H.R. 4213 is dead; it's time for a new strategy or that second stimulus talked up recently.

This issue is now more than just about an unemployment extension and a Medicare adjustment. This issue is now about: Do you stand with the American workers who have fallen on a rough job market or do you stand over in a corner somehwere silent about the issue chanting with big business proud to have defeated the hardest hit persons in the Great Recession?

H.R. 4213 is dead; it's time for a new strategy or that second stimulus talked up recently.

Nobel Prize winning economist, Paul Krugman, criticizes lawmakers for 'inflicting pain' to jobless

Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2008, helped make the case for a second stimulus stronger over the holiday weekend by mentioning in the New York Times Op-Ed that lawmakers should increase availability of insurance benefits in this weak, but gradually growing economy.  In his New York Time's article "The Pain Caucus", dated May 30, 2010, Krugman asserts that it is a 'destructive idea' to 'stop helping the jobless and start inflicting pain.' 

Paul Krugman's statement echoes the message that Lawrence Summers made last week before the Congressional recess when he made the case for a second stimulus which would include additional jobless benefits, tax cuts, and the proposal would continue to provide funding to assist the states who are facing many cuts next year due to budget issues and the toll the Great Recession has taken.  The bill, H.R. 4213, which extends the filing dates for the current approved tiers of benefits passed the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 245-171 in the United States House of Representatives and the measure was not taken up in the United States Senate before the Memorial Day break.  This is the second consecutive month that the Congress failed to take up the measure before the deadline expired.  If you want to see how your representative voted in the US House, see the official roll call at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll325.xml.


Read the entire article at:  http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-51044-Nashville-DNC-Examiner~y2010m6d1-Nobel-Prize-winning-economist-Paul-Krugman-criticizes-lawmakers-for-inflicting-pain-to-jobless?cid=publish_twitter:51044

Obama Administration Has Called For Additional Unemployment Insurance Included In Second Stimulus Act (a.k.a. "Mini" Stimulus) - #tier5 #unemployment

Not that members of the Tea Party movement will agree that there is anything "mini" about up to $300 billion dollars of deficit spending, it's being called for by the Obama Administration anyway.  This news should excite each and every reader out there who is seeking additional weeks available for unemployment benefits as this is the strongest signal from the Obama Administration that the unemployed are being heard. 

Today some very encouraging news emerged and since there are more than three sources reporting on it, it is definitely worth bringing to the attention of the unemployed - especially the long term unemployed who have felt abandoned in recent months.


Both Newsweek's article:  Economoist's Agree:  Unemployment Will Stay High Through November and the Financial Times article Obama adviser calls for new mini-stimulus are stating that the second stimulus requested on Monday, May 24, 2010 by the Obama Administration is calling for an extension of unemployment benefits. 

So, if H.R. 4213 is geared to assist the existing tiers through the remainder of the year, what else can this extension referenced be other than additional weeks available to the unemployed?  The second stimulus also being newly known as a "mini-stimulus" is seeming more and more like the vehicle that will be used for a possible Tier V unemployment extension or adding additional weeks to current tiers. 

The testimony given Monday by Lawrence Summers, Barack Obama's Senior Economic Advisor, stated to the United States House of Representatives the following statements: 

“I cannot agree with those who suggest that it somehow threatens the future to provide truly temporary, high-bang-for-the-buck jobs and growth measures,” he said. “Spurring growth, if we can achieve it, is by far the best way to improve our fiscal position.”

“The observation that the economy is again ascending does not mean that we are out of a very deep valley,” said Mr Summers.

As covered by Financial Times, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House stated: 

“We look forward to reviewing the president’s proposal and working together to do what’s right for our nation’s fiscal health and security,”

Newsweek reports that all three major economic groups that have leverage in Congress:  the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the centrist Brookings Institution, and the conservative Heritage Foundation are all in agreement that the national unemployment rate will hover around 10% through the remainder of this year and definitely through the midterm elections.

The full Newsweek article being referenced is at:  http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/25/economists-agree-unemployment-will-stay-high-through-november.aspx

Josh Bivens of EPI, advocates a second stimulus bill on the order of $300 billion that would extend unemployment benefits and food stamps, and subsidies for laid-off workers getting their health insurance through COBRA, plus fiscal relief to states facing recovery-killing budget cuts or tax increases.

According to the Newsweek Article, Bivens stated, "We missed our window", when referring to whether or not this action to provide tax cuts to small business to spur job creation would make an impact before the November midterm elections. 

James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation states that the president should encourage private wealth creation through tax cuts and tort reform to protect corporations against the costs of battling lawsuits. But he admits that this would take a while to boost employment figures.  Mr Sherk stated: "The economy moves at a slow pace."  (This will be the opinion taken by the Republican party and as was noted above, reflects the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation's assertion). 

