Unemployment Extension: Laid-Off Single Mom 'Trying Not To Freak Out'

Marie Roth said she fell behind on house payments when Congress spent nearly two months dithering over a reauthorization of extended unemployment benefits last summer. Now that lawmakers are dithering again, she's worried she'll lose the house.

"I'm trying not to freak out. Just kinda praying and hoping for the best," Roth, 40, told HuffPost. "I keep looking for work and it's just not happening. There's nothing there."

Roth said she'd worked all her life when she lost her job as a property manager in June 2009, two months after the birth of her daughter, Alannah, and three months after she bought a home in Hemet, Calif.

She said she's currently receiving unemployment benefits under the fourth "tier" of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program created by Congress in 2009 to fight the worst recession since the Great Depression. She said her tier ends right before Christmas, and if Congress doesn't act, she'll be ineligible for the 20 weeks of benefits available in California under the federally-funded Extended Benefits program, which picks up where EUC leaves off. Together the programs provide up to 73 weeks of benefits on top of 26 weeks of state benefits.

Both programs lapsed on Wednesday because Congress has not reauthorized them. The Labor Department estimates that 800,000 people will be dropped from EB within a week, and another 1.2 million will be dropped from EUC by the end of the month (though people on EUC, like Roth, will get to finish benefits in their current tier).

Over the summer, Roth was one of 2.5 million people who had their benefits interrupted while the Senate wrangled over the reauthorization. One Democratic senator told HuffPost Tuesday that another lengthy lapse is entirely possible. "We're used to having a series of votes on this before we get it done," Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) said.

Roth is used to it, too. She thinks Congress is oblivious to the havoc it creates for people laid off through no fault of her own such as herself. "I think they understand but they just don't care," she said. "They care more about the issues that affect them, like the Bush tax cuts."

Indeed, the best hope for extended jobless aid now appears to be attaching a reauthorization of the aid to a reauthorization of the expiring Bush tax cuts for the rich. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Senate Republicans objected to Democratic "unanimous consent" requests to reauthorize the benefits for a full year. Democrats objected to counter-proposals to reauthorize the benefits and offset their deficit impact with spending cuts, arguing the cost of extended unemployment during recessions is traditionally not offset.

However they do it, Roth hopes it happens soon, because her job search has been awful. A reauthorization would mean several additional months of aid before she'd have to move out of her house if she doesn't find work. She said she has applied daily for administrative jobs, secretarial jobs, anything within 50 miles. "Everything I've applied for I would have been taking a $7-an-hour paycheck," she said, "and I can't even get that."

Comments

[Andrew Wade Dokken]

02:09 PM on 12/13/2010

Thanks for the good article. Circuit breakers are absolutely necessary during an economic crisis. Visit this blog site on the differences between the great depression and current economic crisis. It was written by the former CEO of American Skandia and the current CEO of the fixed index annuities company Wealth Vest. It talks about the need for unemployment benefits to be extended.
http://www.wealthvest.com/blog/wade-dokken/4191/

[bong-o-boy]

04:36 PM on 12/02/2010

i want to personally thank conservative commentators here for motivating me to start my own business, i know i know, its a rather long title for a business, but youll see it makes a lot of sense. it is called

"steal a job from a lazy conservative worker pretending to work hard, but actually spends their entire work day goofing off on HP insulting the unemployed"

i will be contacting businesses throughout America, and i will be targeting those businesses that employ lazy goof off conservatives. they will have the opportunity to hire liberal unemployed workers who desperately need work. here are the basic rules of my company:

1. they must fire a lazy conservative employee, and in turn hire a liberal unemployed person whoi is desperate to work.

2. the lazy fired newly unemployed conservative must sign a release that he will not seek unemployment insurance, in accordance with his belief system, any fired conservative who refuses to sign the agreement will be publically villified as a hypocrate

3. the newly employed liberals will take on the same job as the fired conservative at 75% of the pay the conservative earned.

4. the fired conservatives will be escorted out of the company they worked at and publically mocked for being unemployed.

anybody else like my idea? thanks again conservatives! you motivated me to get a job; yours!!!

[skyfrequency]

02:50 PM on 12/02/2010

"I'm trying not to freak out. Just kinda praying and hoping for the best," Roth, 40, told HuffPost. "I keep looking for work and it's just not happening. There's nothing there."

I feel for you, I really do. And the millions of others that are unemployed. I think you and I, and many others know what is going to happen, so prepare for it as best as you can.

[mroth76]

03:10 PM on 12/02/2010

I honestly don't know what is going to happen which is the greatest source my anxiety. They could fight this out for months, weeks, days?

[mroth76]

02:29 PM on 12/02/2010

I just read this post on another site and it confirms what I already know as my step-mother is a Human Resources Manager in San Francisco and tells me this all the time.

"For one job opening (at my company) we have over 500 applicants who apply during a 7 day period. And I do absolutely no advertising in the paper or on a commercial job posting site. If I leave the online job referral open for two weeks I get over a 1,000 applications. I have people who are applying for a $10.00 an hour, manufacturing position who were managers at their previous jobs, have bachelor / master degrees etc... I've even been solicited by people who are willing to work for free, just looking for a chance to be hired on at some point.
People need jobs, but their are very few jobs to be found."

