From the 99ers to Our Good Senators

From the 99ers to Our Good Senators
(And everyone else who wouldn't listen)

The "99ers" - Defined: They are a group of long-term jobless people who exhausted all qualifying weeks of extended federal unemployment benefits (ranging from 20 weeks to the maximum of 99 weeks in the higher unemployed States). Essentially, these are the people that everyone else has forgotten or given up on - people who are trying to survive on no income at all - here in America - the richest country in the world.

In Memory of Steven

Video courtesy of Rhonda Taylor. All photos submitted from 99ers in various Facebook groups. Original video here at YouTube.

I'd like to think I have a great imagination, so I'll imagine that our good senators in Congress will also have one as well.

I'll imagine them as educated men and women who perceive themselves as being "winners" in the game of life. After all, they are U.S. senators, and half of them are millionaires. "Losers" in the game of life don't achieve that sort of status. And let's not forget, it was "The People" who voted them into office, so many may think they're well-liked too.

Most of our esteemed senators reign from large extended families and have a vast network of friends and professional contacts...so they're not alone. They live very comfortable life-styles, own nice homes and cars, and don't worry much about their own personal financial survival. If they need some ready cash, maybe they'll unload some of their stocks...or put their summer home on the beach or in the mountains up for sale. No big deal; it might be a little inconvenient, but it's survivable.

But our good senators never have to worry about where they'll sleep or what they'll eat tomorrow. Those days, if ever they existed, are long gone. Today, they make $174,000 a year, have offices all across their home states and in Washington D.C., and have all the related perks that comes with holding the office of "senator". In a worst case scenario, if they ever lost their gig, they can be hired by one of the many lobbying firms that once gave them "donations" - or maybe they'd fall back on their original professions, such as a lawyer or doctor. Maybe they can write a "tell all" book about the dirty laundry in Congress!

Today, for our senators, life is good. They are the 100 men and women in a population of 309 million American people who are on the top of their game. They run the show. They have the power. They are the winners. They call all the shots.

Now I'll have all these intelligent and bright senators imagine that for just this once, they are only "ordinary" people...like us.

Imagine you are 53 years old and earn a mere $750 a week before any taxes are deducted. You pay a $850 monthly rent on a 1-bedroom apartment - and you drive a used 3-year-old 4-door Chrysler Sebring. You work at a job that you've held for the past 20 years.

Now imagine it's 2008, the stock market crashed, and through no fault of your own, you were laid off from your job. Imagine that you collected unemployment benefits that are half as much as your previous salary. Imagine you looked for work for the last 2 years, sending out hundreds of resumes and filling out job applications.

Imagine you were always rejected, and didn't get one single interview. Some potential employers probably thought that you were "too old", but they politely told you that you were over-qualified.

Now imagine the politicians (not you, the imaginary ones) and the media called you "lazy", or suspected you as a drug user, or accused you of not wanting to work...that instead, you preferred to sit on your ass and collect a hand-out like a low-down free-loader.

Now imagine that you've exhausted all 73 weeks (not the 99 weeks as promised) of your federal unemployment insurance benefits, spent your entire life's savings, and are just barely holding on with what little funds you had left in your IRA account - which now, may last you for only a few short months longer. You're barely able to just maintain the status quo...living on the edge and running on empty.

Imagine your stress and declining health as a result of that stress over the last 2 years. Remember the guilt and hurt?

Now imagine your car (not your Mercedes, BMW, or Lexus...but now your used 5-year-old 4-door Chrysler Sebring) was repossessed 6 weeks ago.

Now imagine, that you just learned that you can't have access to your union pension for another 7 more years (not until you turn 62, when you'll also first qualify for Social Security benefits, but at a reduced rate.) With the little cash you have left in your checking account, it was like hearing your doctor just tell you that you only had 3 months longer to live (homelessness was not an option for you.)

Now imagine that your landlord left an eviction notice on your front door 3 days later for all your neighbors to see.

Over the last 2 years you've written and faxed your senator, and you've even signed a petition - and you also wrote to the Senate Ways and Means Committee for the Hearing on the Long term Unemployed. You also started a Facebook group, then you created a web site - you even e-mailed the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demanding that you be counted!

You wrote to the union pension fund, begging for an accommodation (a negotiated lump sum payment for a lesser amount), but you were refused. You did all that you could do but set yourself on fire in the town square...but nothing helped...nobody heard a word you said. You were invisible.

You once thought about living in a tent, but the police wouldn't allow for that...homeless people can't even sleep on the city sidewalks...there are NO options left to those when the rent is due and don't have the money to pay. Unlike 1933, "Hoovervilles" and shanty towns can not exist in America in 2010. What would the neighbors say? "Not in MY backyard!"

You tried everything you could to save yourself, but you failed.

Imagine the shame, frustration, anger, and bitterness you've been feeling for 2 long years. The betrayal you felt and your loss of hope - and the depression and desperation you suffered through all these months. Now you will only have your self-pitying tears and your final thoughts just before you finally pull the trigger, committing suicide.

Now wake up senator!

Imagine that it was all just a horrible dream...a nightmare; and that all these things didn't really happen to you because you are a U.S. Senator...elected to fight for, and to represent that very person who perished in your nasty nightmare.

But for millions of "ordinary" people, it's NOT a dream...they really are living this horrible nightmare, because their good senators (you) would not extend the unemployment insurance program for them. People are now living in homeless shelters or on the street...and many took their own lives.

Now let's imagine that all these good senators (the REAL senators, and everyone else who wouldn't listen) were just struck down by lightning.

