New UI Claims decline - Unemployed 99ers Under Attack Why Won’t They FIGHT BACK?

New UI Claims declined last week, but unemployed and 99ers are under attack in every state. So why won’t they FIGHT BACK?

Jobless claims declined by 5000 to 382000 in the week ended March 19, 2011. BIG DEAL as that is still an annual job loss rate of 20 MILLION in the USA. Why don’t they ever mention that on the NEWS? I skimmed over 55 related articles by the big news outlets and their affiliates like FOX, CBS, ABC, Huff-Post, Associated Press, Reuters and the like and NOT EVEN 1 of them pointed out the annual job loss rate of 20 million - NOT ONE!

Several State legislatures are trying to pass Bills which would require drug tests for jobless benefits. Isn’t is funny how they gripe and moan about not having the money to pay UI benefits - but they want to incur the extra expense of administering a drug testing policy?

So far Oregon, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Texas and at least seven other states have introduced this type of legislation and it has also been suggested as well on a federal level - but this legislation has of course failed every time.

Does anyone see any resemblance between leaders of Foreign oppressive regimes calling their protesting masses “Druggies” and our own American politicians inferring the American unemployed masses are also on drugs? The leader of Libya, the ousted leaders of Egypt and Tunisia as well as Yemen's current leader all have done so. Many Republican Senators, members of Congress and certain State legislators have too. It is outrageous and they seem to all be working from the same disgusting, disrespectful playbook.

When those in power in any country lose respect for their hurting masses - it is easier to dismiss them as victims of Drug Induced Lunacy than to deal with the problem honestly and effectively. To suggest that the Long Term Unemployed are all druggies is absurd and anyone saying so is trying to abdicate their own guilt in condemning millions of their fellow Americans to hunger and Homelessness.

Another unbelievable epidemic in America is how many states are either not taking advantage of the Federal UI extensions Obama traded Wealthy American tax breaks for last December. These states are actually not only hurting the long term unemployed who live in those states - but many states are also cutting back on the number of weeks their initial claims can be paid out. Funny how the GOP won the right to word that legislation in such a way last December to assure states had to enact new laws of their own in order for the unemployed to take advantage of these “so called” extension of UI Benefits - BUT NO additional LAWS were required for the RICH to take advantage of their tax breaks. The reason is quite clear. Neither Obama or the Congress wanted anyone to be able to get that extra UI Benefits money being extended to the more recently long term unemployed.

So with 11 states refusing that extra money and perhaps more to come, you would think now they have enough money to cover the expense of extending benefits to the 99ers RIGHT? But nobody is even discussing this fact are they? The money is already allocated - considered spent and spent in the 2011 budget.

I decided to call Rep. Lee of California to suggest this idea and the staffer seemed unimpressed. So I called Boehner then Cantor’s office and to my amazement - Boehner’s & Cantor’s people showed far more interest in what I had to say. Those I spoke to on the Speaker’s staff asked me how I came up with that idea. I responded by asking them “why didn’t you think of that? Isn’t that why we pay you the big bucks?”

At a time when America is still losing jobs at a rate of 20 MILLION per year - is NOT the time to punish those who lose those jobs-ESPECIALLY when it is our government who is responsible for greasing the wheels of our demise via lucrative incentives for all corporations who send our jobs abroad.

CNN Money this week reported: Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are all close to cutting the initial weeks one can claim UI from 26 to 20. This would not be such a bad thing if they would take the amount of UI benefits one would get for 26 weeks and pay that to you in 20 weeks instead - or even lower the UI payroll tax deducted from a worker’s paycheck - but NO! They are trying to increase what the average worker pays into the system and cut the benefits received and also reduce the amount the employer pays as well. More proof that these politicians work only for the corporations and NOT for “WE THE PEOPLE.”

