My name is Robert Duckham, I am a 47 year old unemployed male.
I have joined the millions of American people who are victims of the Rethuglican recession. I am luckier than most, my wife is an attorney, she has a six figure income, so my income is nice, but not immediately necessary. I used my unemployment insurance payments to pay for transportation to job interviews; the few that there have been, and to help pay some of our household expenses. But, that ends on Monday, as this Sunday I file my paperwork for my last week of unemployment insurance payments. In the past the Congress passed unemployment insurance payment extensions. But not this time, as certain members are now worried about budget deficits. I will not bore you with my screed that says that these same people who now bleat like sheared sheep about budget deficits voted FOR a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, voted to bailout the banksters, and gave massive tax cuts to the wealthy. I am going to give you some suggested cuts that could be made in our current budget.
The Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan: According to the National Priorities Project http://www.nationalpriorities.org/ over $1 Trillion Dollars has been spent in Iraq & Afghanistan since 2001. That would be a great place to start saving.
Missile Defense: According to the Center for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org/... $62.9 Billion has been spent on missile defense programs. 62.9 Billion spent on a program that didn't work when tested, has no real reason to exist since the "Evil Empire" died. This has been the worst spent money that I have seen in my lifetime. Kill it now.
BUT WE NEED THE KOSSACKS HELP The bill to extend the unemployment insurance payments has not come to a vote. There is no certainty that the bill will ever come to the floor. CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN. Find out where they stand on extending unemployment insurance payments for the millions of out of work Americans like me. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121, and find out where your representatives stand on this important issue.
And Call Sen. Reid at (202) 224-3542, and Rep. Pelosi at (202) 225-4965, and tell them that wee demand that they schedule a vote on this bill as soon as possible so we can continue to help these unfortunate Americans.
I want to work, as I am sure most all of the currently unemployed want to work, but we need help while we get new jobs. And that is the governments role to help those who need a hand up, so then we can then stand up on our own. If the Congress can spend billions of dollars to help the banksters, they can assuredly help those millions of formerly hard working Americans who want to work but can not right now.