Obama Calls on Congress to Restore Expired Unemployment Benefits

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Job seekers fill out applications at the Columbus Career Fair in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 5, 2013. Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg.

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Obama Calls on Congress to Restore Expired Unemployment Benefits

By Jim Snyder January 04, 2014

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Job seekers fill out applications at the Columbus Career Fair in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 5, 2013. Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

President Barack Obama urged Congress to make the restoration of unemployment benefits a priority as both he and lawmakers return to work after a holiday break.

The renewal of the “vital economic lifeline” provided by the aid should be lawmakers’ “first order of business” next week, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address today.
“Republicans in Congress went home for the holidays and let that lifeline expire,” the president said, referring to the program that provided supplemental payments to long-term unemployed workers. “And for many of their constituents who are unemployed through no fault of their own, that decision will leave them with no income at all.”

Video: Obama's Weekly Radio and Internet Address

Senate Democrats are searching for a compromise with Republicans to extend the program for another three months to about 1.3 million people. The plan would cost about $6.5 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Republican congressional leaders say the spending should be offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget. The jobless benefits expired Dec. 28 after the program was left out of a deal to fund the government for two years that Democrats and Republicans hammered out before leaving Washington for their break.
Obama said continuing the benefits will help mothers afford to feed their children while looking for work, and fathers trying to learn a new skill to get a job.
“And denying families that security is just plain cruel,” the president said. “We’re a better country than that. We don’t abandon our fellow Americans when times get tough – we keep the faith with them until they start that new job.”

Economic Impact

He also pressed an economic argument for the aid.
“If folks can’t pay their bills or buy the basics, like food and clothes, local businesses take a hit and hire fewer workers,” he said. “And after our businesses created more than two million new jobs last year, that’s a self-inflicted wound we don’t need.”
The extended unemployment program began in 2008 and at one point provided as much as 99 weeks of aid -- 26 weeks in state benefits and up to 73 weeks in federal benefits. It has been renewed 11 times since it was put in place by then-President George W. Bush amid the financial crisis.
The length of the extra assistance has been reduced through the extension renewals and now has a maximum total of 73 weeks, though most states average fewer.
Obama has been vacationing in his native Hawaii with his family. They are scheduled to fly back to Washington tonight.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at jsnyder24@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Don Frederick at dfrederick1@bloomberg.net
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Obama Calls on Congress to Restore Expired Unemployment Benefits

One thing I can say about expired Unemployment benefits. If you don't have a job but do have a college degree in basically anything you can teach English in another country if you do enough research ahead of time.(You might also want to pass an online  TOEFL. Most of the people who do this from the U.S. are young (21 to 25 or 30) and single. But there are exceptions. I have read that people teaching English as a foreign language are pretty happy doing this in places like Japan and Korea and possibly China might be a nice place too as long as you are away from major air, and water and food pollution areas. Generally speaking, the best situation appears to be in South Korea working for the state run public school system where you are given a free studio apartment and people report that they are making enough to also pay off their student loans and feel financially secure and respected in these positions. Their school year goes from March through December I believe. The drawback is you don't get all the days off you would as a teacher here. The advantage: you can pay off your student loans while being respected as a teacher and places like South Korea and Japan are two of the safest places on earth because of the honor system honored by South Koreans and Japanese people in general. 

Here is some information regarding Toefl requirements. So, you might want to at least get an online TOEFL certification which I read costs around $300. With this certification you can teach English anywhere on earth. However, be sure to research how much you will be paid and what the cost of living is and how safe it is in whatever country you choose to do this in. Though Europe sounds wonderful most people already speak up to 4 to 5 languages already there as a normal matter of people growing up going to public schools and one of the most important languages for people to learn for business is English. So Europe though you might be an English Tutor there might be less useful as a full time job than other places on Earth where English is spoken less in general. Also, the harder a country has in learning English because of having different types of languages than English the more important someone like you with a College degree will be important. Places like South Korea in the public school systems there you would be respected and honored even if you might feel lonely for family and friends from the U.S. But, you likely could afford to pay off your student loans doing this while learning the local language(s) as well. And if you are frugal you  might have enough left over to travel throughout the the countries in the areas you are teaching in as well.