2010 Unemployment Extensions - Passed in the House, UI Benefits on the Way

2010 Unemployment Extensions - After months of frustration and growing despair, the Senate finally voted last night in favor of the Unemployment Extension Bill which, along with the Reid-Baucus Amendment, will extend UI benefits for the fourth time since the recession began.

With an easy vote of approval in the House today, the 2010 Unemployment Extension has now passed the final Congressional hurdle.

This means, after a quick trip to the White House for the President's signature today or early tomorrow, unemployment benefits will soon be restored to the nearly 3 million jobless whose lifeline was cut off over the last few months while the Senate wrangled over how to pay for the legislation.

Unemployment benefits extension recipients should be cautioned that it could take two to four weeks for retroactive benefits checks to begin to arrive. Each state is different in how they handle payment, but will begin working on calculating arrearages and preparing checks as soon as they receive the go ahead from the federal government.

Read "UI Extensions to Include Retroactive Benefits" for more detail about what to do and expect with regard to getting your unemployment benefits checks coming again.

The unemployment extension bill that passed unfortunately does not include the $25 per week FAC stimulus addition or Cobra extended benefits assistance. Although the Republicans tried repeatedly to pass UI extension bills and amendments that included these benefits for the jobless while paying for the benefits with other cuts or unused funds from the failed "stimulus" bill, Democrats rejected those UI extension bills and opted, instead, to decrease benefits to the unemployed to reduce the cost of the package.

Read "Now Senate Democrats Want to Cut UI Benefits to Pay For Them" to learn more.

This unemployment extension bill also does not address the needs of the ninety-niners by adding more weeks or a Tier 5 to the extending tiers of unemployment benefits. Tier 5 was never considered in this legislation in either the House or the Senate. As the Democrats refused to allow this unemployment extension to be sensibly paid for, it now seems even less likely that a call for a Tier 5 or additional weeks of benefits will be accepted by the American people as the deficit continues to climb.

Further, Senate Democrats will be busy over the next few weeks with a number of job-killing proposals and then Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev) has reportedly determined that they should adjourn early to go back to their home districts to campaign for the November elections. So there will be little time for consideration of a Tier 5, no matter how critically necessary it is for millions of unemployed who have already lost their lifeline.

Read "What Are the Chances for a Tier 5 - Ever?"

A Tier 5 unemployment benefits extension will most definitely be necessary, given that this administration and this Democrat controlled Congress are bent on social re-engineering and redistributing the wealth and so continue to pass every job killing piece of legislation they can think of.

Under these circumstances, I appreciate and greatly need the help provided by unemployment benefits and, yes, I will likely need the extended as I am having no luck finding a job in this horrible economy. But I will not be snowed by these people, using our pain and our need for their government largesse, to get our votes. I will fight for these benefits, until we can "Throw the Bums Out!" and replace them with statesmen who will turn this ship around, free up the American private sector - the most prosperous, successful and free economic system ever known in the world - and allow businesses to grow and hire again.

I hope you will dig deeper, learn more about what is going on, and not allow the Democrats' well crafted snow job to cause you to vote your whole future away. Unemployment benefits can only help us for so long. Some day, they will have to stop, leaving us permanently impoverished welfare recipients - and permanent Democrat voters. That's how it's done. Only returning America to its successful and prosperous free market roots can bring jobs and prosperity back. We must not let our current need blind us to what is happening - and why.

Source:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/2010/0722/Unemployment-extension-101-what-you-need-to-know