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Unemployment Extension Update 4 - US Congress has reinstated the previously approved extensions for Americans receiving unemployment benefits. The extension does not add to the 99 weeks that had been approved but does allow anyone who is unemployed to start receiving the remaining benefits that were stopped on November 30, 2010. Hoosiers need to go to the Claimant Self Service Uplink and sign in to see what vouchers have been posted to their homepage. Starting December 19, 2010, vouchers will populate and should be filled out completely to start receiving unemployment benefits again. Hoosiers who qualify for retroactive benefits may begin filling out the missing vouchers for any weeks that were missing since unemployment benefits were halted on November 30, 2010. Unemployment Extension Update 4 It is highly likely that this will be the final approved unemployment benefits that will exceed the normal unemployment benefits that are approved from base period earnings for someone wh...

99ers Unemployment Extension Update - Today with little disagreement, the Senate passed the $856 billion tax bill that contains 13 months of unemployment benefit extensions for those unemployed who have not exhausted their benefits. The Senate did NOT include any help for the millions of 99ers who have been without financial support for up to eight months. A breakdown of the tax package shows that the wealthiest Americans will be able to celebrate a richer holiday with this massive gift from Obama and the Senate. 99ers Unemployment Extension Update Key components of Senate tax bill according to Reuters: Cost to retain the top two income tax rates Obama originally opposed: $61 billion. * Keeps capital gains and dividends taxed at a top rate of 15 percent. Obama and Democrats had sought a 20 percent top rate. Cost: $54 billion. * Repeals certain limitations on deductions for high-earning individuals. Cost: $21 billion. Estate tax revisions Cost: $68 billion. While some ...

Support Builds For Unemployment Benefit Extension - Congressional Democrats and more than 100 jobless workers rallied yesterday in Washington in support of an extension of federal unemployment benefits. Federal jobless benefits expired yesterday after a failed attempt in the Senate to extend benefits for a year. Rep. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) blocked the vote on the measure because it wasn't paid for. U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was at yesterday's event and spoke about the Republicans' desire to extend tax cuts to high-earning Americans without offsetting the cost while insisting that an extension of jobless benefits be paid for. "We have to pay for unemployment insurance, we don't have to pay for tax cuts for the rich," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "Tax cuts do not create jobs. They haven't throughout the Bush administration. Unemployment insurance creates jobs and does not add to the deficit." U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis...

Extension On Unemployment Benefits Expires - More than 2 million unemployed people awoke Wednesday to the prospect that they may no longer have unemployment checks to help them pay rent or buy food and gas. Congress on Tuesday failed to renew an extension of unemployment benefits that it passed at the end of July. Democrats have argued that with unemployment at 9.6 percent, many people still need help. Republicans say they would like to help the jobless, but want the $5 billion per month cost to be funded by a spending cut somewhere in the federal budget. Extension On Unemployment Benefits Expires

Protests Against Delay Of Unemployment Extension - Fifteen million Americans are out of work, and Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio many of them were anxiously waiting to hear if Congress would extend unemployment benefits. Supporters of the extension say the benefits can serve as a powerful catalyst for the economy. They point to recent studies that indicate each dollar of benefits generates $1.90 in economic growth. "It will throw more people out of work, because there won't be as much money circulating in the economy, retailers will go out of business, there will be more people on the unemployment lines," said one protester. Despite protests like this one, the extension did not pass the Congress Tuesday. If the measure isn't renewed by the lame duck Congress, two million Americans will lose their unemployment insurance by the end of the year. Protests Against Delay Of Unemployment Extension

Unemployment Extension Bill Stuck - Unemployment benefits are set to run out by the end of December for millions of Americans unless Congress passes a bill by the end of Tuesday, which is the deadline to extend federal benefits. Reports have said that more than two million Americans on long-term unemployment would be affected if it were to run out. The standard unemployment extension covers 26 weeks but Congress has passed bills that allowed for extended benefits for as many as 99 weeks. In Nevada, which has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 10,600 people will stop getting benefits, according to Fox. In New York State, more than 200,000 are slated to lose extended benefits, according to WNYC. In California, 454,000 could lose the benefits, according to Fox. Congress, who attempted to get a bill through the House two weeks ago but failed to get a Democratic supermajority, does not have a vote on unemployment benefits on Tuesday. Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow...

