Writing in the AFL-CIO's NOW blog, Mike Hall discusses the need for extension of jobless benefits in states with high employment as John McCain continues to insist that the economy is running smoothly and only more "free trade" and tax cuts for the rich is needed to expand prosperity.
With the nation’s unemployment rate the worst in five years and tens of thousands of U.S. jobs vanishing each month, jobless workers are finding it tougher and tougher to secure new work. Some 800,000 will run out of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in October—1.1 million by the end of the year—unless the U.S. Congress passes and the president signs legislation extending benefits.
A bill to extend UI benefits for seven weeks—plus another 13 weeks for jobless workers in states with high unemployment rates—was introduced this week by Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) Said McDermott:
With the unemployment rate nationally now above 6 percent, and our economy staggering under the weight of years of failed economic policies, it is time for the President and Republican Party to join us in urgently meeting the needs of the American people.
Earlier this year as the economy continued to worsen and joblessness grow, President Bush and Sen. John McCain opposed aiding jobless workers as part of an economic stimulus package. It wasn’t until the end of June, with economic bad news growing, that Bush relented and signed a UI extension. But more than 1 million jobless workers will soon run out of those benefits.
Meanwhile, McCain continues to operate under the delusion that the economy is doing just fine. He repeatedly has said the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.” http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/09/11/its-the-economy-stupid-not-lipstick/
Now Congress is considering a second stimulus package, and the Rangel/McDermott bill could be folded into the package. McCain does not endorse a second stimulus package, but it is backed by Sen. Barack Obama. Meanwhile, a Bush administration spokesman said there is no need for a second stimulus package because the first stimulus plan was having the intended impact (like the decline in retail sales in August, a time when back-to-school shopping typically gives sales a boost?).
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says it’s time to quickly pass a stimulus package to “spur and stabilize our nation’s entire sinking economy” that, along with extended UI benefits, includes:
Fiscal relief for states and cities.
Expanded funding for food stamps.
Job creation by funding ready-to-go infrastructure projects, including repairing schools, roads and bridges.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/09/12/house-considers-unemployment-insurance-extension/
2 comments:
I think the reason the first stimulus package didnt boost the economy was by thr time we got it yhe economy was so bad, people were already behind in their debts that the monies had to be used to pay their bills,and couldnt be used to boost the economy. if the big wigs would think about what season is coming up (CHRISRMAS) THE STIMULUS WOULDNT VERY SURELY BE SPENT IN STORES AND OTHER REASON TO CELEBRATE. MOST PEOPLE HAVE CHILDREN AND ARE GOING INTO DEEP STATES OF DEPRESSION WONDERING HOW THEIR GOING TO PULL OFF CHRISTMAS. WHICH THEN LEADS TO PEOPLE GIVING UP. NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO LIFT THE AMERICAN PEOPLES SPIRITS. THINK ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF YOUR ACTIONS.
I've been contacting my Congressmen about an economic stimulus idea which entails allowing Unemployment Benefits paid during 2008 to count toward the Earned Income Tax Credit for the upcoming tax season. I've received back some encouraging reports regarding this issue. I encourage ALL of you to e-mail or write your congressmen asking for this very thing. It would put ALOT of extra money in the pockets of those who, like myself, were unable to find work all year long. Ask them, if for this year only, to include Claimed Unemployment Benefits for 2008 as Earned Income so that we may collect the much needed tax credit which can be upwards of $5,000.00! Thank you and God bless!!!
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