Short-Term Jobless Aid Breaks Republican Stranglehold, Obama Signs
After a nearly monthlong tantrum by Republican senators that cost hundreds of thousand of workers their unemployment insurance (UI), the U.S. House and Senate last night finally approved legislation to extend UI benefits through June 2 and President Obama immediately signed it.
But with unemployment still remaining at an official 9.7 percent and more than two in every five unemployed workers out of work for more than six months and more than five jobless workers for each job opening, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Congress must pass a yearlong extension
so working families don’t face Republican obstruction and uncertainty every single month.
Senate Republican Coburn Blocks Aid to America’s Jobless
The Party of “No” gets ready to strike once more against working families.
As Congress considers much-needed relief for America’s jobless workers and debates proposals to jump-start the economy, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blocked a stopgap bill to extend jobless benefits, saying its $9 billion cost should not be added to the national debt. Coburn’s block means the Senate, which goes on a two-week recess today, won’t consider helping jobless workers until at least April 12.
From the New York Times:
As a result, some people who have been out of work for more than six months will at least temporarily lose benefits. Health insurance subsidies for the jobless will also expire. Republicans said Senate negotiations had produced a compromise that did not pass muster in the House.
Workers’ Stories Put Face on Victims of Wall Street Greed
One worker says she lost four jobs during the past seven years. Another saw his unemployment insurance (UI) benefits evaporate due to Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) callous filibuster of an UI extension last month.
Those are just two of the personal stories jobless workers and others have shared at the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now site. Our interactive site is part of the AFL-CIO’s fight for good jobs that today kicked off two weeks of action across the country with rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia-Wells Fargo. (Find out about events in your area here.)
The Big Six’s reckless greed played the major role in wrecking the U.S. economy and killing American jobs. The workers sharing their stories have seen firsthand the damage left behind.
Bunning Put a Face on Obstructionist, Mean-Spirited Republican Party
Sen. Jim Bunning, the Kentucky Republican who single-handedly delayed unemployment benefits for 400,000 desperate Americans and forced an unnecessary furlough of another 2,000, should be a figure regarded with wonderment.
The awesome power he held in his hands! The utter disregard for vulnerable Americans he exhibited while wielding it!
Bunning is a Republican Superhero. He personifies the mean-spirited, hypocritical, wealthy-serving, obstructionist Republican Party. As a result, his fellow GOP senators championed him. South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint said, “He’s my hero this week.” Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions said, “I respect him for the courage he’s shown.” Bunning’s obstruction should be “honored” by the Senate, said Tennessee Republican Bob Corker. And Texas Republican John Cornyn said he admired Bunning’s obstructionist tactics.
Eighteen Republicans joined Bunning on Tuesday evening in voting to oppose extending unemployment benefits for a month and providing highway funding to re-employ the furloughed 2,000.
Jobless Benefits Extended After Sen. Bunning Relents
The U.S. Senate passed a desperately needed extension of unemployment insurance (UI) and COBRA health care benefits last night after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) ended his one-man roadblock to the legislation.
Bunning began a filibuster last Friday that halted a UI extension for millions of America’s jobless workers. By blocking the UI bill, Bunning caused the furlough of 2,000 transportation workers, halted construction on 41 economic recovery projects in 17 states, forced doctors to take big cuts in Medicare payments and left 200,000 jobless Americans without COBRA.
After Bunning ended his filibuster, the Senate passed the legislation by a 78-19 margin and President Obama signed the bill into law last night. The bill already had passed the U.S. House.
Thousands of Workers Without Jobs Due to One Senator: Kentucky’s Bunning
The filibuster started Friday by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) not only has halted a desperately needed unemployment insurance (UI) extension for millions of America’s jobless workers. By blocking the UI bill, Bunning has caused the furlough of 2,000 transportation workers, halted construction on 41 economic recovery projects in 17 states, forced doctors to take big cuts in Medicare payments and left 1.2 million jobless Americans without COBRA.
And Bunning doesn’t seem to care about who suffers because of his move. This morning, when another Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, asked for unanimous consent to extend the unemployment benefits, Bunning objected again.
Bunning to Jobless Workers: ‘Tough Sh*t’
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) has a message for the 1.2 million jobless workers who will lose their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and COBRA health coverage in March when the two programs expire Feb. 28.
“Tough sh*t”
Bunning has single-handily blocked a vote on a 30-day extension by being the only senator to oppose a unanimous consent motion to vote on the bill which was passed earlier by the House.
For hours last night, Bunning refused to budge and according to Politico, when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) urged Bunning to relent, his response was, “Tough sh*t.”
Currency Reform Bill Could Help Create New Jobs
Unfair currency manipulation in the global economy is costing millions of American manufacturing jobs—and a coalition of labor, business and agriculture leaders say the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (CRFTA) is the best vehicle to stop the wholesale destruction of our manufacturing base.
At a Capitol Hill press conference today, members of the Fair Currency Coalition endorsed the bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Sens. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). The bill would treat prolonged currency manipulation as an illegal subsidy and dumping under U.S. trade laws.
In a statement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and Fair Currency Coalition Co-Chair Richard Trumka says job creation is the number one issue on the minds of the federation’s members.
While enacting the stimulus has provided critical short-term relief, the United States will not see sustained employment growth until our government stops China, Japan and others from using their undervalued currency to steal American jobs. That’s why Congress must pass the Ryan-Murphy CRFTA as quickly as possible.
Beware of the Big Lie Bill
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Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress made their Big Lie into a bill Wednesday, when Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Mike Enzi (Wyo.) introduced the so-called Secret Ballot Protection Act.
Before we go further, let’s clear up the bill’s false implication right now:
The Employee Free Choice Act would not—repeat after me—would not, take away the secret ballot National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process if workers seeking to form a union wanted to use it. The Employee Free Choice would ensure workers made the decision of whether to select a union via majority sign-up (card-check) or via ballot process. Choice is good. That’s one reason why we called it Employee Free Choice—because it would enable employees, not management, to make the decision of how to form a union.
The alleged goal of S. 478 is to:
amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of employees to a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