In these articles it is stated that the second stimulus proposed by the Obama Administration is necessary to avoid a double dip back into the recession and sustain any amount of growth. 

If you have exhausted your benefits, you know this.  You know as well as anyone that without a job available to you and without assistance from unemployment insurance the economy will sink.  This is the bailout Main Street needs and according to Mr. Bivens from EPI, economists missed the mark to make a difference by about four or five months.  Does this sound about right to some of you?  Would it have helped to know four months ago (in early February), that your benefits would not be expiring and you could continue to pay for basic necessities that assistance through unemployment insurance can provide? 

No one should be claiming a victory here.  But this is some of the most encouraging news in recent months that signals to the unemployed how the Obama Administration and Democratic Leadership will address the needs of the long term unemployed who have exhausted benefits or will exhaust benefits very soon. 

As we have learned today, it seems the most likely route is going to be the passage of H.R. 4213 for those who have not used the maximum amount of benefits currently available through the end of this year.  And for those who have exhausted benefits or will exhaust benefits very soon, Stimulus Bill #2 is reported to cover unemployment extensions.  It seems logical that the bill that will cost over $300 billion dollars is the bill that will extend out weeks of benefits. 

We need this bill titled and in the finance committees as soon as possible.
Obviously, the full text of the bill for the "Second Stimulus" needs to be presented and when this happens it will likely then be reported by larger media outlets.  Right now it is just a proposal by the Chief Economic Advisor to the White House, Lawrence Summers. 

This additional glimpse of hope is reason to keep going advocates.  Keep the petitions strong and keep advocating for a Tier 5 unemployment extension so that it is quickly clear the long term unemployed are advocating for extending weeks.  Keep your telephone calls, emails, and faxes going to Congress.  There may very well be a form letter referencing this newly introduced measure very soon in replies.

Those who are advocating for extended weeks of unemployment benefits have came too far to let these efforts die down quite yet.  Not until there is a bill on the floor.  (And still even then to counter any Republican objections).  We must not relent until this legislation is passed.

The Newsreel at the top is ticking both Google queries:  Second Stimulus & H.R. 4213.  Both of these stories should be of interest to the unemployed out there seeking information.  If anyone finds any other links that are reporting a similar story in respect to unemployment benefits being in Stimulus II, please post that in the comments for other unemployed readers to see. 

Thanks everyone for doing what you do and helping to make this a reality.  I am hopeful that there will be a bill number to reference soon.  Remember, this was just introduced on Monday.  The story just broke on this today.  There's much more information to find out before anyone can say they know the full story. 

As more information is learned, this blog depends on contributions from its readers in comments and references from verifiable news sources.  Thanks in advance for your support out there and keep your eye open for any article mentioning a Second Stimulus.

Photo:  Washington Monument photographed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, US Unemployed Blogsite

Obama Administration Calls For Second Stimulus #Tier 5 #Unemployment

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/stock-market-dow-jones-obama-congress/5/25/2010/id/28458

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/69bb33d8-678b-11df-a932-00144feab49a.html

By Matt Theal | May 25, 2010 8:30 am

As the stock market begins to show signs of the bear, policy makers look to a new $200 billion stimulus package.

“His plan calls for more loans made to small businesses, an extension of unemployment insurance, and aid to states to prevent teacher layoffs. The announcement is expected to be met by resistance in Washington as right now Congress is looking for ways to cut spending, not increase it.”

This blogger is waiting for more news sources to cover this story and a full article will be posted.  A second stimulus is being requested from an Obama Administration official and we should take this news cautiously optimistic.  We do not yet have the full details or a bill to reference.  This is just raw information as it comes in for readers to stay informed.

President Obama Will Not Add $200+ Billion Spending Bill By Executive Order - #Tier5 #Unemployment

There has been some speculation floating around on the Internet from persons wanting President Barack Obama to issue an Executive Order for a Tier 5 Unemployment extension.  Although a very faint possibility exists for this speculation - that does not make it true or reality.  Let me explain to my readers the history of the use of the Presidential Executive Order and why it is not likely we will see an Executive Order from the President (or any President). 

First, think about the history and the rules for issuing an Executive Order.  More detail is posted at Wikipedia's article, "Executive order (United States)".  Wikipedia tells us that other than a loosely written clause in the Constitution that allows for this, no specific legislation exists that even grants the use of an Executive Order.  This is in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1.  Rules limiting the power of the Executive Order were established in the 1950s.  This is the information available from Wikipedia directly on those limited powers: 

Until the 1950s, there were no rules or guidelines outlining what the president could or could not do through an Executive Order. However, the Supreme CourtYoungstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 US 579 (1952) that Executive Order 10340 from President Harry S. Truman placing all steel mills in the country under federal control was invalid because it attempted to make law, rather than clarify or act to further a law put forth by the Congress or the Constitution. Presidents since this decision have generally been careful to cite which specific laws they are acting under when issuing new Executive Orders.

