Who Are the 99ers?
 Where did they come from? What to they want?

June 29, 2010 

The "99ers" are those who have exhausted all unemployment insurance income - - - the initial State benefits of 26 weeks and any federal extended benefits that they may have qualified for, whether it be 20 weeks or the max allowable of 99 weeks, where unemployment is the highest. (I once heard that the average was really about 50 weeks.)

The term "99er" has become a bit of a misnomer and a misperception by the media and general public...and even among the unemployed themselves, as every State has different and confusing "formulas" when calculating one's unemployment insurance benefits. The term "99ers" now usually simply refers to everyone who no longer receives any unemployment insurance income.

And the 99ers are also not being counted by Bureau of Labor and Statistics, claiming they are "marginal" and "discouraged workers" who dropped out of the workforce. Not true! As one 99er states: "I am a 99er and have applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs since I was laid off in 2008. I live in California where we got 99 weeks. I didn't let down looking for a job from the point when I first lost my job."

But only a very small percentage of these people actually got the full 99 weeks (I myself, in Nevada with the HIGHEST unemployment rate of 14.1%, got just 73 weeks. Why not 99 weeks also?).

Another writes:

I was watching c-span the day the dems tried to sway the NO senators to use the stimulus money and their response was that money is not earmarked for unemployment....they want the money cut somewhere from the budget so they can have the bragging rights that they cut spending.....the republicans seem to believe that if we can't find a job then we won't have the incentive to vote.....I for one say let them take a cut in salary......I am laid off from a plant that 5 years ago employed 600 people they laid off all but 55 they have called back around 90 I am num 181 but at this rate it could be another year and there are no jobs in my area unless you want to go into the mines which I took the class and got my EMT license but even the mines are only hiring experienced miners right now.....I'm tired of writing emails that no one probably reads, I'm tired of the bickering in congress frankly I'm just tired, tired of the worry and stress, tired of watching c-span only to get my hopes dashed, if they have a better answer to this problem than unemployment extensions THEN PLEASE TELL US WHAT THE HELL IT IS BECAUSE WHAT THEY ARE DOING RIGHT NOW SURE AS HELL AIN'T WORKING. CHILDREN ARE GOING HUNGRY, PEOPLE ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES AND MANY ARE TAKING THEIR OWN LIVES, ALL WE WANT IS A CHANCE TO SURVIVE.

Some that recently lost their benefits have complained about not getting 99 weeks (max allowable in only the highest unemployed States). And some of the 99ers have counter-argued:

1) You were stone silent when the original 99ers were struggling to get noticed.
2) You had 99 more weeks of FULL EMPLOYMENT than the 99ers did - while the 99ers scraped by on their meager unemployment checks...so the 99ers suffered longer than you did.
3) You had time to prepare when the 99ers didn't have ANY time...the 99ers were totally blind-sided.

Yes, while millions of others all throughout  2009 saw their co-workers being laid off, heard the rumors and saw the news reports, they had time to prepare...the 99ers were blind-sided, having the rug suddenly and without warning, pulled out from under them. They had no time to prepare at all (like refinancing for a cheaper car or letting their lease expire for a cheaper place to live, etc. - but without a job and now, bad credit, they're now stuck between a rock and a hard place.)

I personally wish I had been earning my regular wage for the last 99 weeks before thinking that one day I too might be laid off (a couple less trips to the local bar maybe?). I would have had 99 weeks to better prepare and save even more. As it is, I've already gone through my life's savings, cashed in my IRA (with tax and penalty), and took my early pension (with HUGE tax and penalty). I'm only 55 years old...which makes me too young for Social Security but considered "too old" by most employers to be rehired.

And the longer one is out of work, the less chance they'll have of finding another job. Fact.

And wouldn't extending benefits to just ONE person be an admission by Congress that there are no jobs for anyone...including 99ers? How can Congress feed some and let the rest starve?

Congress (and some others) argue that they (the 99ers) had 99 weeks already and should have found a job by now, even though Vice President Biden openly admitted yesterday that the 8 million jobs lost during the recession weren't ever coming back! HINT TO CONGRESS: There ARE no damn jobs!

*pulling hair while arguing with idiots*

Some economists state that today's unemployment numbers could very well be a permanent jobless situation. Congress, the economists, and the general public are all aware of these "inconvenient truths", but deliberately choose to ignore them. Why?

Quite simply...we (ALL the unemployed) are all being sacrificed for the good of the group. Rather than cut government spending across-the-board or targeting areas of nonessential value, it's easier to deny the unemployed and not have to sacrifice anything else...the government and the general population can maintain the status quo without making ONE SINGLE SACRIFICE of their own...even if it could save their fellow countrymen.

Yes, it's a proud day to be an American!

The term "99ers" should now simply refer to everyone who no longer receives any unemployment insurance income...no matter how many weeks they've previously collected or how many weeks they've been out of work. If you're unemployed and can't find a job today, you should be allowed to collect benefits until the unemployment rate is back down to 6 or 7 %. PERIOD!

*** Full disclosure: I  am blogger and a Reagan Republican with conservative values (see my blog at http://tobuds.com/blogs ). I have not updated my blog in a long time because I have since been donating all my time to the unemployed elsewhere.

But I don't believe the unemployment situation should be partisan. People off ALL ideologies and political slants - from all walks of life - are suffering in this "recession". But I for one, have been ashamed at how the Republicans and the Tea Party have been using government spending as a weapon against the Democrats on the jobless issue.

Republicans want to cut spending at the bottom first. Why don't they set an example of fiscal responsibility and offer an amendment to cut their own $174,000-annual-salaries first? Maybe then I'll believe in their "sincerity". It is unfair to use the unemployed as an example of government spending, and I won't be the least bit surprised if Republicans lose support in November from many unemployed Republicans.

Related Article:
The Division and Resentment Among the Unemployed
http://acompanyofone.org/divide-and-conquer.html  

Update: House rejects extension of unemployment benefits

Other Articles I wrote about  the Congressional Denial of Unemployment Benefits to the Unemployed

BP and Me
http://acompanyofone.org/its-all-about-the-oil.htm 

Now What Can I Do? Die? 
http://acompanyofone.org/now-what-can-i-do.htm 

Don't Blame the Good Senators!
http://acompanyofone.org/making-a-case-for-congress.html 

There Will be NO Tier Five!
http://acompanyofone.org/why-there-will-be-no-tier-five.htm 

This call might be recorded... 
http://acompanyofone.org/phone-calls-to-your-senator.htm 

To Be a Homeless Man
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2010/05/09/to-be-a-homeless-man 

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