Should Congress hurry up and extend the deadline for the millions of unemployed relying on benefits?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Applications Are Due
Today, November 30th, marks the deadline to file for an unemployment insurance extension. In several states, the unemployed are nearing the end of their federally and state funded unemployment compensation. Initial state compensation lasts for 26 weeks and federal payments resume for up to the next 73 weeks. Federal payments are broken up into 4 levels. Each level lasts 6-20 weeks and 5 months of extended benefits. Each time a compensation payment runs out, the receiver must apply to move to the next level. In most states, those that have run out of state benefits were restricted from federal benefits and were required to file their application by this weekend. Those already receiving federal benefits will not be able to move on to the next level, but will remain in their current one. President Obama has asked Congress to extend the benefits but they seem too caught up debating the multi-billion dollar price tag. Benefit checks will cease to come for about 2 million people in DECEMBER.
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5 comments:
Great news! For those who forgot to do their UC applications, they now have a 1 hour and 20 minute window to apply for the unemployment insurance they probably will need.
LOLOL. When i saw this article, I thought it was about the UC applications.
As I heard, Congress did not pass to extend benefits. While I tend to be more fiscally conservative and believe more in trickle-down economics, this timing seems ridiculously crazy. First of all, the Holiday season can also be called retail month. If people know that their employment benefits may be ending, they're apt to spend less during the time when spending is crucial for the retail industry. I'm worried that this will hurt our economy by not keeping the money flowing. We will see how this all plays out...
While I agree with Jason that there could be many detrimental effects resulting from a halt on unemployment benefits, the U.S. has to start looking for a place to cut spending or tax more eventually. These benefits are worth a reexamination, but doesn't it seem like over a trillion on defense alone is a bit excessive. We spend over six times as much money annually on the army than any other country in the world, so maybe some changes in that area of our spending are needed over time.
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