Missouri state Senator Jim Lembke (R- St. Louis) is taking a symbolic stand against excessive government spending. He's not protesting bank bail-outs. He isn't protesting tax breaks for the rich. Oh, no. He is protesting the federal government's contribution to long-term unemployment benefits.
Senator Lembke and a small group of his supporters effectively filibustered a bill from passing in the Missouri legislature that would have allowed the state to accept federal funds to help the state's unemployed continue to receive benefits for up to 99 weeks. Currently, the state pays unemployment for 79 weeks.
The session has taken a 10-day spring break, at which point, the legislature will meet again to try to pass the bill. It originally received wide support in the House, passing 123-14. Even other Republican leaders tried to convince Lembke to allow the bill's passage. But he stood firm.
By the time the Senate meets again, however, many folks on extended unemployment will have had their benefits cut off. The cut-off date is March 27. The legislature does not meet again until April 1.
Let's crunch some numbers here for some clarity. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the current unemployment rate for February, 2011 was 8.9 percent. The United States population is over 311 million. An 8.9 percent unemployment rate equals more than 27 million people currently out of work. When you do this math, the 192,000 jobs that were added last month just doesn't seem like much, does it?
Lembke justified his decision, stating:
"We’re saying to Washington, D.C., ‘You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are mortgaging our future,’?” Lembke said during floor debate earlier this week. “We’re saying, ‘You are putting in jeopardy our republic, shame on you, and we are not going to participate any longer."
Another Senator, Will Kraus, decided that since the Internet had a few jobs listed on employment sites, there should be plenty of them to go around for all of Missouri's  43,557 people who filed an initial unemployment claim in November. And, oh yeah, 11,700 more people are currently receiving extended unemployment in the state.
On the MissouriJobs.com website, 31 positions are listed for the St. Louis area. Many of those are sales and out of state. For example, a part-time administrative/clerical position that's listed is not located in St. Louis. It's located in Franklin, Wisconsin. Or how about the bioinformatics specialist position -- located in Hamilton Montana?
Such measures as Lembke and his supporters have taken to stop people from receiving benefits that could keep them from disaster is heartless, cruel and just plain dumb. If he really wants to see an end to wasteful federal spending, he would petition the White House to Stop spending a ridiculous amount of money fighting a drug war that can't be won.
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Comments: 24
The Left Edge of the Possible
Robert Kuttner
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2011/3/15/minnesota-republicans-say-poor-people-money-should-be-outlaws
Minnesota Republicans say: Poor people with money should be outlaws
Left edge of possible
Right edge of possible
Folks who are comfortable with the philosophy we like to call "progressive" tend to be live and let live, while conservatives so-called seem to think they are acting on a Message from God. Having such a motivating leader, they strongly organize and stay on message, while the progressives are too busy living to have much interest in such organization. For the most part, the progressives are content enough to work within the system, while the conservatives figure out how to make the system work for them. What kind of motivation would bring busy progressive-style folks together to take a stand and protect their values?
In Chicago, the unemployment rate is higher than the national rate. I believe it was about 11% at that time. In all that time, he got one interview, no job. One place he submitted an application to told him they'd gotten hundreds, perhaps at least a thousand, applications for a front desk position. It was a computer repair shop.
When you add all these people up who are looking, actively seeking work, but not able to find anything for whatever reason, you cannot reasonably say that it's OK for the state to say, "screw them," and let them hungry. And besides, if Missouri doesn't take the funds, it will just be distributed to another state that will. No money will be "saved" by this move.
When bankers are getting bailouts, CEOs getting bonuses while running their companies into the ground, but yet unions and the unemployed are being targeted as the "reason" we're in a lousy economy, something is desperately wrong.
There is a war on the middle class, a war on the poor coming from the extreme Right Wing, and it must be stopped. These people have no compassion.
Charles, when you see job advertisements listed, you'll see many of those require that the person already be employed. In other words, if you're not working, screw you, we don't want you. That is blatant discrimination. It's keeping people out of work.
Do you not see where this is all going?
Monster has 3131 jobs in the St Louis are listed in the last 60 days.
Is there some reason people have to go through MissouriJobs.com?
Where did he say that? They're looking to cut people off at 79 weeks. Those initial unemployment claimants will still be eligible for checks for the next year and a half.
Are you against the state accepting federal funds to help those people who are trying to find work but can't?
The 3181 jobs was 1 listing service in 1 city; NOT the number of jobs in the entire state.
I'm against the federal funds offered being extended to 99 weeks in the first place.
"My husband looked for a job for nearly two years. He wasn't even looking for full-time. He was looking for part-time work so he would have money while attending college. "
Why should he have gotten extended benefits if he wasn't even looking at full-time jobs? The insurance is designed for up to 26 weeks. People need to accept anything they can find beyond that whether that means moving, flipping burgers, or quitting school.
If they still can't find anything, there is welfare as a safety net.
What happens when those people who will "accept anything they can" can't find a thing?
You are living in a dream world, sir. We're living in the worst recession since the Great Depression. You can't just go out and find a job like you used to. Even people who are highly skilled are having great difficulty with finding work and are experiencing longer periods of unemployment than before.
Already answered.
What populations?
My husband, himself, didn't qualify for aid when I was pregnant, although I did. So what welfare we did get was for me. The reason? He was a full-time student and not working. He couldn't find a job. The state told him if he was working part-time, he'd be eligible for welfare aid. But because he couldn't find work, he didn't qualify. Thankfully, his grades were good enough to get him a Pell Grant every semester. Some students might not even be able to get those.
Single people with few family members to depend on almost always end up getting the short end of the stick. Same with unemployed students.
We were talking about the unemployed.
He was a full-time student and not working.
We were talking about what people could do after 79 weeks on unemployment. I doubt many of them are full-time students. If they are, maybe they should be part-time students/full-time job seekers.
In our small town there has been two major business's closing, one plant left over 4000 people without positions, and that made up most of the town...that was a couple years back, now that plant is coming down.
The other plant closing down is one that has been here for over 50 years, and the lose of employees has already been 500, and the last 100 men will be walked out in June.
We lost our mall, it is completely empty, some big shot from Chicago bought it and raised the rent so high that no business could afford to stay, now we only have our Walmart for our main shopping unless you travel 49 miles to bigger town. (we are in a small town area)
So..please, those whom are unemployed are not lazy, not looking for positions, not on welfare..but real people now living below poverty levels.
I work..but by luck as I got my positions (yes, there is a s there) because of finding merchandising jobs online and raised my ranks from reg. merchandiser to district manager..plus have to do demos on weekends for another company..but even then my jobs are slowing down because of gas prices and economic hardships via the companies.
My husband who use to make very good money had still found no job, in his 50 years this is the first time he has been unemployed this long and it is killing him. He ran out of unemployment, and has filled out applications all over, but who really wants to hire a man his age when they can take a 20 year old and teach them their way.