So why aren’t we Fighting back? First thing is we are so spread out and disconnected from each other. Many 99ers are in the age group where we do not FaceBook, Tweet or fully use Social Networking on the INTERNET. Well If you register with the 99ers Data Base you will not need to mess with the crap often associated with Facebook or other sites. Personally I cannot stand Facebook and view it merely as a necessary evil these days. Twitter has also been basically useless to the unemployed cause as it comes to anything more than visibility. Before everyone slams me for saying that, let me clarify. Twitter has done NOTHING at all to advance the cause for extending UI benefits - that is a fact. Visibility is important but UI Benefits to survive and Jobs to thrive are the goals here.

Rhonda Taylor of Rhode Island, frequent contributer here on Jobless Talk, Co-Host of her own Blog Talk Radio show Re-Difining the American Dream and prolific 99er advocate extraordinaire has created a data base for 99ers. The purpose of this is to have a way to contact as many of those in the 99er Nation for protests and gives her a geographical "map" of sorts so she will know how many busses will be needed and from what locations for the big Washington 99er convergence planned for this Spring.

Rhonda has proven herself trustworthy and since she will be administering the 99er Data Base - I have already registered and suggest all unemployed Americans do the same. Register now here.

It is not just the 99ers who need to fight back. We need every Jobless American to stand with us in this fight for our survival. We are all 99ers. Some of us are the 99ers of yesterday, others the 99ers of today and the rest of the unemployed are the 99ers of tomorrow. Only the way things are going - if the politicians have their way NOBODY will even get 99 week of UI in the future - needed or not. Don't wait for it to happen to you. Every week the 99ers go without income - more people lose their jobs because ours is a consumer based economy in America. There is simply no way approximately 7 million jobless who no longer can buy goods or services cannot have a detrimental effect on the economy. 99ers were the first hit by the crumbling economy and the last to get hired apparently - or we would have jobs by now.

OK, I am not saying that there are not some on UI benefits who prefer to collect benefits rather than working. Fact is there are people who game the system in every walk of life, but the tired old argument that UI Benefits must be withheld in order to motivate the unemployed back into the workforce clearly lacks merit or substantiation if over a year after the benefits have stopped - you still have been unable to secure employment. Same goes with the other lame assertion that the long term unemployed are too picky in accepting employment they feel is beneath them. Come on man - Nobody in their right mind would prefer hunger and homelessness to working a minimum wage job. Any proclamation to that effect is as worthless as the party spewing such.

It continues to baffle me how, with millions of 99ers out there in America - how few of those have opted to be involved in their own fight for survival.

EXAMPLE: U-Cubed (Union for the Unemployed) is a free, well organized and fully funded community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. U-Cubed is just over 1 year old and yet has less than 5,000 members at present. We really need to change this. There is a direct correlation between the states with high U-Cubed involvement and politicians not pushing around the unemployed. Check it out.

Speaking of U-Cubed: Eight California cities made the U-Cubed March Madness Unemployment brackets, but Fresno, CA ranked #1 "Most Unemployed" City in America with an unemployment rate of (17.2). See the brackets

***If you are not yet engaged in U-Cubed Please DO SO TODAY

U-Cubed on:

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/ucubed

TWITTER: @U_Cubed

WEBSITE: http://www.unionofunemployed.com

Get out there and meet with real activists. Find them locally in groups like U-Cubed, on College Campus or other community (computer) bulletin boards, contact MOVE-ON.org and US Uncut.

The weather is getting better out there now so no more excuses. I realize that the 99ers for the most part are an aging population but none of us are getting any younger and if you want to get any older - you had better stand up and fight for your survival in whatever way you can. Be visible and proactive. Do whatever you can to demonstrate clearly to our elected officials in your own state and Nationally that you mean business and you will not just go away and die.

SEND THEM a

CLEAR MESSAGE: We will not be ignored and we WILL stand up and FIGHT for our survival.

[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

What's it Like in Japan right now

I got a chance to interview Jesse Mendoza of Jordan International Aid who is in Japan right now doing relief work. You can listen to the live interview, below. Numbers and reports from the area are changing all the time. Jesse gave me some idea of what it is like there right now in the affected areas. These photos are from his trip there, now, where they brought supplies, food and infant formula.

First Hot meal in the shelter since the earthquake

For those who can't listen in, here are some bullet points. It goes without saying, there are a lot of challenges.

