Hi Marty, some replies and info below.
Quoting Marty Hart-Landsberg <[email protected]>: > I am not sure I fully understand what will happen if the congress > continues to refuse to pass the unemployment extension and would > appreciate an explanation.. > > As I understand it, the extension currently covers eligible > unemployed people for 99 weeks.The vote is not to lengthen the time > period but to maintain unemployment coverage for that length of > time.If the extension is not passed then the coverage falls back to > the traditional 26 weeks. right > So, what would it mean if the extension is not passed?Obviously > someone who becomes unemployed in the future will only be covered for > 26 weeks.But what about people who have been unemployed for say 40 > weeks--do they lose their coverage immediately because they are > beyond the 26 week period or . . . > > Said differently, what is the actual effect on currently unemployed > people who are receiving benefits but for less than the 99 weeks. yes, they lose coverage immediately, estimated to be 2 million people. another 2 million by April, who will come to the end of their 26 weeks. > And, am I right that even if the extension is passed those who remain > unemployed passed the 99 weeks will be dropped? yes, that has already happened to roughly 1 million people. They are calling themselves "99ers" and are starting to organize on the internet. Do a goggle search on "jobless unite". There are a lot of people out there - middle class people - who really suffering - have lost their savings, their house, etc. and don't know what to do next. an article in today's NY Times on this subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/us/04unemployed.html?_r=1&hp The National Employment Law Project mentioned and linked in this article is the best source on this issue. And I think we are not close to the end of long-term employment; we are just at the beginning of it. There will be double-digit unemployment for years to come. Some have called the coming decade a "lost decade for jobs" or a "jobless era". So jobs will be the main issue in the years ahead and extended unemployment benefits along with it. Helping the unemployed organize for jobs and/or extended benefits would seem to be a top priority. Fred ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