There is no law that includes a Tier 5 or additional weeks of benefits to clarify.  Therefore, an Executive Order hits a road block on this fact alone.  But there are other factors that would prevent the President from issuing an Executive Order for this listed below.

The states have no money for unemployment funding.  In fact, most states have to borrow the money currently from the federal government now because there were no states ready to handle this financial crisis.  The entire country was not prepared for this financial crisis and the magnitude of the effect of the financial crisis has been underestimated by many.  This recession truly has been the Great Recession and no state or federal agencies ever really touched the unemployment insurance system with any broad scope since the creation of the program during the New Deal when Franklin D. Roosevelt was President.  To see the history of unemployment insurance and how it is currently defined, see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_insurance#United_States

As great of a political P.R. stunt it would be for the President to issue an Executive Order for an additional tier of unemployment benefits, the likelihood that this President (or any President) would do so is just not likely.  Not when so many Americans feel that unemployment insurance benefits keep the long term unemployed from looking for work.  Also, not when nearly half of the legislators in Congress who represent the states with high unemployment rates continue to oppose these extensions by voting "No".  We often witness these members of Congress finding a way to have their cake and eat it too though, haven't we? 

Some will even say to the camera that they support the legislation or if you are Tom Coburn, you would say that you are giving 103 weeks and then extending it even further.  Then when it comes time to vote on the Senate floor, vote "Nay".  These Senators may cite their reason for voting "Nay" is because they counted the numbers and the bill would have passed anyway or they may claim that they did not like how the bill was handled financially.  But at the end of the day, you either vote in favor of unemployment insurance extensions or you do not and that is how the majority of Americans feel about this issue.  That decision ultimately is the decision that determines whether or not you get an unemployment check in the mail.  Tom Coburn's "Nay" vote should have been on the grounds that the cutoff rate of 8.5% does not do enough.  Especially when you consider that 8.3% unemployed is still nearly two million Texans.  However, Senator Coburn never said this was the reason for his vote.  His reasons have always been objections to how the extensions are funded.

Another reason the President is not likely to issue an Executive Order is the simple fact this is something that should be addressed by the full weight of the legislative body.  The full legislative body would be the Congress, the Senate, and the President.  And one would think that this issue would easily be given bipartisan support considering that there are 11 million unemployed right now in this country who have exhausted benefits or are about to exhaust benefits and there are an equal amount of United States Senators from each political party representing the states with highest unemployment. 


To pick apart both parties:  Democrats need to pass these extensions with or without Republican support and do so at a fast pace.  However they do need the support of one Republican each time and that Republican usually has been Olympia Snowe (R-ME) until Scott Brown (R-Mass) entered the picture.  Scott Brown may be a Republican but at least he steps in when needed and breaks from party lines and sees what is best for the country as far as the issue of unemployment insurance extensions are concerned. The rest of the republicans need to quit being hypocrites and harping on rules of "Pay As You Go" laws (which they did not even vote in favor of PAYGO) and if they are so excited about the newly reinstated law, they should read the law.  As has been posted here many times, the rules of PAYGO specifically exclude emergency funding.  For more details about the PAYGO law, you can read the article here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAYGO. The rules of PAYGO are linked to the Emergency Deficit Control Act when the Presidency of William Jefferson Clinton earned the country a budget surplus in 1998 and anyone who would have you believe that unemployment is not emergency funding is the main reason why it has taken so long to pass H.R. 4213 and for the past two months the Senate has had to pass monthly extensions for the existing tiers. 


This post was not intended to crush anyone's hopes.  It was intended to keep persons informed to the facts as they are known and available to the public if you avoid certain cable news outlets and care to do the boring research.  The last thing anyone unemployed who have exhausted benefits need now is division and the destruction of hope.  The intent is to relay facts with verifiable reasons.  Consider the fact that for Congress to extend the dates of existing tiers until the end of the year is going to cost $140 billion.  This is the summary from OpenCongress.org about H.R. 4213:

This bill would extend the filing deadline for existing tiers of unemployment benefits until Dec. 31, 2010. COBRA health care subsidies for the unemployed would also be extended. Other provisions in the bill include an extension of the current rate of Medicare payments to doctors and dozens of targeted tax cuts. The total cost of the bill is estimated at $140 billion, with $80 billion of that being for the extended unemployment benefits. None of the cost is offset with new revenues.

