IF NEEDED AT THE CAPITOL and tell these insensitive pigs they need to forget about this politics garbage and respond to our immediate needs.
Unemployment is at 10 percent nationwide, which doesn’t count people whose unemployment benefits have run out — 400,000 this month, 1.4 million by December, and those who are underemployed, or working part-time when they need full-time work. The actual unemployment rate is near 20 percent. And as the Jobs Report so clearly illustrates, “employers” continue to cut jobs by the hundreds of thousands each month.
The lobbyists buy these senators left and right. Unemployed people don’t have any money. What kind of nation have we become?
We must band together and collectively call out these insensitive stinking senators — who had no problem in the last month while the UE benefit bill stalled increasing staff salaries in two minutes, funding wars everywhere, giving money to other countries, enabling million dollar bonuses to bank employees and financial people who screwed the unemployed and the economy and a bunch of other stuff about crack cocaine and whatever else, including their own three-day work weeks.
WE DEMAND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT EXTENSIONS TODAY!!!
The Petition to the Senate to Pass S.1699 (H.R. 3548) has now reached 1350+ signatures. Please continue to notify friends and relatives of the Petition and please continue to post the Petition link on other websites. The Petition contains the powerful stories of many of the unemployed. Hopefully, we can get the national media interested in the Petition and the stories of the unemployed. Thank You!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pass-the-unemployment-bill
What is needed with an extention of the unemployment package is a real “educational training” program to retrain some of the displaced workers. Only so many “fries with that” jobs being produced in the land.
Since our fearless leaders cannot or will not enact a real “Made in America” effort to protect American Jobs, the least they can do is retrain some of the workforce.
The country is bankrupt, we can’t just keep printing money. What happened to creating jobs??? Good paying jobs through sustainable energy. I haven’t heard a thing. How is there going to be a recovery if people don’t have jobs. We can’t just keep extending unemployment benefits forever. Seriously, no jobs = no recovery. Retraining is futile when there aren’t enough jobs for everyone. Many of the “Good Jobs” have been outsourced to third world counties for pennies on the dollar. We have to start being self sufficient. Producing our own food, creating jobs through sustainable energy not just road work alone.
The banks took their bailout money but refuse to put a bulk of the bank owned property back on the market and are controlling property prices in many states this way. Florida and other areas have bottomed out but The North East prices are about the same as 2007 for the most part, but most folks have been laid off. It’s like the banks are trying to double dip. We don’t need a handout with need a hand up. Creating jobs is what this country needs. The Banks CEO’s need to take a pay cut and that money should be going to help small businesses so that we can start growing this econcomy.
that is true but we are still starving to death
Hatch and Kyl should be shot right on the spot!
Disgusting! Their manta phrase “It’s too expensive. Who is going to pay for it?” When someone is starving, you don’t worry about whree the money is coming from.
“14 senators from across the country joined together to urge swift passage of a UI extension, ”
That is pathetic! Only 14 out of 100, and 60 of them were elected with union members’ support, money, and work. They are a worthless bunch of elitists. The only way out of this mess is to run independent and Labor Party candidates against any member of Congress who doesn’t stand for workers, and to abolish the Senate outright - it is an undemocratic institution worse than the House of Lords.
meanwhile my credit card interest rate just hit 29 percent and the CEOs are laughing all the way to the bank.
Well what else could be expected? Both of these right winged Republicants are from right to work states, I lived in AZ for way too long and I was one of many that voted against Kyle in his first bid for office. Arizona is a state full of idiots with no foresight as the heat has melted their brains. standing in the way of a working class issue is the only way they can be seen anymore.
And while all this goes on it is estimated that 7 million illegal aliens hold jobs in this country. And while more folks run out of U.I. with no prospect of a job, this Govt. with the help of a lot of Senators from both sides of the isle”yours included” still give out more then 138,000 work visas every month. And lets not forget they do this with the support now, of our Union leaders!
hatch abd Kyle shou;ld lose their jobs and see how it feels.
