U.S. Congress - S.2544 Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008
S.2544 - Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008
A bill to provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment compensation. view all titles (2)
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- Short: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 as introduced.
- Official: A bill to provide for a program of temporary extended unemployment compensation. as introduced.
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WHERE DID YOU SEE THAT IT PASSED.
The Senate passed the War Funding Bill (parts 1 and 2) last night (6/26/08) at around 9:30pm eastern time
DID YOU FIND THIS VIA INTERNET OR ON TV
What is Bush waiting on to sign this bill? He knows our plight out here or does he just not care?
One day does make a huge difference when you are facing eviction, car repo, no food for kids, etc. I am sure it takes weeks of processing through the Unemployment office so one day hurts!
What does this government not get about this bind alot of us are in?
This just irks me because I voted for him and he does not care apparently.
We know it passed the Senate. Its waiting to be signed by our wonderful President.
FROM THE CONGRESS DAILY; OMB’s Nussle Cheers Senate Passage Of War-Funding Bill.
OMB Director Nussle said today President Bush will sign a war supplemental spending package cleared by the Senate late Thursday, praising the legislation as “a victory for our men and women in uniform.” He said Bush will decide when to sign the package once he receives it from House leaders. HERE WE GO… BUSH WILL DECIDE WHEN TO SIGN THE PACKAGE. THERE IS ALWAYS A FUCKING GLITCH OF SOME KIND. SIGN THE BILL ALREADY; FOR OUR SAKES!
Here’s an article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080627/ap_on_go_co/congress_rdp
Congress passes Iraq war spending bill
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 27, 7:41 AM ET
WASHINGTON – The Senate passed a $162 billion war spending plan Thursday, sending to President Bush legislation that will pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the next president takes office.
The package, approved 92-6, includes a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for troops and veterans. It also provides a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits and $2.7 billion in emergency flood relief for the Midwest.
The Senate, however, narrowly failed to approve a House-passed bill to cancel a scheduled cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients.
It also failed to resolve differences over home mortgage legislation and the administration’s electronic surveillance program. Those matters will await lawmakers when they return from a 10-day July break.
The spending bill will bring to more than $650 billion the amount Congress has provided for the Iraq war since it started more than five years ago. For operations in Afghanistan, the total is nearly $200 billion, according to congressional officials.
Last week, the House approved the war funding measure, 268-155. The domestic add-ons were approved separately by a 416-12 vote. The White House has said it supports the combined measure, which technically allowed the measure to advance without senators having to vote specifically for the war funding, a distasteful matter for many Democrats.
As for Medicare, a 10.6 percent reduction in doctors’ payments remains scheduled to take effect Tuesday. It was triggered by Medicare spending levels that exceeded established targets.
The Senate fell one vote short of the 60 needed to pass the bill under expedited rules. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in backing it. But most of the Senate’s 49 Republicans voted against it, noting that the Bush administration has hinted at a possible veto. The insurance industry, in particular, opposed the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., changed his vote from yes to no in a procedural move to enable him to bring up the bill later. He ridiculed Republicans who sided with Bush in opposing the bill.
“Who would be afraid of him?” Reid said as many senators looked on. “He’s got a 29 percent approval rating.”
Some of the roughly 600,000 doctors who treat Medicare patients have said they would be reluctant to take on new elderly and disabled patients if the reimbursement cut takes effect.
Avoiding the cuts in Medicare physician payments has become an annual event for Congress, but finding the money invariably requires trimming payments to other health care providers. Democrats this year focused on taking the money from the Medicare Advantage program. It lets the elderly and disabled receive health benefits through a private insurer rather than through traditional Medicare.
The bill that fell short Thursday would have reduced payments to insurers by about $14 billion over five years. Insurers say the financial hit would have come at the expense of millions of Medicare Advantage participants.
But Democratic lawmakers, citing findings by an independent advisory commission, said the payments are overly generous and make it harder to sustain Medicare for future generations.
Many pharmacists support the bill because it would delay payment cuts through Medicaid. Pharmacists also support a provision that would require Medicare drug plans to reimburse them within 14 days of an electronic billing and within 30 days for paper claims.
The bill has also generated support from rural hospitals and ambulance providers that would have received more Medicare funding.
In the House, lawmakers approved financial help for mass transit systems facing a surge in riders because of high fuel prices. But Republicans blocked Democrats from requiring oil and gas companies to forfeit their leases if they don’t drill on the millions of acres of government land and water they lease.
Senators were unable to resolve differences on the housing and surveillance legislation. A dispute over taxes continued to stall the mortgage-finance bill, which would allow the government to back $300 billion in cheaper loans for homeowners facing foreclosure.
Majorities in both chambers appear to support such a bill. But Senate progress faltered when Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., insisted on adding an $8 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy producers.
The incentives have bipartisan backing. But House Democrats oppose including them without balancing them with tax hikes to prevent an increase in the deficit.