NGOs are being asked to not come because of the lack of accessibility.

Because of the nuclear exposure, relief groups that had come have left again.

A single meal of a bowl of rice and some soup is what people are getting per day.

It is very cold and snowing.

There is no electricity.

Some water has too much radiation to be given to infants.

There is still a great deal of widespread fear and distress. Listen here:

Doc Gurley is a Harvard Medical School graduate and is a practicing board-certified internist, and the creator of the Memoriam app - the first, and only, app to allow disaster-relief workers to speak for the dead. You can follow Doc Gurley on Facebook. Get more health posts at www.docgurley.com, or jump on the Twitter bandwagon and follow Doc Gurley. Also check out Doc Gurley's joyhabit and iwellth twitter feeds - so you can get topic-specific, effective, affordable tips on how to nurture your joy and grow your personal wellth.

Donald Trump's Idiotic Statements Enrage Whoopi Goldberg

The Long Island Press reports on Whoopi Goldberg's behavior during Donald Trump's visit to The View.

Trump has talked about his plans to run for presidency and that he will make a solid decision by June whether or not he wants to try his luck as a GOP nominee.

While on The View Trump questioned whether or not President Barack Obama was actually born in the United States - something that has been tackled many times and an issue that had been thought to be resolved and turned into whether or not Hawaii was actually a state when Obama was born there.

Trump said the following while on the air:


“I want him to show his birth certificate, there is something on that birth certificate that he doesn’t like.”


“The point is I cant rely on some newspaper that they show, I want him to show his birth certificate."


Whoopi Goldberg was not happy with this whatsoever and said that Trump's statements were racist and that never has a white president been asked to reveal his birth certificate - which is true. And Obama is only half black, and he was raised by his white mother.

Trump denied that race was a factor. Here's the video:

Mike Anderson Offered $2.2 Million

Kansas City Star reports that Mike Anderson, Missouri coach, has bbeen offered $2.2 million to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Although that is said the news site also says that Steve Owens, the interim University of Missouri system president is not revealing anything:

“I think it is safe to say that we are all big fans of Mike Anderson,” Owens said on a conference call Tuesday morning from the MU Board of Curators meeting in Rolla, Mo. “We appreciate very much what he does on the court and particularly off the court. But any hypothetical contract negotiations, we don’t confirm either their existence or their status.”


There are also talks that this could be a contract extension. So it is unclear what exactly is going on - so guess it will have to wait until the media is able to contact and get an answer straight from Anderson.

Don't call her "Liz" Taylor: What Zennie glossed over

I'm not going to pretend expertise on Hollywood, because the one film course I took in college was a practical lesson in the dangers of sitting in a dark room shortly after eating dinner. The Taming of the Shrew and Singing in the Rain were great movies, for example, but expecting a college student to stay awake with a full stomach was, I'd say, a tactical blunder on the part of my otherwise talented professor.

That experience reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the late star:

"I really don't remember much about Cleopatra. There were a lot of other things going on."

~Elizabeth Taylor

Even those of us with merely a casual interest in film, though, can recognize that Elizabeth Taylor had a certain flair for being her own woman: her off-screen impact is undeniable, her candor about movie-making and stardom remains refreshing.

"I sweat real sweat and I shake real shakes."

~Elizabeth Taylor

At a time when divorce remained so rare as to be newsworthy, Elizabeth Taylor, clearly among Hollywood's royalty despite claiming she was forced into an acting career, could dominate the headlines with the start or end of another chapter in her series of marriages.

"I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?"

~Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor, perhaps best-known for playing Cleopatra opposite Richard Burton, leveraged the fame and glamor by branding jewelry and perfume. Zennie did a nice summary, and you can already find countless obituaries that list her awards and accomplishments; her biography is studded with accomplishments. But here's the thing:

"When people say, 'She's got everything', I've got one answer:

I haven't had tomorrow."

~Elizabeth Taylor

That's the best summary of Taylor's legacy. There are films, and awards, all the expected trappings of a mega-star with a lengthy career - but Elizabeth Taylor wasn't content to be a movie icon, her passion and impact by remaining engaged in life outside the studios eclipsed her acting -- she wasn't content to wait for tomorrow.

