Deadline Passes For Unemployment Emergency Benefits
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There is bad news Wednesday for about 2 million Americans who are getting extended unemployment checks. Their emergency benefits just got cut-off. In Minnesota, however, it will continue for at least a little while.
At Tuesday's White House Summit, lawmakers discussed the emergency benefits, but there was no agreement. In fact, the deadline to extend them for about 2 million Americans passed at midnight.
"It's very discouraging," said Earl Seawright, who lives in the Philadelphia, Penn., area and has been out of work for almost a year. "I hope something will be done, and they'll be able to hear the voices of the people,"
Coupled with a cramped living room and medical problems, losing long-term unemployment benefits only adds to Seawright's stress.
It had looked for a while like Republicans would vote to extend those emergency benefits, but there was one condition. They wanted the same amount of cuts to off-set the cost.
Republicans don't want to spend the money. They want to cut spending, since the country's facing a deficit of nearly $14 trillion.
"I want to help! More than anybody here, I want to help," said Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts. "But ,to just keep throwing money at a problem, it makes no sense to me."
President Obama believes extending emergency benefits would help the economy. The money, his Press Secretary said, would pay the rent, buy the food and fill up the tank for Americans.
He sees the need for relief now that unemployment lines are long and with the national unemployment rate at nearly 10 percent.
In Minnesota, emergency benefits will actually continue for another 13 weeks. Our state is the one of only a dozen or so states that will continue these long-term benefits.
But for a few million other Americans from coast to coast, the news is not good.
WCCO-TV's James Schugel Reports
