Crew of 42: '99ers: Update on H.R. 589'

'99ers: Update on H.R. 589'
http://www.crewof42.com/?p=6102

Several people have been asking for an update on H.R. 589...
After members of the CBC met with President Obama on May 11, 2011 and
longterm unemployment insurance came up, there isn’t much that has
happened since then. Bickering back and fourth between President Obama,
Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor is sad way partisan
politics works in Washington. Many “leaders” are more interested in
opposing their opposition than they are in their constituents locally or
nationally. Still, one must pay close attention to the clash between
the President and House Republicans on the debt ceiling. Why? because
you never know what bargaining chip might enter into such a negotiation.
I say this with the understanding that H.R. 589 is one hell of a large “chip” as presently constituted: $16 billion. Of course, we’ll probably blow $2 billion in Libya and we already spend $20 billion a month on other wars so it’s all relative…

Since Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and the gang keep insisting they will
never support a tax increase on 300,000 millionaire households and friends the gridlock continues. Will the President cave in to them in the end? We won’t know until the end of July. There’s a reason divided gov’t — where we have a majority Democratic Senate and a majority Republican House — is a pain in the ass. Congress moves slowly even when the same party is in control of the White House, the
Senate and the House. During the 111th Congress from Jan. 2009 to Jan.
2011, the Democrats passed many bills but spent too much time on health
care and too little time on job related policy — and they controlled
everything. Only 3% of the legislation offered actually passes.
The best thing (perhaps the only thing) a member of the House in the
minority can do is keep bugging those in power within their sphere of
influence and get the subject on the agenda. If Reps. Barbara Lee and
Bobby Scott were Senators they could be a whole lot more annoying and
even shut the place down under Senate rules (remember the scene Sen. Bernie Sanders put on as an example…). Unfortunately, they are in the minority in the U.S.
House, 2 out of 435 people and 17 months away from a Presidential
election. The closer we get to November 2012, the worse the gridlock
and inaction will become as President Obama, already showing huge signs
of mega-pandering, becomes completely fixed on re-election.
There is a reason why members of the CBC are using the August recess
to sponsor a multi-city a jobs tour focused on actual hiring rather than
talk related events, presentations and other distractions. Several
members of the CBC who are sitting in the minority in the House are
frustrated with the lack of progress and the absence of real progress on
the issues. Obviously the jobs tour can’t get everyone a job but it’s a
hell of a lot more proactive than banging one’s head against the wall
dealing with the GOP majority.

""frustrated with the lack of progress and the absence of real progress""

Yes

Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out

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MOTOKO RICH, On Monday July 11, 2011, 7:30 am EDT