Thomas Hayes is a New Media Advisor, Political Consultant, Journalist, Entrepreneur, and former Congressional Campaign Manager; he believes in "follow the money" when following politics, and continues his 12-step recovery from the years spent as a Programmer/Database Administrator by carrying his camera nearly everywhere and writing on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

You can follow Tom as @kabiu on twitter. Tweet

Elizabeth Taylor Passes at 79; End Of An Era In Hollywood

Actress Elizabeth Taylor, long the symbol of Hollywood glamour, gossip, and elegance, passed away at 79 years old, after being hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles with what was called congestive heart failure. Taylor, a two-time Academy Award-winner, had suffered from complications related to that medical condition, but was expected to live through it. She did not.

End of An Era

Elizabeth Taylor's passing marks the end of an era, when Hollywood stars were treated like royalty. She will be most remembered for her breath-taking beauty, her movies, and her eight marriages, most notably to Eddie Fisher.  The woman who once said that the acting career was "forced on me," went on to become the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 1960, when she signed a $1 million deal to star in Cleopatra.

 It was during that film that Taylor began the legendary romance with Burton, who played Mark Antony - both were already married at the time.

Here's Taylor making her dramatic entrance in the epic film:



A Four-Time Oscar Nominee, Two-Time Winner

Taylor was nominated for a "Best Actress" Oscar five times, winning twice, for her performance as "Gloria Wandrous" in BUtterfield 8 (1960), and for her role as "Martha" in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

Elizabeth Taylor was said to have had a "passion" for jewelry, and wore many creations purchased for her by Richard Burton. Then, later, she designed works for The Elizabeth Collection, sold by at Christie's, and launched three perfume lines: "Passion", "White Diamonds", and "Black Pearls," all which earned an estimated $200 million in sales.

Taylor was a long-time friend of the late Michael Jackson, who she met in 1985 during an AIDS-related event. Jackson created and performed this song called Elizabeth I Love You, in her honor:




For more on Elizabeth Taylor, visit her Wikipedia page, and CNN.com.

William Shatner: Happy Birthday To Star Trek's Captain Kirk

William Shatner, who's still best known as Star Trek's Captain Kirk, tuns 80 years old today. Shatner, who has enjoyed an amazing rise in his already legendary pop culture status with his current TV show !#$$ My Dad Says, some how manages to stay young looking and young at heart.

It has to be that he just keeps moving.

The ultimate complement is to have Chris Pine play a character originally built around Shatner: Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams version of Star Trek.

No matter what Pine does, his Kirk will always be measured by William Shatner. Pine can do nothing about that.

May William Shatner live long and prosper.

Twitter Followers Matter: The Ad Impressions View

There's a debate in social media circles on the value of Twitter Followers. Some, like Aliza Sherman at Gigaom in 2009, say that the number of Twitter Followers isn't important. Others have estimates of the value of Twitter Followers that make no sense at all.

In one case in 2010, an author stated that because Tim O'Reilly has over 1 million followers, but follows 644, he's more valuable as a follower than Guy Kawasaki, who has, or had, 223,631 followers versus 245,897 people he's following at the time. Then the author states "Tim O'Reilly may actually follow his followers, whereas I can't imagine that Guy Kawasaki does."

What?

Uh, it would seem Tim O'Reilly has the problem of not following people back and to a far greater extent than Guy Kawasaki.

So, you see the point?

Then there's the view of Chris Keller, blogging about the tool Twitter Grader and the value of followers. He blogs:

One of the factors that goes into measuring your Twitter Grade is the number of followers you have. Many of you will argue that the number of followers is completely irrelevant because it’s so easy to game. There are automated tools to do nothing but acquire followers by following a bunch of people. That’s true. It is easy to spike up your follower count.

However, I would counter with this: If we were looking at two different twitter users, all other things being equal (and I do mean all other things), the one with more followers is likely more powerful and deserves a higher twitter grade.

And let's return to Sherman's point, where she claims that follower quality is better than quantity. She rails about having "empty" followers, and goes on about making meaningful connections.