The surveillance bill would provide legal immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the government wiretap American phone and computer lines without court permission after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
It also would make it easier for the government to tap the calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists. Its detractors contend that it does not protect Americans’ privacy rights while its champions argue that it strikes the right balance between civil liberties and security. The bill passed the House with a strong majority last week.
The president has 10 days to sign the legislation once it is sent to him from the leaders of the house/senate. He will probably sign next week as I doubt he has received the bill yet. With the holiday coming it will be signed next week some time. It passed the senate with a huge majority. Remember this is not the unemployment bill it is the war funding bill with the supplemental spending (unemployment extension)included. So don’t look for him signing an unemployment extension bill. Once he signs the bill the extension is immediate. If your benefits have already run out you will need to apply again as you did at 1st. If you are still receiving benefits the extension is automatic.
I saw above someone say the $50 addition was not part of the bill. I have not read this anywhere.. What is your source? The only concession they made was the additional 13 wks for the high percent states. At least that is all I can find. The rest of the bill should still be the same.
Go to this site for more information. According to this article, Bush will not be signing until next week. But, praise God, I can wait one more week knowing its coming very soon. God Bless everyone who worked so hard for this extension of 13 weeks to happen.
In other articles that I read, no where did I see that this 13 week extension applies to only the higher unemployment rate states. I believe it applies to all states.
http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/gi-bill-survives
yes it appplies to all states. It first was supposed to be on the states with the highest unemployment rates, and also to anyone in those states that were unemployed. The revision was everyone that has gotten unemployment in the past year( I think, maybe year and half?) will get it, not just the states with the highest, but that you had to have worked 20 weeks prior to going on unemployment. That’s fair. But still don’t know about the $50 dollar increase. I hhave heard both ways, that the increase was in there, and that they had revised it, so who knows?
I talked to a lady with the unemployment office in my state this evening. She states that they will get an email stating that it has become in effect when he signs it. She still had not heard anything at about 4 pm. She states that they will probably hear something Monday.
Its’s 13 weeks across the board..all states…no increase in weekly benfits. Once the bill is signed your weekly benefit amount remains the same, whether you are still collecting benefits or applying for the extension because your benefits were exhausted within your year of eligibility.
I send my prayers and blessing to those who are suffering and waiting to hear that the unemployment extension has been signed by the President. Let’s pray that it will be signed prior to the 4th of July and allow people to have ease of mind for the holiday.
Congress’s Fingerprint Fine Print
By JOHN BERLAU
June 23, 2008; Page A17
Fingerprints have long been considered to be among the most personal of information. Proposals for creating fingerprint databases are usually controversial and often lead to a spirited public debate. Even when a fingerprint registry will likely help fight terrorism or crime, many still fear it will lead to a surveillance state.
Yet this week a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security or violent crime may clear the Senate with little debate. The legislation would require thousands of individuals not suspected of any wrongdoing to send their prints to the feds.
What issue is so important that it warrants creating a fingerprint database without public debate? Believe it or not, the housing slowdown. The database and fingerprint mandates are contained in the housing bailout bill that will likely come to a vote on Tuesday.
Tucked into a broad, 537-page bill (not counting tax provisions yet to be added) mostly concerned with government backing of mortgage modifications is a requirement for a registration of “loan originators.” The provision says that “an individual may not engage in the business of a loan originator without first . . . obtaining a unique identifier.” To obtain this “identifier,” an individual is required to “furnish” to the newly created Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry “information concerning the applicant’s identity, including fingerprints,” that will be sent to the FBI and other government agencies.
The bill’s definition of “loan originator” could cover a broad swath of employees working for mortgage lenders and brokers and real estate firms, including clerical employees, part-time and seasonal workers. An “originator” is defined as anyone who “takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.” Real estate agents are also covered if they receive any type of compensation from “originators.”
The rationale for this new fingerprint registry is thin. Were a significant number of bad loans made by ex-convicts? And how would the targeting of lower-level employees – rather than executives like Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo – stem the creation of problematic mortgages?
But one searches the Congressional Record in vain for any justification. As tech-policy columnist Declan McCullagh recently wrote in CNET.com, “What’s a little odd is the lack of public discussion about this new fingerprint database.” The fingerprinting requirements are not mentioned in bill summaries and press releases, or even in the table of contents of the Senate bill. Queries to the Senate Banking Committee and various senators haven’t been answered.
What is clear is that many senators who fancy themselves champions of civil liberties on national security aren’t as troubled in this case. The fingerprint provisions were originally contained in the Senate’s S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act introduced in February. Among the 14 sponsors are two Republicans – Mel Martinez of Florida and Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina – and 12 Democrats. Among the Democratic co-sponsors are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
There were also few objections when Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D., Conn.) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) folded this legislation into the bill that cleared the committee in May. That bill, with the fingerprint provisions, was voted out 19-2, without a single Democrat voting “nay.” Perhaps most of the senators haven’t read the fingerprint provisions. But if so, what kind of example is that for the lenders and borrowers they are supposedly trying to encourage to use due diligence?