Federal Unemployment Extension - Without an extension of federal unemployment benefits, beginning this week, 1,100 unemployed people a day in Michigan will stop getting unemployment checks — 168,520 by the end of April, reports the Michigan League for Human Services (MLHS). Federal unemployment benefits expire Dec. 1. Without an extension, those who lost their jobs after June 2010 will receive only 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. Congress may try to pass an extension of unemployment benefits later this month, but its passage is far from certain, even though Congress has never before failed to extend benefits when the nation's unemployment rate remains so high. "These unemployment extensions are especially important to Michigan because of our high unemployment rate. If Congress prematurely ends unemployment support to tens of thousands of families and with few jobs available, it will put a terrible strain on the private and public safety nets," said Judy Putnam,...

Dems Seek Unemployment Extension - The scary prospect for thousands of Oregon families not getting an extension of their federal unemployment benefits thanks to congressional inaction brought about a dozen unemployed Oregonians today to a rally in downtown Portland to protest. “We are on the verge of disaster,” said Eleyna Fugman, who’s been sporadically employed for 18 months. Fugman says she relies upon the weekly $257 she gets in unemployment benefits and that the money goes right back into the economy through her payment of bills. She says cutting off her money won’t help to end the recession. At the rally and news conference organized by the Sunnyside Self-Help Employment Group in advance of the deadline Nov. 30 for Congress to act, organizers said 7,500 Oregon families would immediately lose their money if Congress refuses to continue the benefits. And in another month’s time, 7,500 more Oregon families would lose their unemployment benefits as well. Francisco Holdman, ...

GOP Unemployment Extension Fails - Click here to find out more! Money & Company Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances. Real Estate | Autos | Consumer | Economy « Previous | Money & Company Home | Next » Failure to pass unemployment insurance extension could cost billions, reports say November 19, 2010 | 1:17 pm Line Letting the nation's unemployment benefits expire could drain billions from the economy and cost millions of jobs, according to two reports out this week. On Thursday, House Republicans voted to deny an unemployment benefits extension, unhappy with the method planned to fund it. Ending federal extensions would drain the economy of $80 billion of purchasing power, according to a report by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Every dollar spent on benefits increases the gross domestic product by $1.60, the report said. "Workers receiving unemployment insurance payments are typically cash-strapped and will sp...

GOP Unemployment Extension - The House of Representatives failed to pass a 90-day extension of expiring unemployment benefits Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 258-154. The measure, considered under suspension rules, required a two-thirds majority of 275 votes for passage. The $12.5 billion dollar package would have kept two million people from losing their unemployment checks in February. House Democrats lamented the measure's failure, and blasted the GOP for voting against it. "This vote was a stark test of our priorities, and House Republicans are decidedly in the wrong place for middle-class families," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., in a statement. Republicans say the measure would have added to the budget deficit, and an extension that did not do so would have passed easily. "Just two weeks after the election, the Democratic Leadership is playing politics with people's unemployment benefits," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minor...

Unemployment Extension Fails In The House Of Representatives - The House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a measure that would have reauthorized extended unemployment insurance for another three months, leaving no clear path forward to prevent the benefits from lapsing as scheduled on Nov. 30. Without a reauthorization, the Labor Department estimates that two million long-term unemployed will prematurely stop receiving benefits before the end of the year. "I think it's a sad moment," said Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) after the vote. "It appalls me that the Republicans keep pitching and pitching and pitching the tax cuts for the rich and won't join in a bill to help people keep their homes and not have to live in their cars." The bill was brought to the floor under a "suspension of the rules," meaning it required approval from two-thirds of the House. It failed 258 to 154, with mostly Democratic support. Twenty-one Republicans voted in...