To an extent she has a point, but her blog implies that any large follower count consists of a lot of "empty" connections. And it's for that reason her take is a bit off the right path.

What everyone seems to miss is that Twitter is a communications device that provides instant ad impressions.

What are "Ad Impressions?"

Ad Impressions are defined as "a single appearance of an advertisement on a web page," or "display (serving) of an online ad."  If you consider that a Twitter tweet like this one:

McDonalds McDonald's
by charliesheen
Despite all the rumors there r no plans 2 bring #mclobster or mcsushi 2 the US menu. We r working on a new menu item called McWinning.
3 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

That is essentially an ad for McDonalds that was seen, initially, 2.3 million times, or the number of followers Charlie Sheen had at the time, which is now over 3 million and counting. But let's not stop there, because we're forgetting the number of followers, Charlie Sheen's followers have, which is his "reach."

One would think locating a tool that properly and mathematically estimates reach would be easy, but it's not. Twinfluence, which used to have a great system for this, isn't working properly.

TweetReach produces a result is probably the best estimate of overall impressions, but even then, it produces results that make this blogger do a double take. If I type in charliesheen, TweetReach reports 80,758 people "reached" via 50 tweets, and exposure of 80,987 impressions. What's weird is Sheen has 3 million followers.

Check it out: Charlie Sheen TweetReach.

Now check this out.

TwitterReach reports that Zennie62 (remember not to include the @ sign in your query) has a reach of 68,589 people via just 50 tweets. I have 28,459 followers as of this writing for what Twitter Reach reports as a total exposure of 461,693 Impressions.

Check it out for yourself: Zennie62 TweetReach.

That calls for a double-take.

The impressions were contributed by 17 Twitterers, with me, Zennie62, leading the way at 415,092.

Why?  Well, the obvious difference has to be that I issue tweets including the term "Zennie62," which is something Mr. Sheen doesn't do.  That means he's not taking advantage of his base of followers to gain impressions for his Twitter account.

The point is, impressions matter in the Twitterverse.

Even if a person doesn't react to a Twitter tweet, they see the tweet. We can't know when they saw it, or even when or if they did, but since it's out there, it's visible. Thus, it's an ad impression, and the more Twitter Followers the submitter has, the more impressions that tweet's going to get.

That's why the number of Twitter Followers is important: as the basis for ad impressions. This perspective also gives value to the tweet issued. The more followers you have, and the more you tweet per day, the more valuable the tweets become.

Something else also not considered by Twitter reach analysis systems is that now, with social network search engines like SocialMention.com, and Facebook feeds for Twitter, that Twitter tweet is seen by more people than just in the Twitterverse.

Thus, Charlie Sheen's McDonald's tweet really made a lot of people hungry! Think about that the next time you see or make a Twitter tweet of any kind: it travels far and is seen by more people than even current tools can measure. Your tweet can start a movement for or against a person, place, or thing. All it takes is for it to be seen.

Some Things & Other Things the “not quite yet Spring time” in the NFL Edition

By Dr. Bill Chachkes Executive Editor-Football Reporters Online

I hear It’s “Always Sunny” in Philly, but that doesn’t keep Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie or Team President Joe Banner from lying right through their teeth when they talk about the costs associated with running the Linc. Raise your hand if you have ever been to the Linc….I have. It’s a nice place to watch a game, both in the seats and in the Pressbox. Can anyone really justify a 7digit “misc. expenses” tab for a stadium? I hope that doesn’t count food costs for the media. All Mr. Lurie could manage for us that day was Turkey or Ham sandwiches…Even though I’m not a fan of Pork product, I have no plans to shoot them from my helicopter like one politician suggests we do to immigrants. Lurie should produce movies about politicians who get elected and then go against the people who elected them, then he could see how he’s going against the fans of the team he owns. Most Philly fans Love Mike VICK, but that has to still be some that miss Donovan McNabb…

Do the NFL owners want to do the same thing to it’s players? If the owners really wanted to “come back to the table” and get a deal done with the players, they wouldn’t be waiting for the April 6th Court date before Judge Richardson. I like Mr. Goodell as a person, he’s always been nice to me, but he didn’t really think his letter to the players would be taken seriously when the owners for the most part prove time and time again how they can’t be trusted?

