Blog - What the Senate's Unemployment Deal Looks Like

Maybe the newest amendment strapped to the UB extension bill, the home buyers credit bill, will expidite the crucial passage of the unemployment benefit extension. All they have to do is label the home buyer tax credit “CASH FOR CRIBS” and the bill should be on President Obama’s desk by Monday. Yay!

Oh no, I forgot Obama is not in favor of the home buyers credit and thus will probably send it back to congress, sigh.

I had been in favor of healthcare reform but after witnessing the circus on the hill live on CSPAN this week I think I will opt for home health care. With the help of WebMD and the government allowing me to purchase any medication that hospitals are allowed to purchase, I prefer to have my life in my own hands.

Government should not have been allowed to adopt such complicted means of doing business. I call for an overhaul of the entire system.

Too much stress from waiting on the senate to pass this bill….

I too have emailed my Senators and the President. I have been without benefits for 2 months and will be taking up a new career soon as a “bag lady”! I have also wondered why the media keeps mum on this issue and wondering if our lawmakers are taking their time so they can pass the extension closer to the holidays so it will look like a Great Gift from our elected officials!!! The republicans need to get rid of their self-promoting actions and words and start listening to the people who gave them their jobs in the first place!

Its about time the overpaid congress got their heads out of their butts.This bill needs signed and I mean NOW

the law finally pass

I am done with my unemployment benefits and can’t find work and I am taking care of my mom who has Alzheimer and I don’t have a nest egg to fall back on. So when is the senate going to vote. thank you

Very frustrating. Have emailed my Senators and the White House. Have contacted various news media suggesting this as a topic to cover. There has been very little news coverage on this. Maybe if the media was more involved, we’d see some results. How long can it take to push this through?!?!

I was laid off from my job earlier this year and my unemployment will be running out in January. Now that is a few months away, but there are hardly any jobs here. I was making good money and cannot afford to work at McDonalds. Then again, even they’re not hiring! Congress not only need to pass an extension for people now, but also for down the road. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the fed, has already said that things won’t be much better in 2010. By that time there may be millions more homeless americans. Congress needs to act now!

Ive had cancer for about 2 years now. I was fired from my job because they didn’t want to pay for my insurance and the cost of my chemo/ radiation. I’ve been unemplyoed now for about 42 weeks and this bill passing is a blessing in my book. I’ve gone through every gov. agency to help with my illness but no luck. Am i upset…yes, but i can only believe someone needs more help than i do…as for the poster who asked///" where to go from this cesspool…?" Well, you can do what i’m doing…moving to Canada! No pre existing conition crap, the wages are 2x more than i’d be making here and the weather is amazing…if you like it cold like me!

I live in Massachusetts and am on the verge of loosing everything I have worked for. My unemployment ran out 4 weeks ago and not sure where to turn. I can see that I’m not the only one in this boat. The goverment needs to get off their asses and start helping their own. Instead of constantly helping out third world countrys that hate America but will take evrything we offer to them. It’s sad a sad day for all of us and I don’t see it getting any better for any of us in the near future.

I am a mother of 4 children, my husband has a Bachelors Degree in Telecommunications and over 8 years of experience in his field. He has been out of work for 2 years now, this unemployment has been somewhat keeping us from brink of homelessness. My husband has applied to literally hundreds of jobs, with no response except we have received your resume blah, blah, blah. He recently had an interview(shocking), but they said no thanks after a 1 1/2 drive and 3 hour interview because he has been out of the field too long!!! Are you joking me!! This is getting so crazy! My husband and I struggled for years to just get his Bachelors Degree, not to mention over 50,000 in debt to student loans….our unemploymeny extension just ran out today :( we will soon be homeless with our 4 children unless we get the extension again, I do not know what to do…start hiring within your own country and STOP sending our jobs overseas!! And please pass this extension our lively hood depends on it!

We need to overthrow our “cororate america” government!! They have been screwing with us for too long now, from our food, to way too high taxes, so called “FDA approved” medecine that makes us more sick!! To wars we should have never started…and on and on and on!!

