Unemployment Extension Won’t Help 99ers

[Donnachaidh]

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/16/unemployment-extension-wont-help-99ers/?mod=wsj_share_twitter

The extension for unemployment benefits that is part of the compromise tax deal is good news for many of the unemployed, but it won’t provide aid to anyone who’s been out of a job over 99 weeks.

As we’ve explained previously, the extension worked out by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans only lets unemployed workers continue to draw benefits for up to 99 weeks, it doesn’t extend the duration of the program beyond that point. Those who have exhausted all currently available benefits — so-called 99ers — won’t be granted an extension.

That’s a concern because the number of 99ers may be increasing. The number of people who have received their final payments from extended-benefits programs this year through the end of October — the most recent month for which data are available — is over one million, and that number has been steadily increasing. Separately, the Labor Department reported that nearly 10% of the unemployed in the third quarter of 2010 — more than one million people — had been out of a job and looking for work for about two years or more. Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment have been trending lower recently, but the biggest surge came in early 2009. The peak of 643,000 claims in a single week came in March of last year, 89 weeks ago. Anyone still unemployed since that peak is likely to run out of benefits soon, if they haven’t already.

Charts and more at the link --

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I think there are going to be ALOT of very disappointed people...

So as the need for a safety net increases, the availability of one diminished....

My impression is that the only ones who will really benefit from this, are those that are already in a good position, financially.

The rest of us...especially those of us on Social Security and Medicare are soooo screwed ....

[mmonk]

2. The Bourgeoisie wouldn't have it any other way.

[aquart]

3. I don't think you mean bourgeoisie.

Because they are the source of insurrection and rebellion. Every time. We have a fantasy of peasant revolts, but if you want real, bloody revolution, you go with a rising middle class that is tired of token power and wants real power to match its real income.

[mmonk]

4. What is the proletariat?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. The Working Class

.

[mmonk]

10. I know.

That is why I said what I did in my post. They would not have the 99'ers cut off.

[TBF]

7. The bourgeoisie are the owners -

the proletariat are the workers.

Here is the manifesto so you can read it for yourself (it's short but good): http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/

[aquart]

8. Marx? Not my source for much of anything.

I stopped reading when he tried to tell me that the value of something was the labor that went into it.

He also thought his great revolution would come from enlightened industrialized places like Germany and not backwards messes like Russia.

[TBF]

11. Your loss. nt

[TBF]

6. Once people realize that the unemployment is limited, and the payroll

tax contributes to the de-funding of Social Security (and then it gets gutted massively after 2012 when Obama loses re-election), maybe then the magical thinking will stop and people will realize what has happened.

To quote the KKE in Greece "We do not consent".

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

9. I'll bet a bunch of people will feel great relief...

when they learn they've lost their UI benefits within a few weeks rather than a week or so after Christmas; since the YE checks aren't cut until January, anyway, there was no threat of losing UI at Christmas. And I'm sure +99% of us are under the impression we all received a 13 month extension.

It just seems like a lot of folks who've been sweating out the past few weeks are going to be upset when they find out that what they were told doesn't actually apply to them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. My GF's Benefits Will End In Feb. So She Will Get The Extension

We are very aggressive on our job search and more flexible than most because we no longer have a permanent residence, As a result we are getting a lot of feelers but who knows in this economy. Too bad she can't transfer her benefits if and when she finds a new job.

I know 99ers and my heart bleeds for them.

[Cleita]

12. If so, it seems the American people have been

hoodwinked again. Of course, I was for letting the tax rates elapse back to the Clinton era taxes and these other issues taken care of separately in the lame duck session like they are doing with DADT. I never understood why the Republicans were even allowed to lump unemployment and other issues in with this instead of being told they couldn't. As far as the tax breaks, I'm certain that the new Republican lead Congress would have put that issue back on the table so there was no fear of it never happening.

[Starry Messenger]

14. recommend.