Meanwhile, the free-market activist group FreedomWorks points to a provision of the Senate’s housing tax package that would require payment settlement entities, such as eBay and Amazon, to report customer transactions over a certain threshold to the IRS. This would be done as an offset to pay for the housing tax breaks. The Center for Democracy and Technology, a liberal policy group, has testified that a similar proposal “raises serious privacy and data security concerns that are especially significant in the small business context.”
As word about these provisions has spread, so has bipartisan outrage. When I wrote on the fingerprint mandate for the Competitive Enterprise Institute-affiliated blog site OpenMarket.org in late May, the post received almost 400 comments. Thom Hartmann, one of the premiere talk radio hosts of the left, has also blasted the database proposal.
But will this outrage be heard by members of Congress hell-bent on “doing something” – anything – on housing? The perverse lesson of these provisions may be that the more trivial the justification for legislation compromising privacy, the easier it is to get through.
What does this have to do with Unemployment?
this is a unemployment disscussion forum. who gives a rats ass about fingerprints…….
All I can say is God help us all! President Bush please get out of the bushes and pass the unemployment extension bill. We are all desperate and crime is on the rise because of the situation.
I believe the reason Bush did not sign the bill as soon as it passed the Senate is by signing the bill on Monday it gave the States time to enact the agreement between the Federal Government and the States. Now once the bill is signed all the states have to do is flip the switch and everyone who is eligible can cerify and receive a check the same week as they certified, simple right? I still believe the bill is signed they just delayed telling people until they received notication in the mail, Less chaos.
AGAIN IT PASSED. AS OF SUNDAY JUNE 29th. MONDAY THEY WILL CALL ALL WHO ARE ELIGBLE…..CALL YOUR STATE OFFICE 4 MORE INFO…..
That might be relevant if you are unemployed and looking for a job, like most of the other people in this forum
The bill has not been signed into law by the President.
WISCKOL: When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?
McCAIN: Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of town hall meetings, many as short a time ago as yesterday. I communicate with the people and they communicate with me very effectively.
The above is from the Huffington Post.
Maybe he should have town hall meetings with the unemployed.
Its pitiful that in the end Bush and Chaney both will be sitting pretty while enjoying all the profits they made on there oil side project,though its no secret.Bush has no conception of human life loss or the people who reside in his country.Thats right keep pumping money into the war,then rebuild,and then come back and remember your own people.There must be a point when enough is enough and hopefully sooner than later.He is nothing short of a selfish,ignorant excuse for human life and im ashamed that he represents this country.We need this extension in order to survive.You have chased the jobs away and ruined are economy,while still in denial about a recession.Get your head out of your fathers butt and do whats right.This is temporary,but the hardships for most are immediate.The President is unique in the sense that he isn’t effected by job crises or economic downfalls.He just signs papers and takes up space in his own mind.Thanks for leaving the next President a mess to hard to fix.
Its pitiful that in the end Bush and Chaney both will be sitting pretty while enjoying all the profits they made on there oil side project,though its no secret.Bush has no conception of human life loss or the people who reside in his country.Thats right keep pumping money into the war,then rebuild,and then come back and remember your own people.There must be a point when enough is enough and hopefully sooner than later.He is nothing short of a selfish,ignorant excuse for human life and im ashamed that he represents this country.We need this extension in order to survive.You have chased the jobs away and ruined are economy,while still in denial about a recession.Get your head out of your fathers butt and do whats right.This is temporary,but the hardships for most are immediate.The President is unique in the sense that he isn’t effected by the job crisis or economic downfalls.He just signs papers and takes up space in his own mind.Thanks for leaving the next President a mess to hard to fix.
just wanted to say to all the people on here that are really struggling, im in the same situation, and i feel for you all. tommorrow might be a great day for all of us, if he signs this bill into law. lets hope so….. if i hear anything when this bill becomes law, ill be the first to let everyone know, and i hope you will do the same. thankyou!
Our states will let us know
your states will take about 3 weeks to mail you a letter. You need to go to the site on the internet and re-apply if you have already exausted your benefits. It will save time.
That is once it is signed. Until then there is nothing. the extension does not exist until it is signed.
My last comments are posted on page 3, comments 5,9 and 10.
this may (NOT) help all but it certainly helped me. This could change your life I hope. how2e-bookstore.com Relief is on the way.
sorry for the type O wishful thinking I wish I could help all.
Not meaning to be a carrier of bad news but you must remember a Unemployment Bill passed before.I am hopeful Bush will sign very soon. Even so ask youself, after six months what next? Will the economy rebound by then? If not, what will I do then? how2e-bookstore.com
CNN says the President will sign the Bill this morning
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=AlytiMIXmoiFpgEgCorukBED5gcF
Signing Bill at 9:50 this am
Mr.Bush,thank you for signing this bill.It saves me a trip to Crawford with my WILL WORK FOR FOOD sign.God Bless everyone that this signing has helped and let us all pray for better things to come in the next 13 weeks.