We are beginning to hear a lot of news from the “Camps” of players awaiting to be drafted next month about “who’s gonna kill it” at their pro day or how many NFL teams have invited me for a work out. What these guys have not realized yet is that the NFL that they are waiting to be selected into is going to be much different then they were hoping for. It’s going to have a rookie wage scale, and none of these guys will be “instant” millionaires like I have my “Instant Oatmeal” twice weekly….No, those days are gone. Hope you weren’t planning on paying off all your babies mommas with your signing bonus.

Football needs a “breath of fresh air”, and that just what the UFL’s Hartford Colonials did this week by hiring Jerry Glanville as their new Head Coach & GM. Not that Chris Palmer’s pressers were boring (he is a nice man too), But clearly as evidenced by the phone conference he gave to some of us media types yesterday he’s ready to ‘Shake it up” at “the Rent” this season. I look forward to being at a few of those post game press conferences…I’m even going to e-mail him my list of “dead” people he should leave tickets for…now that the statue of limitations has run out on The Doors’ Jim Morrison for the 1969 arrest in New Haven, Maybe he’ll be up for a Colonials game….but seriously, people are finally starting to take the UFL seriously(even though I did from day one, I was one of the people at the first UFL press conference…) and people should see it for what it is: competitive football. Maybe Coach Belichick could learn something about charismatic behavior from Coach Glanville….I heard he already got into a “Tweet-Fight” with Newsday’s Bob Glauber, with the Coach inviting him up to a game…Bob, if your reading this and you show up to the game and I’m there, I’d be glad to introduce you around…You’ll get to see that pro football goes beyond the NFL…

I’m so Tired of these” Rumor” football sites who just publish stories to get their traffic numbers up. Do you guys actually go out and hunt these stories down? Or do you come up with this “junk” while your in the “reading” room?

So Ohio State Head coach Jim Tressel wants to stand with his players and be suspended 5 games because “Maybe he didn’t do enough” to instill the right behavior in his players. I’m ok with his feelings, but these kids still should have sat out that bowl game….

Thanks to former Vikings DE and Retired Players Association President Carl Eller for joining us on the show last Thursday night. He was very pointed in his remarks about current players who take for granted what they have…

I heard about this great organization founded by a High School running back in Ohio who wants to help H.S. athletes who are severely injured while playing sports. Just google “rush for a cause” and find them on Facebook…

Finally, I’m headed down to our nation’s capital to speak to the sports management program students at Catholic University tomorrow. The Wed. & Thur. shows will be broadcast from The University (Wed. Night), and The Glory Days Sports grill in Broadlands, Va.(Thur. Night). Saturday we will be scouting and interviewing the athletes at the First BSN football combine of the season. Starting tonight, The Tuesday PFNYC show will be weekly again, until just after the draft…

This former soldier asks you to please pray for the people of Japan, and support our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airman, and Coast Guardsman who defend our religious and political freedoms every day.

99ers News Alert: GOP Takes Meeting on HR589 - 99ers Data Base Created

This is a 99ers News Alert: GOP leadership takes Democrats up on their offer to meet on HR589 - And Rhonda Taylor (tireless long time 99er advocate) creates a badly needed 99ers Data Base. (see below)

According to Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post today:

GOP Leaders Agree To Meet With Dems To Discuss Bill For Long-Term Unemployed

From the article:

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have agreed to meet with two Democrats to discuss longshot legislation for the long-term unemployed, the members' offices confirmed Tuesday.

Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) introduced legislation earlier this year to provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to Americans who've been out of work for six months or longer. Lee and Scott have spoken frequently about the struggles of so-called "99ers" -- people who still haven't found work after exhausting the maximum 99 weeks of benefits available in some states.

The Lee-Scott proposal received zero initial support from Republicans because it would add roughly $16 billion to the federal budget deficit. Lee and Scott later announced they'd be open to finding budget cuts to offset the cost of the benefits, something Democrats have generally refused to do for federal extended jobless aid typically enacted during recessions.