I Can’t believe that SENATE is not saying anything on TV, NEWS About Unemployed poor people? What type of treatment is that? No i never thought of US “Average people” we deserve the BEST or be treated like a KING. But to be treated like DOGS i never excpected that.
How can they SLEEP at night if they know its 2009, and there are million people are waiting for this “Checks-week by week”? How can they eat there dinner ? I am just stunned

IVE BEEN OUT OF WORK FOR OVER A YEAR NOW.. FAXED AND EMAILED RESUMES FOR OVER 50 DIFFERENT COMPANIES STILL LOOKING FOR WORK.. I RAN OUT OF EXTENDED BENEFITS AND CANT AFFORD TO PAY RENT.LIGHT BILL. PRAYING THAT EVERYTHING WILL WORKOUT ON TIME BEFORE I END UP LOSING EVERYTHING.. LETS PRAY AND HOPE FOR THE BEST GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY WHOS IN THE STRUGGLE..

i am a 29 year old man i am a heavy equipment op. i to have been out of work for over 18 months. long time and im not proud of this my family had to split up my girl an daughter are living with her mom and i with a employed freind im lucky to be friends with someone so generous but i feel bad when for the last month he hasnt got a red cent from me because i dont have any money left i have literally lost my american dream mabey the senate would be more compassionate if they had to sleep on a buddys couch alone cause there loved ones are better off somewhere else . i say lets get all these stupid asses out of positions they obviously cant handle .the hard working american made this country great and its not our burden to carry all this weight on our backs while these republican dumbasses voted to give themselves a raise rather than taking care of the very people that put them in office our mistake is trusting them thats it

It is a shame how the american people has been forgotten. Our opinion matters during election time but after that we are on our on. If they had to walk a day in our shoes. There would be a high rate of sucicide. I pray that each and every person that are going through hardship be okay. I am feed up with the way they deal with issues. People don’t have money to pay for insurance whether they reform healthcare or not. We can barely keep our heads above water. We can always stand up for someone elses country. Why don’t we take care of our own first. My state is at 15.3% and I wish they will do their job for american people instead of trying to be captain save a ho for others

Incredible, that the senators whom we put our trust and faith in, when we elected them. Now are not doing what promises they’ve made. Just like them, we have families to support, bills to pay, food to buy and vehicles to drive, to look for work. I’ve been unemployed for over a year now and not sign of a jon in site. These extensions help millions of Americans survive!! Who the HELL do these people think they are,
playing with peoples lives like this. I pray they act quickly.

lets get it done Tonight! should have been done last night this is more important than anything else right now , The People Come first! God Bless Everyone Hope all works out for all of us

they also need to pas HR3404 or this whole ordeal is going to hit again in december when EUC Tiers I and II expire on the 27th of december 2009. HR3404 extends these deadlines to december of 2010. Otherwise newly unemployed people still collecting on their initial state claims or Tier I benefits that end after teh cutoff date will not be eligible for anything, at all.

Senators need to remember we can vote them out. They didn’t think Obama would win. Think again Senators! America is watching and suffering while you guys look employed, refreshed, and well fed. Karma!

Everyday, You see and hear what the senate is doing on the health care reform, WHO CARES! Right now, when we can not even afford food weather we have long term health care is a moot point! We couldnt afford to pay for it anyway! But then thats the point to them, keep us down, control our lives.

I for one will not vote for a single senator who does not take this issue up NOW and vote on it! Each week it is oh should have a vote next week, originally this was to help those who were going to loss the benifit at the end of sep. Well that has come and gone.

Enough already! VOTE on it NOW!

Dennis – Illinois

I hear that it has passed the house. When is it up for vote with the senate?

I completely agree. I have been unemployed for over 18 months and I am still unable to find a job. My unemployment has run out and I don’t know how much longer we will be able to make it before we get kicked out of our apartment.

