Extending Unemployment Benefits: Yea or Nay?
Among the bills passed in the House during the recent Silly Season was H.R. 6867, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008. (Not all bills passed in Silly Season are silly.)
The bill would provide seven additional weeks of unemployment checks to those who have exhausted their benefits. People in states where the unemployment rate is above 6 percent would be entitled to an additional 13 weeks above the 26 weeks of regular benefits.
It didn’t pass in the Senate, but Congress is likely to return after the election to do some more business, and it could take up the unemployment extension then.
A previous extension (cost: about $120 per U.S. family) was rolled into a supplemental spending bill this summer and passed into law. The current bill has no cost estimate yet.
So, whaddya say? Does the current economic climate mean that people down on their luck need a little more help? Or does the current economic climate mean that there’s no money for handouts?
Here’s the current vote on H.R. 6867, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.
Sarah
Like many others, I am a single mom of two. I have two degrees and have worked hard since I was 12 years old. I have been laid off twice in the last 15 months. And in that time, I have drained my savings, my 401k, and last summer dragged my feet and sold my house (which I had only purchased 2 years before and put $30K down), at a loss as I could no longer afford the mortgage. And yet, I believed in the neighborhood, and I had taken so much time, blood, sweat, tears, and money in renovating my home after my divorce only to sell. Shortly after, my ex-husband thought this was a good time to sue me for modification of child support – not that he couldn’t afford what he was paying, he just knew I couldn’t afford the fight. He won. So now after endless searching for work, sending countless resumes- nothing. My Unemployment is exhausted. The 13 weeks EUC was exhausted this week, and I found out I will not receive the additional 7 weeks, and I was so counting on that.I don’t understand. I found something worth exploring, I need more time. I have $3 left.