So for those of you that think the unemployed are just a lazy bunch of slackers looking for a handout, please re-think your position. I know there are some out there who may be taking advantage and being lazy - but the majority of us are honest hardworking people who took a major hit as a result of Corporate Greed...

[Michael S Robinson]

10:51 AM on 12/02/2010

Remember while unemployed to keep your skill set energized and get yourself out there and pick up as much experience as possible, be it volunteer work or even consulting jobs, no matter how short the assignment may be. As a CEO of a staffing firm, I try to counsel those who are now unemployed and looking for work to keep themselves relevant and prioritize their job search. I have devoted my website to blogs and videos pertaining to the job market, interview pointers and techniques, and self- esteem building articles to assist you in any interview you may go on. I invite you to read and comment on my articles, and I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts and opinions. I invite those employed and unemployed to join in, so together we can help those who are searching find jobs and get our economy back on track. MR

www.mikesrobinson.com

[merrymay]

08:49 AM on 12/02/2010

Isn't this what the globalists did to Chile, Argentina...in fact almost everywhere? It's called Shock economics. Since it's been done around the globe for 30 years, why are we surprised we were next for the Shock?

[disgruntledprogressives]

12:08 AM on 12/02/2010

There is no reason to cooperate with the Rebaggers on anything. They have publicly committed to absolute obstructionism to everything so let it go to total government lockup.

[wdw505]

03:20 AM on 12/02/2010

and save all that money........sounds good

[Margaret B]

07:29 AM on 12/02/2010

NOW THEY WANT TO SAVE MONEY AFTER DESTROYING THE ECONOMY OVER 8 YEARS Plus. Tooooo little toooooo late. Yea. If the government doesn't function, guess that will save money. great strategy!

[sve]

09:21 PM on 12/01/2010

There is a whole class of people who are unable to imagine any situation that they have not experienced personally. They are unable to contribute to any solutions because they can't see themselves in these dire circumstances, and so can't think about what would be helpful. Unfortunately, they feel no urgency to act right when we need all hands on deck to handle problems that are quickly growing out of control.

[merrymay]

08:56 AM on 12/02/2010

Every American who is sitting on clothes, food or anything they don't really use, should donate.

That's a beginning.
One reason people don't do more, personally or in a group, is the invisibility of the problems. People with big, pretty houses may be living on mac&cheese and peanut butter, just hanging on.
By the way, the Salvation Army always needs clothing for men living outdoors...stuff unsuitable for climate controlled living. Summer tank tops, winter bulky coats, socks.

[mroth76]

02:07 PM on 12/02/2010

So true. I have been living on baked potatoes and carrots from my garden for months on end so that my daughter can eat nutritiously. I used to eat at the finest restaurants now I can't even afford McDonalds. If you drove through my neighborhood and saw my house you would think I was doing fine and not know that I have to recycle cans for gas money, sell furniture, mow lawns, whatever I can do to keep us afloat.

[freeus]

08:50 PM on 12/01/2010

They're not oblivious, the GOP is a corporate party. They don't give a damn, which is why they let UE benefits lapse while fighting tooth and nail for tax breaks (big govt spending) for billionaires. Duh. Vote, poor people.

[danceswithtrees]

12:14 AM on 12/02/2010

As Peter Orzag, Obama's recently retired budget director takes over at C.I.T.I. bank. Both sides are owned by Wall street.

[Margaret B]

07:35 AM on 12/02/2010

Only one side constantly fights for Wall Street and blocks programs for regular folks like emergency unemployment benefits for example. Only one side will hold up emergency benefits to fight for a tax cut for the RICH. Which side is that you think?

[missingwmd]

08:36 PM on 12/01/2010

you expect a man to fish for himself when you have taken away the fishing pole, bait,net polluted the water and repo'd the boat.!

[Sean Johnson]

09:19 PM on 12/01/2010

Yep. That's the GOP's motto. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Even if they take your boots from you or make it so you can't even afford to get a pair of boots.

[Cougar29]

08:18 PM on 12/01/2010

Where be the baby daddy?

[missingwmd]

08:24 PM on 12/01/2010

prolly laid off too where ever he is

[Dee Amschler]

08:29 PM on 12/01/2010

Not every child is better of with their father present or even close enough to somehow be in the picture. If I'd had a child by my ex, it would be my hope that my ex would find his way to another planet - and stay there. That would honestly be in the best interest of the child. Anyone who could do to me what my ex did isn't anyone I'd want around children. The same could be said of my father. He never should have been kept around my sister and I "just to have a man in the house".

[booker52]

08:05 PM on 12/01/2010

The GOP is shameless.

[RyanC1384]

07:53 PM on 12/01/2010

I lost my job just after memorial day...I am about to lose my benefits just before Christmas.