We have already lost our home and 1 vehicle!

Does anyone know when the senate is scheduled to vote on the bill?

Anyone think they will take this up when this bill is passes

What im talking about is this bill originaly included:
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009
The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 (H.R. 3404) would continue most of the EUC provisions into 2010 and extend EUC payments through June 2011. Those provisions include:

•Extending eligibility period for EUC Tiers 1 and 2 into 2010 (currently set to expire on December 26, 2009)
•Extending cutoff date for the 33 weeks of EUC payments to June 2011 (all EUC payments are set to cease after June 6, 2010)
•Continuation of $25-per-week payment originally established by the 2009 stimulus bill
•Continued 100-percent federal funding of the Extended Benefit Program (currently set to revert to a 50/50 state/federal split on January 1, 2010)

I am a business analyst and have been unemployed since July 2008. I have sent my resume in response to literally hundreds of job postings – and only rarely get any kind of response at all. If I do receive a response, it is to tell me that my resume was received and will “be kept on file” and/or that I am essentially ‘overqualified’. I’ve sent my resume to companies located across the Denver metro and mountain areas (am willing to re-locate and take a huge cut pay along with job-related responsibilities).None of these efforts have done a bit of good as I still get zero responses. I don’t expect to earn what I used to earn, but can’t even find a $10-12/hr job. I am sickened by what our government is doing and am on board with mass emails/phone calls to congress.

I agree with all comments posted here. I especially agree with the comment posted on 10/16 @ 2:41 (above) “I say we all contact the White House, our State Reps and Sentors on Monday Oct 19th at 12:00 EST (9:00 PST) Call or contact with email….”

Similarly, why don’t people realize how out of control and sickening the whole banking mess is. The banks are ripping us off in HUGE ways – with the blessing of congress and the White House. Why don’t people realize that we can stop this – PULL YOUR $$$ OUT of the big banks-NOW! Most of us don’t have any $$, let alone $100k- FDIC insured amount. Use your heads people! They can’t operate or do an of this if we move our checking & savings OUT of big banks!

I have contacted the MD State Senators, and the White House. They were polite. The White House response was extremely generic “i.e. we are working on ways to..etc..etc..” MD Senatorial staff gave me some agencies that can give emergency rental, food, medical assistance. However, most programs are for people with children under age 18. That leaves me out. You also have to go to court, get a judgement against you for rent before they help. I too am over 50 and have had difficulties in getting responses to my applications for employment. MD State government advised me that I was eligible to be a “General Clerk” after working all my life in offices. My point is, we can write and call but there has to be something stronger that can be done to force their hand. I will forward this page link to my senators. I have urged them to “vote and pass it now.” Perhaps we need a miracle or an act of God for them to see that they are hurting their own people..

I think at this point we all need to contract the White House, our State Reps and Sentors. We should all do this on the same day and time to send at message, The American workers are the ones who have been most hurt. AIG, the banks and GM got their bail outs without much wait. Why should we the worker of America have to wait for our bailout for jobs that have been lost because of corp. greed. If the unemployed do not get this extention, which I believe should be for six more months not 13 weeks, everything else will fall.

I say we all contact the White House, our State Reps and Sentors on Monday Oct 19th at 12:00 EST (9:00 PST) Call or contact with email…..get the work out to everyone you know to do this. If they choose not to pass this by next week we all will vote everyone of them out of office

lets all remember when its election time how our senate has acted during these difficult times. here we are in need of oil for heat and other very crucial things to prepare for winter, and our senate doesnt care. they dont relize it takes forever to play catch up when you start falling behind on bills

As everyone who’s comments I have been reading, I to have run out of unemployment, my sister-in-law is in the same boat. We have both had to move in with family. I have been out of work since December 2007 and have sent out resumes and have been to interviews, sometimes I feel as though it is due to age, I am 50 years old and have actively been seeking employment. When will congress get the bill passed and sent to the president for signature. We can all only hope that it will be sooner than later. Good luck to all.