Tuesday will be an exceptionally important day for the unemployed. With the Senate scheduled for a cloture vote for passage or rejection of unemployment extensions at 2:30 PM on Tuesday, it is critical that every possible vote lands on the yea side for the unemployed. With all of the ups and downs associated with the votes taken on previous attempts to gain passage of unemployment extensions, no yea vote should be taken for granite i.e. yea votes by Snowe and Collins in particular. One can only imagine the pressure these two Republican Senators have been under over the last couple of weeks after they crossed the isle and voted yea on this bill just before the July 4’TH recess. One can only stop to wonder where will we will be if just one of these Senators, or another Senator gets an “offer they can’t refuse” to change their yea vote into a nay vote.
Therefore, the unemployed have a job to do. That job is to make sure that our best interests do not get shouted down by those who believe that we are not worthy of these additional insurance benefits. In another article (click on link) 2010 Unemployment Extension – State by State Listing of Senator Phone Numbers with Website Links I have provided a list, alphabetized by state with phone numbers and links to the 99 active Senators, in hopes of making it easier for you, the reader, to gain access to the means of contacting all of these Senators. We must make sure that yea still means yea!
I urge all of you to take this “job” as seriously as you take getting you next unemployment check because it does matter. The Senators do respond to, and keep track of, their constituency as long as they are vocal and in the majority. If you want to insure yea votes, this is the only game in town. Make your desires known. It certainly can’t hurt and who knows, maybe it will actually help add a buffer vote or two that we so desperately need at this time. In his address to the nation on Saturday, President Obama also provided his unwavering support for passage of the unemployment extension by asking the Senate to allow for an up or down vote on the issue. He is expected to address this issue again today in a press briefing in the Rose Garden, but I doubt that his message to the Senate will bear fruit, I fear this is still going to be a cloture vote of 60 or nothing ballgame.
So please, act in your own best interests. By using the link above, you are just a few mouse clicks away from emailing a message of vote yea to your Senators. You are one click and 10 digits away from being able to call a Senator to let them know that they MUST pass this bill, and they must pass it now! Let’s show them that we are not lazy, drug & alcohol crazed, and just living off the government. We know how to work hard. Show it by picking up the phone and making the call. Show it by crafting a personal message and emailing it to your Senator. Call Senators in your neighboring states. Call them all, for if we don’t, then who will – our opposition?