To stop this crazyness you must stop voting for the same people over and over again.All of these Senators and Representives with the exception of a very few have been re-elected year after year we do that, it is our choice,we must use our vote as a term limit.
I’m Country Carl the Artist and Advocate for additional unemployment benefits.CURRENTLY
the GOP is holding us hostage for this bill over funding issues and have added several extortion amendments. We all need NOW to contact our Senators and all the US Senators on Unemployment-Gone-Mad.com,( http://unemployment-gone-mad.com/ ) to realize additional benefits during these NEW DEPRESSION BLUES times before thousands more become dumpster divers, tent pitchers and street corner beggars.
It’s NOW up to the US SENATE and all of US ! God Bless You….and take action before your computer connection is dead.
GOP Senators are Blocking Extension of Unemployment Because of ACORN and Real Estate Tax Credit.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/22/796161/-GOP-Senators-Go-Down-in-Flames-for-Stalling-on-Major-Bills-in-US-Senate
That’s right, the unemployment extension bill is being held up by the Republicans so they can argue about ACORN, again, and attempt to get a Real Estate Extension Tax Credit. These two issues should be seperate from the unemployment extension bill.
The unemployment extension bill continues to sit and good Americans, who have lost their jobs, now have to sit and wait, while their benefits are or have ran out. These Republicans clearly don’t care how the unemployed are going to feed their families, pay their necessary bills, mortgage, etc.
Why would they care, they have excellent Federal Benefits and salary.
It is time for every American to stand up to these crooks and liars and get action for the MILLIONS who need help. They can pass cash for clunkers in 1 week, but helping millions of Americans whose unemployment benefits that have or going to run out, doesn’t matter.
Friend or Foe of the Unemployment Extensions:
http://hubpages.com/hub/voting-records-on-unemployment-insurance-extensions-recession-2008-2009
Contact Your U.S. Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Robert Dobbs for US Congress, SC-01
http://www.electdobbs.com/
Please sign the Petition to get the Senate to pass the bill. Thank you.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pass-the-unemployment-bill
Prov 16:19 “Pride goes before destruction”
Urge your senators to
1) Amend the bill to be retroactive from the day tit passed the House
2) Extend COBRA for everyone laid off in 2008 (not just sept!)
3) All Americans unemployed should receive 20 weeks
What a joke. Although it is right thing to do, if will never happen with the current regime.
TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK NOW!
Join the Opposite party and vote the incumbents out. Always vote for the new guy.
Many of our problems stems from the fact we have taxation without representation thanks to a lobby system that would dazzle anyone. So you can’t really blame them. You must blame yourself for voting an incumbent in or worse yet, for not voting at all.
Regardless of your economic situation and political view, I urge you to join my cause and never ever vote in an incumbent again.
That’s right. Just keep saying to yourself “I will vote for the NEW guy”.
On second thought I think we need a new name for our party. Something that makes us think to never ever vote an incumbent in again.
So for all you unemployed people, who ever gives me the best name wins a $5 star bucks card. Which is more than your country gave you over the last several weeks if you are one of the 400k people whose benefits ran out in September.
God Bless America!
“WHAT ABOUT US”
To the two PHARAOHS(Jon Kyl and Orrin Hatch) taht would not pass the extesion, why are you being so hard-hearted or do you have a heart or you just don’t care I receive my last check on sept 2, it’s been really hard trying to make it without any income. I can’t even buy all of my medication I’m a diabetic, and there’s no more free clinics as you know, I’m not goin to curse you or call you out of your name, I just hope you come to a decision before we the American people lose our homes, cars and our sanity.
GOD BLESS US………
Melissa Williams
Can someone please explain to me why there are 14 senators listed here and not 60? I thought we won the election. It’s time to out the Dem Senators who are not fighting for the extension. Forget about the GOP. They have been dismantling the working class for years