Stop monkeying around with unemployment insurance benefits!

Congress finally voted to briefly extend unemployment insurance for the millions of workers who are still trying to find jobs in an economy where there are more than 5 jobless Americans for every available job. Unfortunately, the extension is only good until June 2nd, so next month we'll sadly be back fighting the same fight.

Tell Congress to stop monkeying around with monthly unemployment insurance extension battles and extend unemployment insurance to the end of 2010.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Street address:

City:

State:

ZIP:

Not ? Click here.

Optional: enter friends' e-mail addresses to send them this page (preview message/add note):

Subject:

Groundhog Day again next month?

Your message to friends:

Dear Friend,

On Thursday, after weeks of delay and grandstanding, Congress finally voted to briefly extend unemployment insurance for the millions of workers who are still trying to find jobs in an economy where there are more than 5 jobless Americans for every available job. [1]

A victory? Well, yes, it's a welcome respite for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have already had their unemployment insurance benefits cut off because of delays in Congress. However, the extension is only good until June 2nd, so next month we'll sadly be back fighting the same fight.

Tell Congress to stop monkeying around with monthly unemployment insurance extension battles and extend unemployment insurance to the end of 2010--giving them time to focus instead on longer-term solutions like creating good jobs for more than 15 million Americans who are unemployed.

http://action.momsrising.org/cms/letter/UI_2010-4-17/?referring_akid=2025.86216.y8iMBq&source=taf

Every time Congress threatens to cut off unemployment insurance, millions of moms and dads wake up in cold sweats in the middle of the night wondering, "How will I feed my kids? Will we lose our home?"

And while there are strong signs that the economy is in recovery, no one expects that the current high rates of unemployment are going to disappear any time soon. In fact, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, speaking to the join economic committee of Congress this week, warned that unemployment could stay "stubbornly" high. [2]

It's time to extend jobless benefits till the end of this year and start really focusing on how to create new jobs. Keeping families in their homes and able to look for work is critical for our nation's economic recovery.

Tell Congress that we need them focusing on creating jobs, not engaging in monthly food fights about unemployment insurance extensions. They must now pass an extension of unemployment insurance benefits until the end of 2010.

http://action.momsrising.org/cms/letter/UI_2010-4-17/?referring_akid=2025.86216.y8iMBq&source=taf

Please pass along this message to your friends and family so they can take action too.

Thanks!

[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job availability during a recession: an examination of the number of unemployed persons per job opening, March 2010. Available online: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils80.pdf

[2] Times Online, US unemployment likely to stay high during recovery, Ben Bernanke warns. Available online: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article7097772.ece

Add a short note (optional, up to 500 characters):

Dear Legislator,

As one of the million members of MomsRising, I am writing to thank you for extending unemployment insurance benefits until June 2nd.  Unemployment insurance benefits are a critical lifeline for families who have lost jobs in this recession.  However, no one believes that our high rates of unemployment will disappear by the end of May.  Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, speaking to the join economic committee of Congress this week, warned that unemployment could stay "stubbornly high."
 
It's time to extend jobless benefits till the end of this year and start really focusing on how to create new jobs.  Keeping families in their homes and able to look for work is critical for our nation's economic recovery.  
 
Please take action now to extend unemployment benefits until the end of 2010 so your constituents do not have to go through another round of cut offs and have to watch more unproductive fights in Congress when the current unemployment extension expires in June. 
 
The time is now to focus on providing real relief to America's families struggling with unemployment by extending unemployment insurance benefits till the end of 2010 and taking decisive action to create new jobs.
 
Thank you for your work on behalf of America's families.