Monster.com recently called for the unemployed and those who support them to submit questions to the White House. I've followed the plight of the 99ers, people who've lost jobs through no fault of their own and who have exhausted their benefits, and have become increasingly concerned at the treatment and discrimination I've witnessed against what once was the American middle class.
My question of the White House (link):
The White House has avoided using the term 99ers. Why? There are millions who've lost their jobs and have exhausted benefits through no fault of their own. How can the economy ever come back if 99ers, many middle-aged middle-class, are kicked farther under the bus. Ads say: no unemployed need apply. Age discrimination is rampant and obvious. Mortgage companies will not modify for the unemployed. Even if you get the economy going, how many millions will be forced into poverty that would otherwise be the bulwark of democracy if they were helped now?
Austan Goolsbee's reply came today:
This is not casual interest or a reporter's curiosity. Journalism has been savaged by this economy. I know more reporters and writers out of work than with work. Many who've lost their long-term benefits have no safety net. Others could be called 1099ers for those who didn't qualify for UI and for how long they've been without an income. These are talented and good American citizens who would do anything to work and apply for everything that comes along -- mostly to no avail.
It's not just anecdotal. As a writer, an executive project manager, and publisher of a public interest magazine (everyone donates their efforts), I have my own challenges with this economy. When I research the various industries for which I am extremely qualified, I find exponentially more applicants than available jobs.
What must it be like for those whose industries have all but collapsed or have been outsourced? The prospect for the middle class, the heart of America that has kept us strong, who fought World War II and saved us, who manufactured us into a super power, is dimmed. I've never been so concerned for my country.
99ers, unlike Glenn Beck's and Rush Limbaugh's attempts to demonize them -- the weird psychological shift that's happened in the country to applaud the lack of empathy and scorn those who've been disenfranchised through no fault of their own -- are in a no-win scenario. Job postings state the long-term unemployed need not apply. Coded language makes it clear the employer is not interested in the associated costs that come with middle-aged employees.
It's bad business (unless your business is ratings). As Austan Goolsbee points out, as many other experts have referenced repeatedly, unemployment benefits are stimulus. The people receiving them spend the money. They don't get enough to survive long-term on them. They're not lazy. They're not discouraged from looking for work by receiving unemployment benefits. THEY DO LOOK FOR WORK, exhaustively, incessantly, and in many cases, without results because the sheer numbers of unemployed competing for the open positions are against them. It's an insurance policy to keep the middle class in place. It's a middle class and small business which depends on their spending that's under attack and their enemies are winning the war.
How are they winning? By making sure the long-term unemployed will either be discouraged from voting or will vote against the Obama administration and Democrats out of anger. It's clever, it's cynical, and it's working because, as the Economic Policy Institute has pointed out, the U.S. economy would need to add 11.5 million jobs to make up for the shortfall due to the recession. In September, 2010, the private sector added 64,000 jobs.
The media is complicit in this, as well. Very few outlets have reported accurately about 99ers. The exceptions: the Huffington Post (thank you, Arthur Delaney and co.), Ed Schultz, one segment from 60 Minutes, and a new broadcast from CNN.
That leaves those who watch Fox News to be told the 99ers are unAmerican. That leaves the members of the Congress and Senate who don't use the term 99ers. That leaves politicians and members of the media who talk about legislation to renew tiers 2-4 as if it were more encompassing and let an unsuspecting public assume that it will cover those who've exhausted their benefits. It will not. The only Senate legislation that will extend UI for 99ers is Debbie Stabenow's S.3706 which was blocked by the GOP from coming out of the Finance Committee. It's not up for consideration and Senator Stabenow is not heard using the term 99ers herself much anymore.
The time has come to ask those obstructing legislation such as S. 3706 -- especially those who are pushing for a renewal of the Bush tax cuts at the same time -- are they doing it because they're concerned about fiscal policy or because they want a permanent underclass with the resulting depression of wages? Do they want a Third World America?
They must because it's what they're creating.
60 Minutes: The 99ers:
Ed Shultz on the 99ers:
Arthur Delaney's Huffpost on the 99er's legislation blocked in the Senate.
More at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST (please support the writers there).
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I won't vote for Obama. They better get someone good to run against him.
Unfortunately, his saying Obama has fought for 99ers is something there is very little evidence for. I'd like Mr. Goolsbee to provide one SHRED of evidence that the President has done anything for 99ers or even mentioned us.
Please help fight for 99ers by participating in the latest action of the American 99ers Union. Google is your friend.
Unemployed/99ers Will Work Initiative
Mission: Spur action on (i) U.S. job creation, (ii) extension of EUC and (iii) Tier V Legislation
Objective: Sustained Visibility
Frequency: Every day, in one form or another – to the extent you are willing and able
Intensity: Full court press – pedal to the metal – all in
Duration: Until EUC Extension & Tier V legislation are passed and the national unemployment rate (truly) drops below 5%
Location: Anytown, USA
Email, telephone, fax, tweet, snail mail, online petitions
To - President Obama, your elected public servants in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, those in Congress who support our mission, those in Congress who oppose our mission. Make yourselves and your stories known – be visible.
