99 Weeks: When Unemployment Benefits Run Out
October 25th, 2010Via: CBS News:
The economic jam we’re in has topped even the Great Depression in one respect: never have we had a recession this deep with a recovery this flat. Unemployment has been at nine and a half percent or above for 14 months.
Congress did something that it has never done before – it extended unemployment benefits to 99 weeks. That cost more than $100 billion, a huge expense for a government in debt.
But now, for many Americans 99 weeks have passed and there’s still no job in sight. Some have taken to calling themselves the “99ers.”
“60 Minutes” and correspondent Scott Pelley went to several communities in search of the 99ers, but we didn’t expect to find such a crisis in Silicon Valley, the high tech capital that many people hoped would be creating jobs.
Related: Sold Out $329,000 Porsche Shows Recession, Obama Not Hurting Rich
I love George Carlin, and the CBS story was heartbreaking. My cousin helped me put an old electric range with four burners and a working oven out on the curb for trash pickup Sunday night. Even the local charity wouldn’t take it earlier this year! Trash day is Wednesday morning. But by Monday morning, it was gone! The CBS video tells me why. I hope that range made someone some money for food.
All of these people, helping other people, in the CBS story helped to remind me, that the downfall of this offshoring and perhaps attempt to break the spirit of the American will be foiled by people who care about other people.