More of the same.

It appears Congress and the White House have reached a compromise on extending expiring tax cuts that would includes funding current unemployment extensions for 13 additional months. 99ers will be left to fend for themselves.  Why have the 99ers been abandoned by everyone except Ed Schultz?

To understand the predicament of the long term unemployed during the Great Depression of the 21st Century, it's important to review some pertinent facts:

1. The unemployment rate is somewhere between 9.8% and higher. That makes the employment rate 77% or higher. It is very hard for the 77% employed to fathom why anyone is involuntarily unemployed for greater than 99 weeks, even in a weak economy.

2. The current model of issuing unemployment benefits via "weeks" is inadequate given current economic conditions. With five seekers for each job and an unemployment rate predicted to hover above 8% through 2012, a safety net for the unemployed should be tied to the unemployment rate.  Benefits should continue until the unemployment rate is down to 'X' not an arbitrary designation of weeks.  Unfortunately no one will commit to structuring unemployment insurance accordingly.

3. The argument in favor of adding a TierV has too often been made from the POV of the 99ers. (These people need the safety net to survive.) Unemployment advocates (I include myself) should have jumped on the Republican meme that small businesses are the primary creators of jobs.  The success of small business depends more on demand than tax cuts. Therefore it is vital that the unemployed have a minimal amount of money to support these small businesses.

What is left to do? The aforementioned compromise has not net been voted on in Congress.  Now, more than ever is the time to bombard elected officials. It is also important for all unemployed to stick together. Given the statistics above there are going to be more 99ers each week. Attrition (death and  homelessness) will reduce the amount of 99ers but not nearly by the numbers joining the ranks of the 99ers.  Eventually, something will be done. I am hoping for the best.

No help yet.

Last week I was talking with my friend Vito, a Desert Storm veteran, union member, Republican and a 99er.  We've known each other for over 15 years, working together for 4 years. Vito became a 99er in July, my membership began in September. We share information weekly about jobs, unemployment and general thoughts.   During our last conversation I mentioned that I didn't think there would be any legislation for TierV until after the November elections. Vito disagreed, "Do you think Congress is going home for elections with unemployment close to 10% and 5 million 99es?" His opinion gave me some hope.

The past 7 days had shown some promise. Sen. Voinovich (R-OH) broke ranks with his party to support a small business package. John Boehner indicated he would be open to extending tax cuts without including the ultra rich in the package. The spirit of compromise was in the air. Unfortunately, that spirit didn't stick around too long.

Republican leadership ran away from Boehner's thoughts. It seems some Democrats don't have the stones to pass a tax cut that ends at $250,000.  This morning two sources indicated that Democratic Congressional leadership will again postpone funding Tiers II, III and IV until the last minute, squeezing out the 99ers in the process.

For reasons that defy logic I remain optimistic.  The DC rally on October 2nd is gaining momentum. Ed Schultz has guaranteed at least 300,000 participants.  Along with Sen. Voinovich, Gregg of NH and Lemeiux of FL are retiring Republican Senators that might be persuaded to join in the populist issue of helping the unemployed, especially if tied to continuation of the Bush tax cuts. I think something will be done before November. Do you ? If yes, how will it fall together? If no, why not?

100 isn't perfect. It might be disaster.

I am one of the many long term unemployed in this country. Although I usually only speak for myself, I feel comfortable speaking for all of us in one regard. In no particular order, the 5 most important things we need are jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs. Job creation doesn't happen overnight. President Obama wanted a bipartisan stimulus, instead he got one too small. He thought after the bank bailout, the banks would repay the favor. Loan the 0% money they could get to small businesses. Instead the money was used to fuel their insatiable greed. So we must continue to be patient. Patience (in this case) requires shelter, food, utilities. Unemployment compensation beyond 99 weeks. Numerous officials have compared Wall Street to Main Street; Recovery is incomplete until it reaches Main Street. OK, put up or shut up.

Work began on the Bank Bailout in Sept., 2008. The unemployment rate in Sept., 2008 was 6.1% Today the unemployment rate is 9.5%. The unemployment rate has only been this high once in the last 70 years.

Put up or shut up. If the recovery is incomplete until it reaches Main Street, continue unemployment benefits until the unemployment rate returns to the level of Sept., 2008, 6.1% Or stop telling the world this is a priority. To help, I'll have suggestions of ways to pay for this next week.

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