99ers Need HR 589 to Extend Unemployment Benefits

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

There shouldn't have to be that much strategizing to market yourself while looking for employment if the job demand weren't so low. It's an employer's market, and when jobs are so scarce, they can offer very low wages, no matter what your education, skills or experience might be. Because of supply and demand, there's no demand for jobs, because corporations are investing and hiring overseas - if they are investing at all.

"According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. corporations held a record $1.93 trillion in cash on their balance sheets in 2010. But they are not investing to expand their companies, grow the real economy or create good middle-class jobs. Corporate CEOs are literally hoarding their company’s cash—except when it comes to their own paychecks."

Keep America at Work has an article about outsourcing: Why will the Country Clubs in America go broke. See their charts here: http://keepamericaatwork.com/?p=151861

READ: Corporation outsourcing millions of American jobs: H.R. 589 remains in limbo

The masses are being forced to compete for McJobs, like crazed shoppers waiting outside the front doors of Wal-Mart for its Black Friday Sale. Will desperate job seekers start trampling each other to death to get that $7.25-an-hour job?

Now America has literally millions of people who are STILL unemployed after 2 and 3 years and have exhausted all their unemployment benefits months ago...and now have NO INCOME AT ALL.



HR 589 extends emergency benefits to long-term unemployed workers (such as the 99ers) by providing 14 weeks of emergency unemployment benefits to people who, while actively searching for employment, have exhausted all their benefits yet are still unemployed.

Official Summary for H.R.589 - 2/9/2011- Introduced.Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Revises the formula for making Tier-1 credits in an applicant's EUCA for a benefit year. Increases the figures in the formula (the lesser of which shall be the amount credited):

1. from 80% to 131% of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual during the benefit year, and
2.  from 20 to 34 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Authorizes a state to elect to pay Tier-2, Tier-3, or Tier-4 extended unemployment compensation (EUC), or a combination of them, before payment of an increased Tier-1 EUC until the state determines that such increased Tier-1 EUC may be paid without undue delay. Authorizes a state to pay extended compensation to an otherwise eligible individual before any additional EUC is paid under this Act, if the individual claimed extended compensation for at least one week of unemployment after the initial exhaustion of EUC. Extends the program until September 22, 2012.

* * * Also, if  H.R.1113 were to pass (Rep. Hank Johnson's bill to prohibit discrimination against the unemployed based on "employment status") the 99ers could potentially fight for and become eligible for "minority"  based SBA & other loan & assistance programs: Because it would add the long term unemployed as a protected class under Title VII - the Civil Rights Act of 1963. Go here to see who is for it and against it - and what the bloggers/news are saying about it.

* * * H.R. 870 - Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) introduced HR-870, a little-known (and under-reported) bill titled the "Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act”. (READ MORE)

Video from http://www.american99ersunion.com/



READ: "99ers have a difficult week as H.R. 589 fails to move forward. Underemployment at 19.8%"
READ: "99ers and HR 589 Supporters Congress Back in Session Where is Barbara Lee"
READ: "Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) continued the fight to pass HR 589"
READ: "Lee's office: meeting on HR 589 99er unemployment extension still on"