This is the story I wrote just days following being let go :

http://www.doubledutchpolitics.com/2010/06/i-never-thought-it-would-happen-to-me/

[danceswithtrees]

12:17 AM on 12/02/2010

Ryan and everyone else unemployed. Do not depend on the government. You must depend on you. There are opportunities out there, go make something happen for you.

[Margaret B]

07:47 AM on 12/02/2010

If I'm paying for flood insurance. And, oh.... lets say there is a flood. Should I not depend on the insurance check to cover the damages. I should just make something happen, right?

[Level7]

07:43 PM on 12/01/2010

Corporations reporting record profits. No jobs for you, however. Corporations and Republicans laugh at people like her and millions of out of work, suffering Americans.

Boycott as many businesses run by Republicans as you can find. Start with Koch Industries - Georgia Pacific Building Product and retail products = Quilted Northern, Bewny, Sparkle, Soft n Gentle, Mardi Gras, Dixie, Lotus, Colhogar, Delica, Tenderly, Demak'Up. Then research other companies and post them for an effective boycott.

Every person who is about to lose their jobless benefits should be flooding their Congresspeople with emails, calls & letters, (especially to Republicans), telling them how you feel about this.

[Level7]

08:51 PM on 12/01/2010

No, I never tire of calling for boycotts of right-wing driven corporations.

[Dee Amschler]

08:32 PM on 12/01/2010

Did you pick Koch Industries out of a hat or because of their politics? Just wondering if you're one of the few aware of how intimately involved they are in pulling the strings of right wing groups - all the way down to the tea party and all the way up to some pretty important "think tanks".

[msmPostcom]

07:10 PM on 12/01/2010

I'm trying not to freak out. Just kinda praying and hoping for the best.

Did she pray or hope for the best at the voting booth? Did she vote? Did she vote Republician?
I would love to know the answers to these questions when the media post their stories. Dems had no support at the voting booths but all expects the Dems to give them what they need. It amaze me how so many republician voters vote against their welfare and expect the Dems to support them, and so many Dems and minority voters are so damn laziest to go vote. If the employers do not allow voting time out - then call in sick. Look at the Dems and minorities now...Hoping and Praying for benefits. You would think they would be out in the street yelling for these benefits. They do not seem to realize that Obama is Black and is being wiped like a black man surrounded by whites. The whites ALSO includes his Dem Politicians - not willing to risk their political seats for a black man.

Keep Hoping & Praying - it is much easier than getting off your A$$es and doing something about it. Keep hoping & praying others will fight for you when you just stay at home drinking beer.

REMEMBER THIS - all tax money is for the Politicians and the Rich to get richer. See how hard it is to prevent the rich from getting tax breaks. You are expecting RICH POLITICIANS

[mroth76]

09:34 PM on 12/01/2010

I am the person written about in that article, and I will just inform you now that I did vote and I voted Democrat. I have worked since I was 15 years old and am now 40 and I have never once had a lapse in employment until I was layed off in June. I live in an area where unemployment is very high and there are virtually no jobs within 50 miles of me that aren't scam jobs or fake jobs posted on internet sites... I am certainly not home sitting and drinking beer and I am by no means lazy whatsoever and it's narrowmindedness like yours that is selling out the hardworking American people who do vote, who do pay their taxes and are loyal to their country only to be laid off by corporate america through no fault of their own. I worked at the company I was layed off from for 12 years I was the top producer in my region! I got layed off because they wanted to hire new people who they could pay less. They never even gave me the option for a paycut.... I am a single mom with a mortgage, a car payment, a little baby, do you think that I want to lose everything that I have ??? Think again before you so zealously post such a generalization.

[glossy go]

09:47 PM on 12/01/2010

all well said. and all very scary. and unfair.

[msmPostcom]

12:08 AM on 12/02/2010

Thanks for replying and posting your political profile. Yes, I was making generalization of this post, not you. I want to get DEMs more involved and to show Repubs voters that the Repubs are not serving their needs but rather serving themselves and the rich.

There is a good reason for the separation of Church and State. Both Politicians and Religious Leaders compete for americans' money. So they have a Monoply for donations, contributions and votes.

Our problem today and yesterday is elected Politicians. We are not holding them accountable to us. We let them use us like disposable rags. Oh, let now add crooked bankers to our problems.

China has all our jobs. Apple, Inc and other mobile device makers are making tons of money off the mobile gadget fools that rush out and stand in lines for days to purchase their products. One day, we shall learn that supporting companies that employs aboard hurt us at home. During this economy or lack of, we must wake up and spend our money on products and services made in the USA.

I wish you all the luck in finding a job and regret for upsetting you.

[rmarie]

10:12 PM on 12/01/2010

I can't even support your statement, thought I agree with the intent, because of this:

"Look at the Dems and minorities now...Hopi­ng and Praying for benefits."

Minorities do not owe dems their vote. Dem is not the only option other than republican. Voting for someone other than a dem (I'm talking third party) does not mean your vote is wasted. Often, that's the only way other parties can stay on ballots in states.

Nowadays, a damn dem may very well be no better than a republican, depending on who they are.