With as much partisan divide that is currently going on now with the bickering of the two political parties over $140 billion dollars to extend the current dates with H.R. 4213, it is very unlikely the President will be extending the weeks available alone and the reason is the Constitutionality.  The bill that would extend the weeks would easily be over $200+ billion and there is a chain of command in government.  For financing this large, the full weight of the legislative body is not just needed, it's required.  This is why the Congressional Budget Office exists and why there are Finance Committees.  Remember, the Senate Finance Committee has not even looked at a Tier 5 unemployment extension yet.

Also, when the Recovery Act was passed that offered an extension of unemployment benefits, many Republican legislators and governors opposed the Recovery Act and the EB program that helped to modernize the system with a "trigger" and extended unemployment benefits last year. They opposed the provisions which allow for the $25 increase in payments per week and $15 per dependent, and the COBRA extensions. 

Just some examples:  Representative Zach Wamp, Tennessee's 3rd District, asserted that the extensions were an "unfunded mandate" as sourced here:  http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2009/04/15/wamp-asserts-unemployment-extension-an-unfunded-mandate/.  Many Tennessee State legislators agreed with him and there is a video on that link of a State Representative in Tennessee government stating his objection.  Rep. Zach Wamp is also running for governor of the State of Tennessee and I would ask my fellow Tennesseans to consider that Zach Wamp is on record opposing assistance to the unemployed and has a voting record of voting "Nay" on unemployment extensions.  If Wamp opposes unemployment extensions for the jobless as a Representative in D.C., what do you think he will support as a governor who will inherit a very high unemployment rate, if elected?  (Assuming that the situation remains the same or similar until November which most economists only expect a modest growth in employment).

And nearly each and every state in the South has a similar story or worse.  Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina refused to sign the legislation for federal assistance for unemployment extensions until he was over-ruled by the South Carolina Supreme Court.  Additionally, Governor Rick Perry is an active member of the Tea Party Movement which vehemently opposes unemployment extensions and government spending (proudly since 2009) and Governor Perry even pandered to his constituents with talk of secession over the Recovery Act which did include unemployment insurance extensions.

One final example is Governor Charlie Crist, Florida.  He practically allowed dust to set on a bill which would extend unemployment benefits in Florida before signing it into law.  Many Floridians have went needlessly without benefits due to the carelessness of their governor.  He just recently on Monday of this week signed the legislation that would give jobless Floridians extended benefits that other states have already received. 

The President will not issue an Executive Order for a bill that will easily cost more than $200 billion.  Doing so would only cause further division and as stated above, there really is no specific law that gives the President the authority to place into Executive Order such a large bill that would affect so many states and persons especially when the bill would be deficit spending.  If such an Executive Order were to happen, it is subject to Supreme Court challenge and it would certainly receive that challenge when we consider the facts about the use of previously used Executive Orders and the current political climate in D.C. just to extend the dates of the current unemployment tiers. 
 

In fact, it is more likely that all of the Senators in Washington would sing Kumbaya and begin working with each other rather than against each other than it is that the President will issue an Executive Order of this magnitude that would ultimately be challenged in the Supreme Court and could result in millions of Americans having to repay any benefit amount that would be received if such an Executive Order were to happen. 

Everything in this post has been sourced and is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.  Any political assertions were based on the knowledge of a blogger who not only blogs about unemployment - but also has been blogging about politics for a long time and is passionate about the subject.  However, this blog is intended for unemployment information only.  While the issue of unemployment insurance is political right now, some political knowledge is needed to be made known to the public so that everyone is aware of the facts and so that everyone knows the true probability of what will happen if legislation to extend the weeks of unemployment benefits becomes law. 

It has always been my belief that if the unemployed at least have access to the correct information that it would be to the advantage of everyone.  There are certainly some fellow unemployed who do wish that the President would issue an Executive Order, but if you look at the facts about the usage of Executive Orders and the Supreme Court ruling that changed the scope of the Executive Order in 1952 with the case of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 US 579 (1952) - it is a reminder of the reality that an Executive Order from the President is not going to happen as the President does not have this large scale single authority. 

The President has always immediately signed legislation pertaining to unemployment insurance.  There is certainly still hope for a Tier 5 Unemployment Extension through Congress.  We must continue to focus on Congress and the Senate.  Long-term unemployed need to continue to ask for assistance from the media and push for the larger media outlets to pick up this story.  If the door exists for a Tier 5 unemployment extension, the key to unlock that door is in the media and in the Congress and Senate.

Long term unemployed must stay focused on finding that key.  Anything else would be a distraction.  Speculation may provide entertainment but it will not provide solutions.  Just an example:  Glenn Beck is proof of this each and every day.  His recipe is simple:  play into the fears of people, exploit those fears, and inject pure speculation followed by a question.

There are no solutions in producing this type of speculation.  Please, let's stay focused on the task to educate the media and contact members of Congress and make pleas to the press to cover this issue.  That is the one and only way to accomplish an extension of weeks for those who have exhausted their benefits.