An extraordinary amount of personal income is coming directly from the government.
Close to $2 of every $10 that went into Americans’ wallets last year were payments like jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security and disability, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. In states hit hard by the downturn, like Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Ohio, residents derived even more of their income from the government.
By the end of this year, however, many of those dollars are going to disappear, with the expiration of extended benefits intended to help people cope with the lingering effects of the recession. Moody’s Analytics estimates $37 billion will be drained from the nation’s pocketbooks this year.
In terms of economic impact, that is slightly less than the spending cuts Congress enacted to keep the government financed through September, averting a shutdown.
Unless hiring picks up sharply to compensate, economists fear that the lost income will further crimp consumer spending and act as a drag on a recovery that is still quite fragile. Among the other supports that are slipping away are federal aid to the states, the Federal Reserve’s program to pump money into the economy and the payroll tax cut, scheduled to expire at the end of the year.
“If we don’t get more job growth and gains in wages and salaries, then consumers just aren’t going to have the firepower to spend, and the economy is going to weaken,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm.
Job growth has remained elusive. There are 4.6 unemployed workers for every opening, according to the Labor Department, and Friday’s unemployment report showed that employers added an anemic 18,000 jobs in June.
In Arizona, where there are 10 job seekers for every opening, 45,000 people could lose benefits by the end of the year, according to estimates from the state Department of Economic Security. Yet employers in the state have added just 4,000 jobs over the last 12 months.
Some other states will also feel a disproportionate loss of income unless hiring revives. In Florida, where nearly 476,000 people are collecting unemployment benefits, employers have added only 11,200 jobs in the last year. In Michigan, employers have added about 40,000 jobs since May 2010, but about 267,000 people are claiming jobless benefits.
Throughout the recession and its aftermath, government benefits have helped keep money in people’s wallets and, in turn, circulating among businesses. Total government payments rose to $2.3 trillion in 2010, from $1.7 trillion in 2007, an increase of about 35 percent.
While some of that growth was in Social Security and disability benefits as the population aged, the majority resulted from payments to people continuing to suffer from the recession, said Mr. Zandi. Unemployment benefits, including emergency and extended benefits, are more than three times their prerecession level, he said. The nearly 20 percent of personal income now provided by the government is close to a record high.
Approved by Congress last December, the final extension of jobless benefits — for a maximum of 99 weeks for each unemployed person — is scheduled to conclude at the end of this year. A handful of states, like Wisconsin and Arizona, have already cut off weeks 80 through 99 for their residents. Meanwhile, more of the long-term unemployed are bumping up against the 99-week limit.
Consumers account for an estimated 60 to 70 percent of the country’s economic activity, but two years into the official recovery, businesses are still complaining that people simply are not spending enough.
“Regardless of why people have less money to spend, it affects all retailers in all industries,” said Michael Siemienas, spokesman for SuperValu, which operates grocery chains including Cub Foods, Shop ’n Save and Save-A-Lot. Mr. Siemienas said that the number of SuperValu’s customers using electronic benefit transfers to pay bills had grown over the last year.
Because benefit payments tend to be spent right away to cover basic needs like food and rent, they provide a direct boost to consumer spending. In a study for the Labor Department, Wayne Vroman, an economist at the Urban Institute, estimated that every $1 paid in jobless benefits generated as much as $2 in the economy.
For many of the nearly 7.5 million people collecting unemployment benefits, those payments are keeping them afloat. Laura Metz, 42, was laid off from a clerical job paying $15.30 an hour at a home health care provider near her home in Commerce, Mich., nearly 15 months ago. She has been collecting $362 a week in unemployment insurance and about $50 a month in food stamps.
That covers the basics. But Ms. Metz stopped making her mortgage payments last year on the modest home she shares with her 19-year-old son. A program that allowed her to make a lower monthly payment has expired, and she is waiting to see if the lender will modify her loan. She can no longer make her student loan payments for her bachelor’s degree or master’s in business administration, and she has downgraded her Internet and cable service and cut back on car trips and snacks.
Ms. Metz, who has been applying for administrative jobs, has been shocked at the dearth of opportunities. A decade ago, when she applied for clerical jobs, “as soon as I walked up, there was a sign saying ‘We’re hiring,’ but it’s not like that now,” she said. “It’s really, really difficult.”
Businesses that rely heavily on low-income shoppers worry that their customers will have little to spend. Najib Atisha, who co-owns two small grocery stores in Detroit, said people receiving government assistance made up about a third of his customers downtown and as much as 60 percent at his store on the west side of the city.
“Of course, we’re hoping that things will turn around, but it’s always easier to lose jobs than it is to gain jobs,” Mr. Atisha said. “I think it’s going to take twice as long to rebound as it took to get where we are now.”
Some business groups argue that extending unemployment benefits has had deleterious effects on employers and potential workers.
“It’s having a chilling effect on hiring,” said Wendy Block, director of health policy and human resources at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. “At one point, our unemployment taxes were just a blip on the balance sheet, but when you’re talking over $500 a head, this is significant.” Last year, Michigan spent $6.2 billion on jobless benefits, according to the National Employment Law Center.
Some economic studies show that people who collect unemployment benefits are less likely to look for or accept work until their benefits are close to running out.
“Unemployment insurance extends the typical amount of time that people will spend off the job and not looking for work,” said Chris Edwards, an economist at the Cato Institute, a libertarian organization.
In Michigan, Ms. Metz said that if all else failed, she would have to move in with her parents, who live on a fixed income. But she is determined to find work before her benefits run out and plans to expand her search to include light industrial manufacturing. “It’s getting close to the end,” she said. “And I got to do what I got to do.”

SOON WE WILL ALL BE 99ERS THEN WHAT?

doreenb wrote:SOON WE WILL ALL BE 99ERS THEN WHAT?

Welcome new 99ers!

Ive been a 99er since april 2010

doreenb wrote:Ive been a 99er since april 2010

Sorry doreenb, it's a rough ride we are going through. The new 99ers will be joining us soon, maybe the strength in numbers will make Washington sit-up and take notice or we will make them take notice by protesting.

I agree it will be strength in numbers because we never had the numbers after nelp.org kicked the 99ers to the curb. Soon those exhausting HR 4213 will hit the blogs and websites crying the blues as they did last February and then disappeared after THEIR bill was finally passed several months down the road, they saw the political ugliness of the Republicans holding the bill hostage but they chose not to join us in the fight with the 99ers. I'm still bitter about what took place because I knew 2 people who committed suicide as a result of not be able to care for their family and one had a stroke! I'm still fighting for HR 589 and to stop these CUTS that are taking place from the Bottom-up not the Top-up, while looking for a place since they cut funding in the program I'm on. One thing I have learned is if you don't do something then they will step on you like a cockroach! Organization - VOICES = Change!

