Latest News on UI extensions

[AngelinaCat]

Please do not post mutliple threads on the same subject in multiple forums. It just confuses everyone trying to follow the thread(s), and is against forum rules for that reason.

This thread is composed of three different ones on the same subject, hense the dis-jointedness of some of the replies.

Thank you.

[helpme2010]

Please do not post mutliple threads on the same subject in multiple forums. It just confuses everyone trying to follow the thread(s), and is against forum rules for that reason.

This thread is composed of three different ones on the same subject, hense the dis-jointedness of some of the replies.

Thank you.

Angelina, this is my fault and I apologize. Also i'm sorry to tobee for stepping in with a similar thread to tobee's thread. I am also having problems with the speed this board comes up on my computer. It takes about 20 to 30 seconds to open a thread or jump to another forum.

Please feel free to delete my thread if you want.

[AngelinaCat]

Helpme2010, you are fine. Please don't worry about it.

About the response time, we have let Laz know....

[FishersMike]

Since the dems still hold the majority in congress, this is definitely not about what the republicans did or didn't do. If the democrats really wanted this, they could've gotten it passed just like they did with other pieces of legislation.

Actually the Democrats do not have the votes needed. Due to the Republicans game of doing a Philabuster on everything the Democrats want to do, the Democrats would need a Super Majority - which means they need 60 votes. Unfortunately they no longer have this (technically they didn't have it since Joe Lieberman is a prick and votes in his own world anyway). The Democrats could not pass a law giving each State an extra roll of toilet paper because of all of the stupid political games. Not that Democrats have no blame - both parties do - but what I hate is the whole Philabuster system anyway as it keeps things from getting done.

Just like when the Republicans take over the House in January - they will be powerless to get things done, too. As Senate votes can over-rule them as the Democrats still have a slight majority - plus the President can veto anything they attempt to do. So we have two more years of nothing to look forward to. Our system sucks when people who need help cannot get it - I feel extremely bad for them.

[tobee43]

Angelina, this is my fault and I apologize. Also i'm sorry to tobee for stepping in with a similar thread to tobee's thread. I am also having problems with the speed this board comes up on my computer. It takes about 20 to 30 seconds to open a thread or jump to another forum.

Please feel free to delete my thread if you want.

oh, please no need to be sorry to me!!

however, anglinacat is just pointing out, it gets a bit confusing for those follow the "UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENTION"....and someone does a "search" it's just a bit confusing i would imagine....

however, thanks for the update!! and anglinacat thanks for reminding us of the forum rules..

[tobee43]

Actually the Democrats do not have the votes needed. Due to the Republicans game of doing a Philabuster on everything the Democrats want to do, the Democrats would need a Super Majority - which means they need 60 votes. Unfortunately they no longer have this (technically they didn't have it since Joe Lieberman is a prick and votes in his own world anyway). The Democrats could not pass a law giving each State an extra roll of toilet paper because of all of the stupid political games. Not that Democrats have no blame - both parties do - but what I hate is the whole Philabuster system anyway as it keeps things from getting done.

Just like when the Republicans take over the House in January - they will be powerless to get things done, too. As Senate votes can over-rule them as the Democrats still have a slight majority - plus the President can veto anything they attempt to do. So we have two more years of nothing to look forward to. Our system sucks when people who need help cannot get it - I feel extremely bad for them.

fishersmike, see that's why I THOUGHT it would have passed...i THOUGHT the democrates were still in control of the senate and it would make it though...i'm so disappointed...

you got that right...what the heck, we can help every country in the world but US!! it really is disgracful...next time i'm voting for mickey mouse for president...that's for sure!

[helpmeout]

my guess is that the R's ok it when the D's agree to extend the tax cuts for the rich...unfortunately the little guy gets screwed in the meantime

If the Democrats are smart, they won't give in to the Republicans. Linking the extension of Unemployment benefits, which helps the little guy the most, to a give away to the rich can only show just how much the Republicans don't care about the little guy.

Which will hurt them when it comes time to vote.

If the Democrats stand firm, the Republicans will blink. Like they did with Clinton and the budget impasse that closed the government down.

[WhatMoney]

First off, this vote was in the House, not the Senate. The Dems don't have the votes in the Senate to pass a bill without Republican support, today, not just next year.

Since the dems still hold the majority in congress, this is definitely not about what the republicans did or didn't do. If the democrats really wanted this, they could've gotten it passed just like they did with other pieces of legislation.

Not true, since this bill required a 2/3 majority vote since it was a "fast track" bill. An attempt to get the UI extension passed before Thanksgiving required the expedited House rules and a 2/3 majority. The vote was 258-154 IN FAVOR of the UI 3-month extension. But 275 votes were needed to pass, therefore the bill failed.

In the House 143 Republicans and 11 Democrats voted NO, while 237 Democrats voted for the bill.. The vote was 17 votes short of passing. Even IF ALL the House Democrats had voted YES, the vote would still have failed - because of the Republican vote. It's silly to blame the Democrats when it was the Republicans that clearly defeated the bill.

But... if we're collectively dumb enough to elect them into office then, unfortunately, the blame squarely lies upon a largely apathetic and uninformed voter pool.