Given that concession, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have agreed to meet with Lee and Scott sometime in the next few weeks to discuss possible cuts to fund the benefits.

The story goes on to say:

Cantor's office suggested he would steer the conversation toward job creation instead of just providing another 14 weeks of benefits.

"Leader Cantor looks forward to the meeting and would like to broaden the conversation to focus on ways to grow the economy, spur investment and create jobs rather than simply extending unemployment benefits in some instance beyond the maximum of 99 weeks currently permitted," a Cantor spokesman said Monday in a statement to the OC Register.

Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring elaborated in an email to HuffPost: "The point was basically that the Leader believes that the best unemployment program in America is a job, so rather than only talking about extending benefits, we should be having a broader conversation about growing the economy, spurring investment, and allowing businesses to hire."

Lee and Scott haven't suggested what they'd be willing to cut, and House Democratic leaders have remained silent about the prospect of offsetting the cost of unemployment benefits. Last year, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told HuffPost she considered offsetting benefits "a completely bad idea," though many conservative Democrats have said they support doing so.

The thing is though that after an entire year without any income, after the 2 previous years of unemployment, most 99ers - if they were hired today would not have the bus fare or gas money to get back and fourth to that job long enough to get that first pay check. Consequently the millions within the 99er Nation NEED SOME MONEY in order to survive long enough to get that elusive job that will be their saving grace. Congress seems in no big hurry to do either create jobs or help the 99ers survive - but good lord we certainly must help Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and every other country that needs it.

HR589 would cost $16 Billion and help desperate, forgotten 99er families to survive. American's involvement in Libya is likely to cost far more than that and not help even 1 Jobless American.

Did you hear it? Ed Schultz is the only one in TV media news who keeps mentioning the 99ers at all these days. Last week he did so on this Wednesday show - even in the midst of covering the horrific events as they unfolded in Japan.

Well last night big Ed did it again (see video at 3:13) when, during an interview with Laura Flanders, Ed was slammed Speaker Boehner for his comment: "The United States has a moral obligation to stand with the Libyans" , even as he stands idly by and does NOTHING for the 99ers.

Finally, Rhonda Taylor of Rhode Island - prolific 99er advocate extraordinaire has created a data base for 99ers. The purpose of this is to have a way to contact as many of those in the 99er Nation for protests and gives her a geographical "map" of sorts so she will know how many busses will be needed and from what locations for the big Washington 99er convergence planned for this Spring.

Rhonda has proven herself trustworthy and since she will be administering the 99er Data Base - I have already registered and suggest all unemployed Americans do the same. We are all 99ers. Some of us are the 99ers of yesterday, others the 99ers of today and the rest of the unemployed are the 99ers of tomorrow. Don't wait for it to happen to you. Register now here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

U-Cubed Press Releases Show Grim Jobs Statistics - Despite Washington Rhetoric

The U-Cubed Press Release below shows very grim Jobs Statistics - Despite the Washington Rhetoric to the contrary.

In their most recent Press release today, U-Cubed tells a far more reality based version of the American Jobless fiasco than our own government has recently reported. Perhaps Washington reports the skewed, bogus UE rates to justify their refusal to do anything about the problem. The old "Washington Two-Step"= If we ignore it and say everything is fine, maybe we can fool just enough voters to avoid doing any real work and still keep our own jobs.

U-Cubed Press Release 3-22-2011: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UCubed’s Unemployment Brackets Showcase Grim Statistics

Washington, D.C., March 22, 2011 – Citing recent metropolitan unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Ur Union of Unemployed (UCubed) released its updated “Marching to Madness” unemployment brackets.

The brackets are the latest installment of UCubed’s aggressive ad campaign on Facebook meant to draw attention to the national jobs crisis. Users were asked to fill out the unemployment brackets, ranking the city they believed is suffering the most. Today’s version has been filled in with actual rankings from the BLS.

