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Obama Signs Unemployment Insurance Extension |
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Long-term jobless workers finally have some relief, with President Barack Obama signing legislation today to provide up to 20 extra weeks of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for workers who exhaust their benefits before finding new work. The bill had been held up for almost six weeks as Senate Republicans blocked several attempts to bring it to a vote.
Obama’s signature came just hours after it was announced the nation’s unemployment rate had soared to 10.2 percent in October, from 9.8 percent in September.
The legislation provides an additional 14 weeks of benefits to unemployed workers in all states and an additional six weeks for jobless workers in states with an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent or higher.
The House first passed a UI extension Sept. 23. But it wasn’t until Nov. 4 that Republicans dropped their fight against the bill and allowed a vote. The House passed the Senate’s version the following day.
In a statement announcing the signing, the White House says the bill
builds on the successes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help spur job creation and help struggling workers [and] strengthens the safety net for workers who cannot find jobs—immediately helping 700,000 people and eventually helping over a million.
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YEA HA, the extension bill passed before I was on my death bed and let me add, we unemployed are good people. At least we are not eating horses, not that we ever would, thank God.
I’m Country Carl the Artist and Advocate for additional unemployment benefits on Unemployment-Gone-Mad dot com. Across this great country the pawn shops were the only ones mining gold. As we waited for an unemployment extension, thousands more became dumpster divers, tent pitchers and street corner beggars. Even pets were becoming a burden for tearful owners and freaking out when they became abandon. So my hat is off to those of you who finally saw the light, because these New Depression Blues times can drag a good man to the bottle. Bless you Senators my beer summit is to you old farts. Here is another big YEA HA from Country Carl. So google me up and cheer along, you actually did it.
If corporate America would stop sending jobs overseas and bring back the ones they’ve already sent there wouldn’t be so many people in need of unemployment benefits! And deporting all the illegals wouldn’t hurt either. Or if deportation isn’t ‘possible’ at least make E-Verify mandatory for EVERY employer in the US! Then maybe the interlopers would deport themselves. And wouldn’t that be good for America, though? And let’s cut out those H1-B visas while we’re at it. Millions of unemployed Americans can do those jobs just as well as foreigners. The companies can just suck it up and pay American wages for American jobs!
Our government has grown used to the perks corporate America has to offer them and, in so doing, has turned It’s back on America herself! It’s time we stood up and demanded our government do what’s in the best interest of the people who elected them for a change!