By them you must mean the Republicans - the Democrats would pass this bill in a flash if it wasn't for the 'Just Say No' vote of the Republicans.

Jobless benefits extension fails in U.S. House
4:13pm EST

* Time running out for action before benefits expire
* Two million Americans could lose benefits by end of year
* Republicans insist on cuts to offset cost of extension

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Millions of jobless Americans could see unemployment benefits run out in coming weeks after an effort to extend them failed in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

House Democratic leaders said they would take up the measure again but Congress has little time before the benefits expire on Nov. 30. Lawmakers are expected to leave Washington next week for the Thanksgiving holiday and the Senate has not scheduled a vote.

The jobless rate has been stuck around 9.6 percent as the United States struggles to emerge from the financial crisis and its worst recession since the 1930s. Economists expect unemployment to remain high for years to come.

Congress has let jobless benefits lapse twice already this year as Republicans insist the cost -- $160 billion in the last fiscal year -- be offset by cuts elsewhere to prevent the nation's $14 trillion debt from growing further.

"We all want to help those in need. But the American people know that someone has to pay when the government spends money and it shouldn't be our children and grandchildren," said Republican Representative Charles Boustany.

But Democrats say Republicans showed no similar concerns when approving spending for two wars and when pushing to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which would add an estimated $700 billion to the deficit over 10 years.

If the measure is not renewed, some 2 million people by the end of the year will stop getting weekly checks they receive as they look for work, says the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for workers' rights.

ANOTHER VOTE IN LATE NOVEMBER?

By a vote of 258 to 154, the proposal to extend benefits through February fell short of the two-thirds margin needed to pass the House under special rules allowing an expedited vote.

Some 21 Republicans joined 237 Democrats to vote for the measure, while 11 Democrats and 143 Republicans voted against.

Under normal rules, the measure needs only a simple majority to pass. Democratic leaders in the House said they would schedule another vote for the week of Nov. 29.

Jobless benefits usually expire after six months but, since the recession took hold in 2007, Congress has voted to extend them for up to 99 weeks.

Nearly half of the 15 million unemployed people in the United States have been out of work for more than six months, the highest level of long-term unemployment since the government began keeping track in the 1940s.

A report in April by the San Francisco Federal Reserve concluded that the long-term benefits boosted the unemployment rate by 0.4 percentage points as some of the jobless were less likely to look for work.

But economists generally think unemployment benefits get a good bang for the buck because people who are out of work and struggling are likely to spend the money quickly, putting it into the economy and stimulating growth.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN...8?pageNumber=1

[AngelinaCat]

This is the current Congress. The Dems ARE the ones in control here. They didn't have enough votes on their own side to get it done--or didn't want to get it done. They WANT the Republicans to take the backlash. The Reps won't be in the majority until January.

[WhatMoney]

This is the current Congress. The Dems ARE the ones in control here. They didn't have enough votes on their own side to get it done--or didn't want to get it done. They WANT the Republicans to take the backlash. The Reps won't be in the majority until January.

False and false. Read my prior post. It's always best to know the details before making comments. If Pelosi can still schedule a normal majority vote on this or other bills before the end of the year, it should pass the House. However the Senate cannot bring any bill to a vote without a 60 vote majority to stop a filibuster, and of course you realize there are not 60 Democrats in the US Senate today.

[albacore44]

actually we have a Labor shortage in this country. For higher skilled jobs. someone mentioned Programers. I contract with a major US corporation that can't find enough skilled programers in the US or abroad

[nc73]

Sorry guys but it has to stop sometime. Govt owe enough as it is. Easy for me to say I know..

[jacko]

The unemployment extension was fast tracked which requires a 2/3rds majority in the House for passage. The dems do not have a 2/3rds majority in the current Congress. Plus any Senator can stop it in its track by filibustering it.

The Republicans don't take control until the new members are sworn in, which happens in January.

[jacko]

I wish you would tell the farmers and sugar barons to.

Sorry guys but it has to stop sometime. Govt owe enough as it is. Easy for me to say I know..

[jacko]

There are ways to counter outsourcing. Our competitors up north and much of the EU have single payer health care. Firms who have operations there do not fork over up to $20,000 per employee in health benefits. We need to liberate employers of this boon dongle. This would encourage people who are sick of their corporate jobs to be their own boss such as setting up a small business, consultant etc and employers would hire more as well with out the added benefit expense.

Fallonedward, I know what you mean. I go a little crazy when I see us shell out billions to so many countries to help their citizens, yet we are fighting over shelling out some billions to help our own citizens that are living in poverty. Everytime I see homeless I want to rip out my hair thinking we can't help these people (if these homeless were the result of them being veterans I really want to rip out my hair thinking how we let down those that served in wars).

Then I get angry when I see how we are so willing to outsource jobs to China and India and programming work to Russia and I want to go insane thinking those were jobs that used to go to people here. Eventually we outsource more and more work and we can retrain only so many of those people to other jobs, but eventually we run out of new jobs to create for those people, so we create more people that are unemployed or homeless.

The richest country in the world can't even help its own citizens.