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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neil H who wrote (81431)	8/22/2010 1:07:03 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 149317

OPINION: Time to recognize long-term unemployment is a national emergency CONTRA COSTA TIMES, WALNUT CREEK, CALIF. \| TAMMERLIN DRUMMOND \| 1 hour, 10 minutes ago Aug. 22--FOR MONTHS on end, he had been desperately looking for work to no avail. Then on March 16, 2009, the 61-year-old man killed himself -- the day before his electricity was about to be shut off and two weeks before he was due to be evicted. He left a suicide note for his children and a choice of two burial suits. In a letter to his congressman, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Forest Hills, N.Y., one of the man's children described how the financial and emotional pressures of long-term unemployment had driven his father over the edge. This account, which appeared a few days ago in the Washington Independent newspaper, is enough to break your heart. Unless you are a conservative Republican congressman or right-wing talking head who inhabits a parallel universe. There, millions aren't out of work because our nation is in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Because companies have shed workers left and right. Or because there are so few jobs relative to the 14 million out of work that several thousand applicants showed up at MacDonald's hiring events in California and Nevada. No, millions of our fellow Americans are out of work simply because they are stupid and lazy. They would rather draw unemployment than go out and get a job. Listen to Rep. Steven King R-IA: "We shouldn't turn the safety net into a hammock." Rush Limbaugh: "Extended unemployment benefits do nothing but incentivize people not to look for work." OK, let's get this straight. You've got a job making a good salary. You're able to live in a nice home. You don't break into a cold sweat when your child needs a new pair of shoes. You can afford to eat out from time to time and take the occasional family vacation. One day, your boss informs you that you have become "redundant." Sorry. No severance. You are eligible, however, to collect $450 per week in unemployment. That's about one-fourth of what you were making and doesn't even cover your mortgage. Do you: 1) Launch an intense search to find a job to keep the roof over your head? Or 2): Kick back and live on your unemployment until it runs out? The answer for the friends I have who are out of work -- is number 1. Michael White lost his job as a videotape editor in June 2008. He belongs to the ever-increasing number of Americans who have exhausted their maximum 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and still haven't found jobs. They call themselves the 99ers. The recent extensions in unemployment, which Congress passed after bitter partisan fighting, doesn't help them because they only apply to those who hadn't already drawn 99 weeks of benefits (including extensions). White tried unsuccessfully to find jobs in television where he had more than 25 years of experience. But he's 58 years old, and suspects his age hasn't helped him. He's looked for work selling used cars. New cars. Working in an office. His wife landed a minimum-wage job, which has allowed the couple to hang on, just barely, to their Los Angeles apartment. White helped start an online support forum for longtime jobless called Unemployed Workers Action Group, unemployedworkersactiongroup.webs.com. The 99ers are trying to build support behind S3706, the Americans Want to Work Act. The bill, introduced by Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow, D-Mich., would authorize another 20 weeks of unemployment benefits to 99ers in states with unemployment rates at 7.5 percent or higher. Businesses that hire and retain unemployed workers for 52 weeks or more would get a one-year extension on tax breaks. Respected economists have said that extending unemployment benefits would help to stimulate the economy by putting money into people's pockets, which they in turn will spend. Obstructionist Republicans will undoubtedly attempt to kill the bill when Congress returns from its monthlong vacation. They will insist that there is no money to help millions of suffering unemployed Americans. Though, they will fight to the death to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. "I can't believe the hate mail I get from people who say I'm lazy," White said. "Doesn't everyone who has 10 friends know some who are out of work and can't find a job?" In the reality-based universe, yes. But that is a land that conservative Republicans in Washington seldom visit. dailyme.com