“As predicted, there were an estimated 28.4 million ‘upsets’ in our unemployment bracket tournament,” said UCubed Executive Director Rick Sloan. “That’s the real number of Americans in need of a job. The real number of Americans pleading for policymakers to take action in creating a national jobs agenda that will put America back to work.

“Today, more than three years since the collapse of our economy, our nation’s leaders have yet to take bold action to address the jobs crisis. Washington’s indifference in the midst of this historical national emergency is appalling.

“The jobless want to go back to work. And they want to go back today. The time to create a national jobs agenda is now.”

Of the top 64 metropolitan areas, the city of Fresno, CA, recorded the highest unemployment rating in the “Marching to Madness” unemployment brackets with 17.2 percent! For a complete look at all the cities, click here.

Also see UCubed's ad campaign on Facebook.

Ur Union of Unemployed, or UCubed, is a community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. For more information, visit Ur Union of Unemployed.

Rick Sloan also sent out a website wide email communication on this subject:

Dear UCubed Leaders & Activists:

As predicted, an estimated 28.4 million were “upset” in UCubed’s “Marching to Madness” unemployment bracket tournament. Of the top 64 metropolitan areas, the city of Fresno, CA, recorded the highest unemployment rating with a whopping 17.2 percent! Las Vegas, NV, followed with 14.9 percent.

UCubed created the unemployment brackets in a continual effort to draw attention to the national jobs crisis – and the lack of bold action on the part of our nation’s leaders in addressing this important issue. Washington’s indifference in the midst of this historical national emergency has been appalling. Today, more than three years since the collapse of our economy, millions of Americans remain in need of full-time work – yet, little has been done to create jobs.

The time to create a national jobs agenda is now. The jobless want to go back to work. And they want to go back today.

Show your support for the unemployed by clicking “Like” on UCubed's page on Facebook.

For a complete look at how your city stacked up in our “Marching to Madness” brackets, click here.

In Unity – Strength,

Rick Sloan
Executive Director
Ur Union of the Unemployed

Fresno, CA Ranked #1 "Most Unemployed" City by U-Cubed

Eight California cities made the U-Cubed March Madness Unemployment brackets, but Fresno, CA ranked #1 "Most Unemployed" City with an unemployment rate of (17.2).

From the U-Cubed website:

As predicted, there were an estimated 28.4 million “upsets” in UCubed’s “Marching to Madness” unemployment bracket tournament. Out of the top 64 metropolitan areas, the city of Fresno, CA, recorded the highest unemployment rating with a whopping 17.2 percent! Las Vegas, NV, followed with 14.9 percent.

“It makes you wonder how policy makers can simply turn a blind eye,” said UCubed Executive Director Rick Sloan. “There are millions of Americans in need of full-time work, yet nothing has been done to create jobs. The pleas of the jobless have gone unanswered.

“Washington’s indifference in the midst of this historic national emergency is appalling.”

UCubed created the “Marching to Madness” unemployment brackets in an effort to draw attention to the national jobs crisis. For a complete look at how your city stacked up, click here.

Show your support for the unemployed by clicking “Like” on UCubed’s page on Facebook.

San Diego made it into the "Somber Sixteen" bracket. It was one of eight cities in the "Golden State" to rate the dubious distinction among the Nation's worst cities to find employment. Aside from San Diego (10.3) and Fresno, the other 6 California towns were: San Francisco (9.2), Sacramento (12.6), San Jose (10.8), Riverside (14.3), Los Angeles (13.1) and Bakersfield (12.2). [All but Bakersfield made the "Somber Sixteen" roster level] California is way above the national unemployment rate and you can see - many of the largest cities have unemployment rates soaring far above the current (12.7) UE rate for our state. In fact, among the 14 areas with jobless rates of at least 15% , 12 were located in California.

The U-Cubed bracket has many other eye opening unemployment facts that paint a grim picture for the "Jobless Recovery" our so called "Leaders" in Washington keep avoiding and refuse to address. Be sure and check out who placed in the: Irate Eight, Fed-Up Four and Terrible Two brackets.

Seems that the only economies and human suffering Washington cares enough about to do anything at all are in the middle east and NOT here in the USA.

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