Op II: Work Search Wednesdays
Go to your local Unemployment Office every Wednesday of every week until you are gainfully employed. Utilize the staff and services provided in support of your ongoing effort to find employment. Bundle up, form lines, be patient, be cordial – be visible.
Can’t make it to Washington D.C.? Then gather at your…City Hall, County Courthouse, State Capitol, public parks and fairgrounds. Every Saturday, Noon to 4PM. Bring signs and banners, friends and family. Be loud but remain lawful. Sing, chant, shout…be heard and be visible.
Op IV: Media Engagement
Contact local media with respect to Ops II and III. Apply pressure on local media to prioritize coverage of the unemployment crisis and its impact on the unemployed in your community and U.S. economy.
Op V: Recruitment
To the extent they are willing and able to offer support, request friends, family and (former) co-workers to take part in Ops I-IV. Strength in numbers. It’s critical that our elected officials hear from ALL those impacted by the unemployment crisis.
We have seen this over and over again from supposedly 'concerned' individuals whose carefully chosen words lead the general public to believe that 'long term unemployed' means ALL who have been approved for and granted UI benefits. An extension is passed and the country assumes that all have been helped and attention shifts to other matters while the '99ers' slip further into poverty - their voices and nightmarish stories obliterated by the swelling of the 'All is well and aren't we a great Nation' theme music.
The 99ers don't need or want unemployment extensions. They need and want jobs. As mentioned in the videos, the maximum unemployment checks available to those 99ers who live in states that have high enough unemployment to even qualify for extensions, and who have not yet exhausted their individual benefits, max at at a very paltry +/-$475/week-less than $25K/year. Now, this sum may serve the needs of the unemployed warehouse worker, or fair weather construction worker who wants to enjoy the ice fishing season. But, this amount is a slap in the face for folks like the previously $200K earning guy who has paid maximum tax rates for decades. Especially in light of the Cobra unemployment benefit that lasts a grand total of 18 months. Then what? My last U.S. health/dental/vision insurance cost $1926/month-for a healthy family of 4-with no medical conditions-and no prescriptions-$26 more thanthe maximum amount for 4 weeks of unemployment!
What you are witnessing is the complete implosion of a society. There is no safety net. No one cares. The jobs aren't coming back. It's everyone for themselves.
Which is why my family and I now live AND WORK in Canada. We were lucky that my wife and two children are Canadian. What began in October of 2009 as an 8-12 week process to obtain a family class visa stretched 10 months due to the backlog of US demand.
Try China or India
I did hear on one show them whinning about the fact that a family earning $80,000 per year (are you kidding me) would be loosing I think around $400 per month or something like that. A drop in the bucket to what the unemployed are loosing. My unemployment check of $275 (max in my state) was around $400 per week less than my salary and now that I don't get that anymore I don't know what I'm gonna do. I've cashed in just about all that I can. This last week I sold 3 things on Ebay. They paid for one $14, can't get them to pay the other 2 totalling $17.
God help us all!!!
This 99er interviewed by CNN worked in I.T.: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2010/11/30/snow.99ers.rhonda.cnn.html
The demand isn't there. There are at least five qualified applicants for each job and not that's just for jobs that are open. You can send your resume or network, and it doesn't matter if the company can spend half as much on someone in India that they don't have to pay benefits.
The tax laws need to change. Outsourcing must not be subsidized. Until that changes and the jobs come back, benefits need to be extended.
Extend Unemployment Benefits Facebook Group- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=133354446686732
The 99ers Need a Tier V Added to Unemployment Benefits- http://www.facebook.com/99ers
Kelly Wiedemer- Denver Unemployment Examiner- Examiner.com- http://www.examiner.com/unemployment-in-denver/kelly-wiedemer
Unemployed States of America- http://unemployedstatesofamerica.webs.com
US Unemployed Facebook Group- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000883335366
UWAG (Unemployed Workers Action Group)- http://unemployedworkersactiongroup.webs.com/
Rhonda Taylor and Wendy Ashley (particularly) who work tirelessly and one behalf of the unemployed and the 99ers.
There are many advocates on behalf of the 99ers!
Monica
There have been a number of "under the radar" writers and advocates who have been covering the 99er issue for many months and that includes 99er advocate Rob Curtis and Donalee King who writes at http://www.examiner.com/unemployment-in-san-diego/donalee-king. Without her and other 99ers contacting Ed Schultz, Ed would probably not have known the difference between a 99er and a San Francisco 49er. Ed has been there fighting ever since and has kept the 99er issue alive in Congress and the media.
Thanks for taking the time to get the word out about the 99ers.
Thank you Janet, for writing such a precise description of what many of us 99ers are experiencing daily, but can not always describe with the right words.
KWiedemer
Denver Unemployment Examiner