NOTE: - The 99ers, approximately 4.8 million (to date) people have lost their federal extended benefits, and there will be another 200,000 every 2 weeks until we reach a total of 5.38 million. And then another 4.62 million who will eventually exhaust their normal state benefits of 26 weeks - so by the end of the year we might have 10 million people with NO income at all. This does not include any new claims from this day foreword.

This represents the entire population of a city like Chicago!

...and this does not include the other 5 million unemployed who the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says didn't qualify or didn't apply for benefits at all. (Who and where are these people? Homeless or suicide? Who knows?)

And this doesn't include the other 15 million that are "under-employed" (working one or more part-time low-paying jobs just to survive.)

TOTAL: 30 million from a workforce of 150 million = 20% unemployed or under-employed.

And some are saying there could be many more!

The number of 99ers could already have topped 7 million and more!
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5618178/the_scary_number_of_99ers_the_jobless.html?cat=3

Private pollsters and economists are piling up statistics showing the government's official jobless rate is becoming more and more of a fiction.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/careers/what-is-the-real-u...nemployment-rate/19556146/

(And it was just reported that the U.S. is on track to have 1 million home foreclosures in 2010!)

At the height of the Great Depression in 1933 there were 13 million unemployed with no income...but at least they could live in "Hoovervilles". Today, the homeless can't sleep on the street or live in a tent city without being cited by the police. What other options are left available to these people? NONE!

"The economy stinks. Jobs are scarce. Wages are under pressure. One in four homes with a mortgage is underwater. Retirement savings have been butchered; pensions are at risk. Bailed out bankers are paying themselves record bonuses...and the jobs aren't coming back. It is ugly out here." ~ The Huffington Post

Now it's deadly. They deny you a job. They deny you unemployment benefits. They deny you your pension or early Social Security. They deny you a tent city or a place on the sidewalk to sleep. They deny you hope. They deny you anything that you'll need to survive. They'll insult you and lay the blame on you as though somehow it's all YOUR fault, just to remove the responsibility and guilt from themselves.

Unemployment and Economic Troubles Leading to Increase in Calls to Suicide Hot Lines
Read article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5586502/unemployment_and_economic_troubles.html?cat=62

URGENT! Dated July 14, 2010 - Fax and e-mail this letter to Obama to your senators, Obama, and the media.
http://acompanyofone.org/blog6.php/2010/07/15/president-barack-hussein-obama-ii

Other Articles I wrote:

My other blog posts regarding the unemployment situation:

How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2010/04/17/how-a-new-jobless-era-will-transform-ame

America in Crisis - Congress Must Choose: Unemployment Benefits or Homelessness
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/13/america-in-crisis-congress-must-choose-u

Tom Coburn and the Republicans on H.R. 4213 - "NOT!"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/11/tom-coburn-and-the-republicans-on-h-r-42

Latest Unemployment Numbers and Links from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/09/latest-unemployment-numbers-links-from-t

50 Years Old and Unemployed? You're a Dead Man Walking
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/19/50-years-old-and-unemployed-you-re-a-dea

Critics of the Jobless - Why Benefits Should Be Extended
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/09/critics-of-the-jobless-why-benefits-shou

Extended Federal Unemployment Benefits - Tier V - UPDATES
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010

Fox News: "Are U.S. Veterans also Lazy?"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/27/fox-news-are-u-s-veterans-also-lazy

A Tribute to Another Unemployed 99er
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/24/a-tribute-to-another-unemployed-99er

99ers Tossed to the Curb like Old Beer Cans
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/24/99ers-tossed-to-the-curb-like-old-beer-c

Unemployment: Bottom of the List for Obama (UPDATES)
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/05/unemployment-bottom-of-the-list-for-obam

Senator Kyl (R) Wisely backtracks - Calls for Extending Benefits
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/04/senator-kyl-wisely-backtracks-calls-for

They're not Lazy! They Can't Find A Job You Idiot!
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/28/they-re-not-lazy-they-can-t-find-a-job-y

Senator John Ensign and the GOP - "Let the Jobless Eat Cake"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/27/john-ensign-and-gop-let-the-jobless-eat

The Jobless Have Been Lost in Debate Over Healthcare
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/27/the-jobless-lost-in-debate-over-healthca

Like the last Great Depression, Unemployment and Foreclosures, Might See Rise in Suicides
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/10/unemployment-foreclosures-might-see-rise

The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face

Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive

Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece

Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting

Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job

More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010

Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release

FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be

Tea Party, Fox News, and Conservatives Attack the Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/04/tea-party-gets-in-wrong-on-unemployment

Obama-Care © Verses Unemployment and Suicide in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun

27 Million of 154 Million in Workforce w/o Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/15/27-million-of-154-million-in-workforce-w

Fox News Continues to Insult Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/13/fox-news-continues-bashing-the-jobless

"Diversity" and Illegal Hiring Practices
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog2.php/2010/03/12/mgm-mirage-illegal-hiring-practices

No, Unemployment Benefits is not an Inalienable Right
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/15/no-unemployment-benefits-is-not-inaliena

Too Old for the Workforce in 2010 - Unemployed Because of Age
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/06/too-old-for-the-workforce-in-2010-unempl

What they're NOT Saying about Jobless Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/08/what-nobody-s-saying-about-jobless-numbe

When Strip Bars in Las Vegas are Going Broke, You Know it's Bad!
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2010/04/14/when-strip-bars-are-going-broke-you-know

The Jobless and Suicides in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun

The Great Depression: Then and Now - Is There a Difference?
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/08/the-great-depression-then-and-now-is-the

Unemployed 99ers - Running on Empty
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/04/17/unemployed-99ers-running-on-empty-do-not

The 99ers Web Site

http://tobuds.com/99er/

E-Mail Me

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