Urge Your Senators to Take Action THIS WEEK on Unemployment Benefits and COBRA

[Dulcinea]

We've begun another legislative week, and one in which we hope that the Senate will conclude action on HR 4213, the bill that would extend eligibility for the federal unemployment programs (Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Federal Additional Compensation, and full funding of Extended Benefits) through November 2010. This has turned out to be a much harder fight that we anticipated, and it's dragging on longer than we know is ideal for those of you who are seeing the premature end of your benefits.

When the House considered the bill a few weeks ago, out of the need to get the overall price of the bill down so that a majority of Members would vote for it, they stripped out the COBRA subsidy, as well as important money for state Medicaid programs, and scaled back the eligibility for the UI programs from end of December, to end of November. As horrifying as these cuts were, we were lucky to not have lost more - more and more Members are beginning to think that it's time to start scaling back these programs in general, and we are fighting that tooth and nail.

When the bill came to the Senate, the Medicaid money was restored, and we are leading a fight to restore the COBRA subsidy. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania has been our champion and he is waging a great fight. 24 Senators have agreed to co-sponsor the amendment, and we and a number of other advocates have been working to both gain more co-sponsors and shore up support among the moderate Senators on both sides of the aisle, but we still do not have a clear sense that we can reach the magic 60 votes to get the subsidy restored. But we are not going down without a hard fight because we want to not just protect the subsidy, but make the message loud and clear that it is too soon to be cutting back support for the unemployed.

www.unemployedworkers.org

[Ian David]

1. Here's a direct link...

http://www.unemployedworkers.org/page/speakout/UIandCobraNOW

[Dulcinea]

2. kick. eom

[TheKentuckian]

3. Looks like the neo-Reaganites don't give a crap about what is going down

k&r

Some seem to crave a double dip or something or at least don't give shit about displaced workers in. This time of high unemployment.

[TK421]

4. I just found out Sunday that my benefits are being phased out sometime

next month...and if I don't find something by then I am really screwed

K&R

[Dulcinea]

5. kick. eom

[SlipperySlope]

6. Cobra subsidy should be 100%

Not the piddling 65% it is now.

[prolesunited]

7. I was between tiers and have been without benefits

since they went on break without passing the extension. I've applied for hundreds of jobs but there doesn't seem to be much demand for a 47-year-old middle manager who's long-term unemployed. I don't know how to make the mortgage this month if they don't approve the extensions. I lost my health insurance months ago.

I guess you can see what they want to do with the excess population. After working since the age of 16, going to college, and having an excellent employment record, I guess they are done with me. I'll just crawl into the corner and die now since I'm obviously no longer of any value.

[Dulcinea]

8. They're supposed to vote on a "scaled-back" version of this bill today.

Not sure what that means, though.

Plenty of money for wars and banks, but none for unemployed Americans.