HR 589 is still alive, its on Life-Support but still alive. Wonder what happened to that $18 BILLION that disappeared mysteriously in IRAQ! Washington can add HR 589 as a amendment to these proceedings and NOT back down since the Teabaggers got their Bush Tax Cuts passed, they got what THEY wanted so DNC show some guts! Stop these Cuts to those that can lease afford it AND get HR 589 passed in bill form or as a amendment.

Patriot wrote:HR 589 is still alive, its on Life-Support but still alive. Wonder what happened to that $18 BILLION that disappeared mysteriously in IRAQ! Washington can add HR 589 as a amendment to these proceedings and NOT back down since the Teabaggers got their Bush Tax Cuts passed, they got what THEY wanted so DNC show some guts! Stop these Cuts to those that can lease afford it AND get HR 589 passed in bill form or as a amendment.

gigichicago wrote:

Patriot wrote:HR 589 is still alive, its on Life-Support but still alive. Wonder what happened to that $18 BILLION that disappeared mysteriously in IRAQ! Washington can add HR 589 as a amendment to these proceedings and NOT back down since the Teabaggers got their Bush Tax Cuts passed, they got what THEY wanted so DNC show some guts! Stop these Cuts to those that can lease afford it AND get HR 589 passed in bill form or as a amendment.

How do we know HR 589 is still alive???

doreenb, HR 589 is still alive otherwise Barbara Lee wouldn't have tweeted her continued support on it just last week. It's still sitting in the Commitee and hasn't given a chance to go to the floor. That's what were fighting for. I agree with gigichicago, the only way this would pass is if we attach HR589 as an amendment. If we present the bill as a standalone bill, if could very well be voted out by the Republicans and then were screwed. It will be officially dead.

If Obama meets the GOP halfway and form a compromise with the GOP, I think we have a shot at getting HR589 passed. It's not over until the bill is voted out. We still have to fight and keep it going.

This information has been copied from the Crew 42 web site.

It's time to focus on Harry Reid and remind him that the long-term unemployed cannot be left behind this time; it would be catastrophic to do so.

BTW, one of the reasons he might not have mentioned HR589? It's a House bill, not a Senate bill. If he brings this to the table, it won't be in the form of HR589?

@concernedinky: Great point, thanks!!

Harry Reid “Extended Unemployment Potential part of “Grand Bargain” in Debt Ceiling” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/extended-unemployment-on-_n_896252.html?1310500503 ( Its up to the people to get out in force and make YOUR voices heard loud & clear) the 99ers will not be kicked to the curb this go-round!!!!

Patriot wrote:Harry Reid “Extended Unemployment Potential part of “Grand Bargain” in Debt Ceiling” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/extended-unemployment-on-_n_896252.html?1310500503 ( Its up to the people to get out in force and make YOUR voices heard loud & clear) the 99ers will not be kicked to the curb this go-round!!!!

HOLY CRAP! I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. FINALLY! Someone is speaking for the 99ers and actually SAYING the word "99ers".

I need to tweet Harry Reid and THANK HIM!. What else do we need to do to make some noise and get through to everyone? To be quite honest, the way the economy is going into a disaster zone, 14 weeks seems like crumbs. But I'll take anything we can get at this point. I'm grateful Harry Reid is encouraging 99ers to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!

@fmoreau74: Hate to burst your bubble but that was MY comments in parenthesis. Stay positive because we knew it was coming, we just have to make sure that the 99ers LONGer LONG-TERM unemployed are not omitted from ANY further UI extensions. LESSON-LEARNED!!!

Got this message from Exhausted99er this morning, thanks for the update friend.

Two more co-sponsors, why can't the GOP poopers just co-sign it and get it out of the dust bin and move it forward. WE NEED IT NOW!
Hi Gigi!

Congratulations and good luck! I know you will do very well in your new role here!

Just wanted to give you an update (good news), HR 589 picked up two more sponsors! It is up to 86 now. This link from Thomas.gov says 87, however they left Rep. Weiner on. The two new additions are from MI and NJ and are at the bottom of the list.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR00589:@@@N



Exhausted99er

Man, how long has this been languishing in committee? Freakin' ridiculous! Ya'll get back to e-mailing, tweeting, however you get your message across, but double down and keep the ball rolling!