One after one the comments continue to roll in. Those who are seeking a 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension have been left in th dark. Unaware of what the next move for the United States Senate will be after a bill was rejected today. The 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension lost by a 45-52 count. That means many Democrats were also skeptical of the bill and the amount it would add to the deficit. Now the United States Senate, particularly some of the Democrats, will go back to work and try to revise the bill in order for it to possibly pass. They will need Republican support in some fashion along the way to get it passed.
In the meantime, many many jobless Americans continue to suffer. Unemployment benefits ran out for some workers hoping to move to a different Tier in early June. Now those people have been without benefits for nearly 2 weeks. A new group of heartbreaking stories will be available next week when the pool of jobless Americans not receiving benefits continues to increase rapidly. That’s if the Senate does not find it in their heart to pass a bill that includes a 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension. Then that bill, if finally approved, would have to return to the House where it might face another rejection.
The sad comments have come in one by one in the past few days on each of my stories I have written about the 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension. I find it very humbling that about 10-15 comments are made each hour from jobless Americans who are suffering for various reasons. I woke up to 31 comments this morning that were posted overnight. Are jobless Americans not sleeping because of the uncertainty due to this situation? Who could blame them if they aren’t. It’s apparent many are searching to find out the latest news on the unemployment situation. Unfortunately, there isn’t a vast amount of latest news out there. News media outlets are covering oil spills and other news of the day and seemingly ignoring those who are in an absolutely painful situation with no end in sight.
This 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension is still completely in question. Will the Senate ever pass such a bill or is it finally time that the United States Senate has turned its back on citizens who are already hurting financially? The proposition of a United States without those unemployment benefit extensions is not a good one. The number of unemployed without benefits is going to be astronomical if the United States Senate does not make a decision soon.
I find it awful that there seems to be a lack of urgency in this entire situation from our United States Senators. I also find it odd to refer to them as “our” United States Senators. I probably shouldn’t call anyone who is effectively hurting so many people “our” but “they”. I am not sure those same United States Senators who appear to lack urgency have any empathy toward the plight of so many jobless Americans who are being hurt by this terrible economy. The next blow being laid might be from “our” United States Senators. Not only are they delaying the passage of a bill that could help so many, they are also toying with the idea of dropping the extensions completely. The theory is that adding this 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension until November will only add to the deficit of the country. Yet, millions upon millions of Americans will begin to suffer on a weekly basis. The irony is that the job market has yet to recover. The economy is still in the early and skeptical stages of a recovery. Which way the economy goes could directly be impacted by the lack of aid provided to millions of jobless Americans. Wasn’t the idea with the economic stimulus and unemployment benefits extensions to help that growth? President Barack Obama is right on the money(with his letter to the Senate asking for urgency). The United States Senate can not afford to delay the growth of the economic recovery by wasting time not passing such an emergency bill.
I’ve tried to give the United States Senators who are voting no to such bills the benefit of the doubt. I can no longer do that with a clear conscience. After reading letter and comment upon comment, I am heartbroken at the many different stories of suffering that is currently taking place while our United States Senators debate the issue. I’ve read comments about some Senators saying “enough is enough” in reference to the deficit. It makes me, and I can imagine many of the other jobless who are suffering, sick at my stomach that someone could hold such an opinion in regards to the deficit and deny the human stories that are unfolding.
Those human stories are becoming quite tragic very quickly. Each week the delay goes on will bring new jobless Americans without benefits. With no clear end in sight, those jobless Americans have nothing left to do but stress and pray for the opportunity to land a job in a slim job climate. The pressure for those jobless Americans might even make it tough for them to concentrate should they be granted an actual and rare face to face interview. Perhaps those same jobless Americans would be ultra-nervous for a reason-because if they don’t land that job then they will resume the possibility of having a limited or sometimes vacant income.
Will the welfare numbers continue to increase now that the jobless Americans are without unemployment benefits? Won’t the United States have to pay out more for those jobless Americans via welfare if a 2010 Unemployment Benefits Extension isn’t approved? How many people will lose houses? How many people will limit spending to just the completely necessary items.
Let’s take cable television for a small example of what could happen. It seems that those jobless Americans will have no other choice than to eliminate cable television if they haven’t already. Cable television companies might begin to fold or raise rates. Those rates might make other people who are struggling but not employed drop cable.
This is how confident I am in our United States Senators. I am 100% sure the politicians will subsidize those cable companies and grant them money in the form of a bailout in less than 2 days time if that does happen. Excuse my skepticism and sarcasm. It’s creation exists through the lack of urgency on the part of “our” United States Senators.
Won’t Americans be forever skeptical of a United States Government that turned their back during an emergency crisis? Who could blame those jobless Americans for living in fear and uncertainty without trust of the government that is supposed to aid them in times of a crisis? It’s very disheartening to see what is happening and it saddens me to no end to read the comments of such good people who are living in difficult circumstances. This is supposed to be the greatest country on the planet. Each day, as more Americans start or continue to suffer while Senators debate, we are reminded that quite possibly it is not.
I feel as if many of us, who have worked 98 percent of our careers until losing employment through no fault of our own, won something equivalent to the opposite of the lottery. Whatever that is-we all won it. Except it’s nothing like the lottery and probably more similar to Russian Roulette. There is no pay off but instead just a complete let down.
We just happened to all lose our jobs at the most inopportune time during our generation. Now we are collectively being punished for losing employment through no fault of her own. It sickens me that my situation, however painful it feels, pales in comparison to some of the comments I have been reading. I empathize with everyone and I hope there is at least a short term fix coming. I just hope somehow the United States Senate finally sees it that way too before too many people have been devastated by the lack of decision making.
