Extend Emergency Unemployment Compensation

I started this page after seeing Republicans and some Democrats continually call us unemployed "lazy" and "unmotivated"; then they vote down extending our unemployment benefits, even though 9.7% of our country (over 15 million Americans) cannot find work. I was tired of this name calling and the disconnect the affluent members of Congress seem to be suffering from, so I decided to participate in this dialogue and stand up for the unemployed (of which I am one).

We, the unemployed, are constantly searching for jobs, yet there are simply not enough jobs to go around. We live paycheck to paycheck and depend upon these weekly benefit checks to pay our bills and put food on our tables. We do not live extravagant lives...we simply get by.

Currently, over 1.2 million are without weekly benefit checks and over 200,000 will lose their benefits each week unless Congress acts and passes the extension of benefits that has been held up for months.

I do not advocate a particular way to pay for these benefits, as I am not an expert on those issues. But unless Congress acts and continues to provide these benefits until more jobs are created, I fear our country will fall into another recession.

Without this money, foreclosures, bankruptcies, homelessness, and poverty will rise and and that is not acceptable! I am a firm believer in the phrase "God helps those who help themselves", but this current economic climate is beyond each of us as individuals to overcome. Thus, it is our American responsibility to take care of those of us who need help, until we can get back on our feet.