Millions Bracing for Cutoff of Unemployment Checks

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: NYTimes.com

More than two million jobless Americans are entering the holiday season seized with varying levels of foreboding, worry or even panic over what lies ahead as they cope with the expected cutoff of their unemployment benefits.

Their economic fates are now connected on a taut string to skirmishing between Democrats and Republicans in Washington over whether to extend federal financing for unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless.

Tuesday marked the expiration of a pair of federal programs that had extended unemployment benefits anywhere from 34 to 73 weeks on top of the 26 weeks already provided by the states.

The federal extensions have been customary in past recessions and their aftermath, but they have become ensnared lately in political jousting over the soaring budget deficit.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/us/04unemployed.html?hp

---

While Boner dines on lobster tails, unemployed Americans visit soup kitchens.

[Occulus]

1. In another country, this would provoke well-deserved riots.

But we're so much better than everyone else.

[irislake]

2. Better not riot

they've got all those internment camps ready for trouble-makers. Dontcha know. America does not take dissent sitting down. The rest of the world is madly madly jealous of your "freedoms".

[lunatica]

3. Lets hope the internment camps have beds and food

It could be an improvement for many.

Yes. I'm being sarcastic. Well, kind of.

[saigon68]

4. Dinks and Paste

That's old chunks of hot dogs and Mac and cheese

[irislake]

5. I hate to be REALLY paranoid but

what about all those coffins?

I may be Canadian but I'm very worried. My son lives and works in Texas. Believe it or not I do not speak freely to him by email or on the phone. I wish he would bring his wife and move back to Canada. Guess he will do if he loses his job. Thank god he has that option.

[kentauros]

27. I know this will probably fall on deaf ears,

(coming from a Texan and all that) but I was married to a Canadian for almost eight years. Her family immediately threw up all the fear-based worries about her even setting foot in the U.S., even more so for going to Texas! You know, fearing for her life, that she'd be murdered within the month, scammed and whatever else. And... nothing happened. On our wedding day in Houston, they met a friendly Texas family (mine) and left happy that their fears were truly unfounded.

Drop the fears and find a way to simply be happy for your son in his decisions. I know DU fosters that fear-mentality, but it's really not worth the heartache :hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

35. and health care....nt

[woo me with science]

38. Every single one of them should show up in Washington with a shovel

and stand on the steps of Congress until those "shovel ready jobs" are delivered.

[madrchsod]

6. i remember when mine ran out....

it was a tough bunch of months before i was lucky enough to turn 62. my social security is less than 600 a month.




if we took to the streets they`d shoot us....

[saigon68]

44. Obama and his troops would shoot you -----you slacker

get to work--- and quit complaining

LIKE THIS BOZO SAYS

“Get off your duff and get to work,” Tom Corbett said to out-of-work Pennsylvanians last week.

“The jobs are there,” the state Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate told a Harrisburg Radio station on Friday. “But if we keep extending unemployment, people are just going to sit there.”

The message must have resonated with voters, because Corbett (not to be confused with 50’s radio and T.V. adventurer Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, he hates that) has a seven point lead in the polls, 44 to 37, for November’s election against Allegheny Democrat Dan Onorato, news sources report

[saigon68]

45. Tom Corbett Governor Elect

THE SHEEP LOVE HIM


On March 23, 2010, Corbett, along with 13 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the mandates in the just-signed federal Healthcare Bill, claiming it is unconstitutional. As of May 2010, a total of 21 states have joined this lawsuit.[18

[martymar64]

7. This is where Harry and Louise become Bonnie and Clyde

Not everybody will go quietly and starve to death under some bridge.
I imagine some people will take matters into their own hands.

Watch for bank robberies and kidnapping for ransom to rise in this country over the next few years.

[Donnachaidh]

9. it's already happening in Georgia

We're seeing more and more robberies, and people are stealing ANYTHING they can to sell for cash. The latest thing is the contraptions fire departments can attach hoses to in order to turn on internal sprinkler systems in apartment buildings. Evidently the number of thefts have skyrocketed.

But our local news just talks about the latest iphone apps. :shrug:

[smirkymonkey]

47. Same in New York, and not just the outer boroughs anymore.

Wealthy neighborhoods in Manhattan have been having strings of robberies. The rich aren't even safe anymore.

[sfwriter]

8. I'm one....

We asked relatives to pay for our daughters Ballet lessons as a Christmas gift so she can keep that up aside from that, she is getting candy and a couple of toys from the thrift store. The baby, who was born the day after I was laid off, is getting a stuffed animal.

We went from $86,000 a year to effectively $0. I've managed to make $6000 from odd jobs and my wife is employed for three months at the moment, at half her former salary.

The unemployment amounted to about $12,000 a year that kept the mortgage and lights paid.

That ends today, so now we'll probably have to sell at a loss and move in with relatives, maybe.

I put in seven resumes this week, which is about my average for the last 60 weeks. We gave up on our location months ago and have been sending queries out in wider and wider arcs. We are now applying for jobs in Seattle and Boston, Houston and Chicago and every place in between.

Luckily, we have been able to stretch our food budget through Angel Food, but as homeowners, we don't qualify for food aid, and with rent being twice our mortgage, I haven't wanted to crack that asset in this market.

But by all means, save that money so multi-millionares can get a tax break and let's raise the retirement age for social security so I can die still looking for work.

ho ho ho...

[cutlassmama]

34. Jesus fuck, this is just so sad. I'm very sorry for your

plight. :cry: I hope things get better for you and your family soon!

