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Swift wrote Alexander Pope that although he loved animals he hated mankind in general.

Swift argued that he did not see humanity as animal rationale.

Rather he felt that man was merely animal rationis capax (an animal capable of acting rationally)

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP2lmG5E-Vc&feature=fvst

Trkymomoe asked me to work with her on a post concerning the 99ers. This may end up as one of a series of posts concerning the single biggest issue facing this country; unemployment.

Who qualifies for unemployment insurance?

Well first you must be employed.

I bring this up here because employers attempt to save money by hiring 'independent contractors'.  A business does not have to pay withholding taxes when it hires an independent contractor and a business does not have to pay unemployment insurance.

So there are thousands of frauds being perpetrated in this area of the law and therefore thousands of legal cases that have been handed down defining what an employee is as opposed to what an independent contractor is.

If you run your own little business, you are not entitled to unemployment benefits unless you have made certain arrangements. For instance you can incorporate and then have the corporation hire you.  Most people do not do this because they wish to save money in the short term.

Basically all individuals who have held the same job for over six months qualify for unemployment insurance; with exceptions.  

Generally, the worker must be unemployed through no fault of his/her own (generally through lay-offs). Unemployment benefits are based on reported covered quarterly earnings. The amount of earnings and the number of quarters worked are used to determine the length and value of the unemployment benefit. The average weekly payment is 36 percent of the individual's average weekly wage.

No fault, huh?

And an individual does not qualify for unemployment benefits if he or she quit a position voluntarily.

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) has fired his state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, as a result of errors and misrepresentations from Schundler in a matter costing the state $400 million in federal "Race to the Top" money. At the same time, the firing has been arranged at Schundler's request in such a manner so that Schundler -- a former leading figure of the state GOP's right wing -- will be able to collect unemployment benefits.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/republican-state-offici...

But what seems to be ignored in the Shundler story is that an employee who is fired for cause is not entitled to unemployment insurance benefits.

Now if Mr. Shundler is found by some court not to have been fired for cause I imagine that would create quite a stir. As a matter of fact, I would like to see everyone who was ever denied benefits because they were fired for cause to initiate a Federal Suit immediately!!

The individual stories are the most interesting.

Connie Kaplan took a bus from New York City to Washington, D.C. to do some grassroots lobbying for extra weeks of jobless aid. Kaplan is a "99er" -- a person who has exhausted all available weeks of unemployment benefits and still hasn't found a job -- and she wants politicians to acknowledge that the million-plus people in her situation need help.

On Tuesday, Kaplan delivered a letter supporting a bill to provide 20 additional weeks of jobless aid for people living in states with unemployment above 7.5 percent. She brought three copies: one for the White House, one each for the Republican and Democratic national committees.

"It shows my concerted effort," said Kaplan, 52, of her Washington visit. "I want them to know I hand-delivered these letters."

It's lobbying at its most grassroots: So grassroots, in fact, that Kaplan showed up outside the White House and didn't really know what to do with her letter. A police officer advised her that any mail to people in the White House has to go through the Post Office.

"We have been humiliated by some politicians as lazy drug addicts who live on handouts from our government,"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/31/99er-goes-to-washington-u_n_700651.html

 Now I think most people realize that there are millions of unemployed people who are unaccounted for by the powers that be. We read about an unemployment rate 'approaching' 10%.  But we also read that the 'real' figure is most probably 17% or higher. That is, 17% of those individuals who would really like to have a job and contribute something to their families and to community and to their America; CANNOT FIND A GODDAMN JOB!!

And as time goes on, especially for those individuals who are not even counted anymore, despair sets in. In the story, Ms. Kaplan was attempting to be counted.  And of course she succeeded. Not everyone who knocks on the doors of the White House receive media coverage and of course, by achieving this media coverage, some sense of urgency was felt around the nation.

On August 15, 2010, The Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article entitled "They're Known as 'the 99ers,' and their numbers are growing in Ohio and nationwide."[24]

They're known as "the 99ers." After two years or more without jobs, they say they're losing a critical safety net at a time when finding work is still agonizingly difficult. The result: a growing legion of people -- many of them older, many once middle class -- who are exhausting their benefits. It's a wave that threatens to besiege social services and leave the government grasping for answers.

The U.K.'s The Observer published "Jobless millions signal death of the American dream for many."[25]

There are now more than a million 99ers and the number gets bigger each week. But who are they? Despite Republican attempts to paint them as feckless or job-shy, they are usually anything but. The 99ers are people like Anne Strauss, 58, who spent 35 years working as a PR professional on Long Island. Despite spending every day hunting for work, she has not had a job since June 2008. She and her husband are now living on credit cards watching debts mount as they stare into the abyss. "Looking for a job is the hardest I have ever worked," she said with a smile that conveyed no humour or happiness, only the deep stress that is common to many 99ers

Some media coverage of the unemployment situation is not so sensitive.

The Fox News host thinks some 99ers -- those who have used up their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits--should be embarrassed to call themselves Americans, the Huffington Post reported.

"Have you heard of the 99ers?" Beck asked on Monday. "Some of these people, I bet you'd be ashamed to call them Americans."

About 1.4 million Americans have been out of work more than 99 weeks, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's when unemployment benefits run out in states with the highest unemployment rates.

"Go out and get a job," said Beck. "You may not want the job. Work at McDonald's. Work two jobs. There has been plenty of times in my life I've done jobs I hated, but I had no choice. Two years is plenty of time to have lived off your neighbor's wallet." .nydailynews

There is a movement amongst the chronically unemployed in America. Take a look at this site:

http://www.99erspetition.com/

You can even sign up and become part of this movement.

http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/

 Momoe noted that:

 Right now there is 14.6 million Americans are out of work.  The number of the chronically unemployed who have run out of benefits is growing every week.   Week after week hard working Americans find themselves, through no fault of their own facing personal disaster. Many of them will lose everything they have worked for all their lives. 

For many in this group this is the first time in their lives that they been out of work.  Any possible action by the Senate that might benefit these people and their families has been blocked--by the repubs of course.  

Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) introduced a bill S.3706 Americans Want to Work Act on August 4.2010  that includes a tier 5 of 20 more weeks of benefits for the unemployed. 

http://stabenow.senate.gov/infocus/AmericansWanttoWork.html

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (NV) has sponsored a house bill HR 6091 The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act that will also extend 20 more weeks of benefits.

http://berkley.house.gov/2010/08/new-berkley-bill-extends-unemployment-help-to-nevadans-who-have-exhausted-benefits.shtml

Get out your pitchforks and torches and help support the chronically unemployed-those who have run out of benefits.  Next month, October 2, a rally and a march is planned in DC by and for the 99ers. Time is running out with November's election coming up. This is a real crisis for the unemployed with so little job growth. If the Koch brothers and Beck organize the Tea Baggers riding on the wagon of bigotry and fear to hold a rally, then the labor in this country can remind Washington how important labor vote is.  The 99ers are well organized now on the internet and offering bumper stickers and signs.