[sfwriter]

39. You know... I don't think of our situation as that bad..

When I think about it, There are lots worse off:

People are doing this as single parents...
People have been laid off longer...
There are people with no equity in their homes in this situation...
We still have some nice things to sell if need be, others don't...
We both have college degrees, others don't...
I can cook, I can stretch a food dollar, others can't...

And I'm way better off than the nearly slave level workers that make our gadgets, or the child slaves that pick our cocoa, or the indentured worker who made my clothes...

So it is bad, yes. The worst is avoidable through legislation, yes. I just don't see it as the end of the world for us, just the worst we've ever been through.

THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE IN THIS SITUATION.

Also, I'm still finding work. I drove 101 miles for a job paying $100 last week. I picked up another $100 on Friday night. I also volunteer at the local Science Museum, so I'm keeping something on the resume and I'm taking classes for my Masters as I can afford them.

And again, we could break down and sell the house. A lot of folks don't have that asset. We are not under water.

But unemployment would let us keep the house. Unemployment means I get to keep up my classes. Unemployment means we can keep the Internet and the lights on. (Cable, gym memberships and the like are long, LONG gone.) We can keep gas in the car with unemployment.

[sandyj999]

10. One more time: THEY DON"T CARE! n/t

[notallthere]

11. checks run out

After the unemployment checks stop . maybe the unemployment
numbers will start to go down. Its a fact that people tend to
get a job of any kind once unemployment runs out .

[sandyj999]

12. And then the government will say the stimulus worked. n/t

[ck4829]

13. Yep, because there's this magical "Get a job" button that people can press, right?

:sarcasm:

[Hosnon]

14. "Its a fact that people tend to get a job of any kind once unemployment runs out ." [sic]

Link, please, to demonstrate that fact.

[ck4829]

15. He should have just put the word "fact" in all caps or said "true story" at the end

Almost all the unemployed people I know are hard working, have clean records, and have college educations. And even as they lowered their standards of what they wanted out of a job, did that help them find a job as the weeks and then months went by? No sir, not by one iota.

[katnapped]

21. Rush's website

What, you don't believe Rush? :sarcasm:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. 5 job seekers for every 1 available job..

but at least you picked an accurate username.

Welcome to DU!

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sakabatou]

24. So what happens when no one is hiring?

[Mojorabbit]

29. That is not true in my experience

Half the people I know are construction workers in their 50's and are willing to do ANYTHING. There is nothing available.

[fascisthunter]

32. Must be nice not to give a shit about people

but that was the plan, wasn't it... fuck everyone but the well-to-do. Well, don't expect most people to be happy with that attitude.

[aquart]

33. Welcome to DU.

May your brief stay be a happy one.

I'm sure you'll never be selling apples by the side of the road.

[SpiralHawk]

37. Tell that to the feckless Freepers whining on the street begging for food

As you may well be among them as karma kicks your Faux Family Values Keester.

[krabigirl]

41. Well, the rate will go down only because they will no longer be counted.

They will, as many others have, fall off the rolls.

Your comment is disgusting btw.

[sakabatou]

43. Do you realize how many people are looking for a job vs. job openings?

Do you?

[NickB79]

46. Assuming that everyone could find a job (and that's a HUGE assumption)

Most of those jobs would be low-wage burger flippers or shelf-stockers with no benefits or health insurance.

Even if they all get jobs, most of them will still lose their homes or be evicted from their apartments. Many of them would be taking a pay CUT with a part-time job vs. unemployment benefits.

[bloomington-lib]

16. In the local paper Herald Times

An unemployed guy interviewed in the local paper said he was happy to get off unemployment benefits. He said the country is too far in debt and cant afford to keep giving people a free ride.It'll be hard but he and his wife will get through this. At the end of the article he mentions his wife is on medicaid disability so they'll live off that. What hypocrites!

[prolesunited]

23. And they probably get food stamps and heating aid as well

But they hate socialism and handouts.

[conspirator]

17. Plenty of jobs available in Afghanistan, deactivating roadside bombs n/t

[Odin2005]

19. I hope this is America's "Let them eat cake" moment.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. we will NEVER have this moment because the elite have done a great job

feeding us the American Dream. Which is to say, if you dont have the dream in this country, you only have yourself to blame. The French elite didn't come up with such brilliant propaganda.

[okieinpain]

22. they should riot, but i wonder how many voted repug too. n/t.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. FUCK YOU to everyone who let this happen. just fucking fuck you

richest country in the world, and this is how we treat people. fuck you.

[sarcasmo]

28. Richest 1 percent in the World, the rest of us are screwed.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. I don't think it even effects anyone I know personally, but it makes me mad as hell

[NutmegYankee]

31. This is exactly what the Republicans want.

It isn't enough to shrink people's pay and benefits, they must destroy them. And then they will come back and say "Take responsibility", as though the unemployed are responsible whatsoever for the market wall street created.

And yet we will just take it, again.

[Bryn]

36. Yet they're demanding tax cuts for themselves...for the rich..

How's that fair? Why can't they accept to let tax cuts expire and they'd still be rich? Crazy country we live in...

[defendandprotect]

40. No checks and what happens with health care/COBRA?

Meanwhile, I can't let Obama off the hook -- Obama and his Wall Street crooks

in the administration who should never have been taken in -- and who should be

tossed out!!

The stimulus was only 25% of what was required -- and most of it went to business --

not to direct job promotion. It's fading now and some say we could lose another

1 million jobs!

Instead of overturning the prior trade agreements, Obama is traveling around pushing

new trade agreements!!!

We need a new liberal Democratic candidate in 2012!!!

[sakabatou]

42. Boehner: LET THEM EAT CAKE!

[hugo_from_TN]

48. What about all the unemployed that never got a single check.

They are in much worse shape than those that got checks for 99 weeks.