Common Sense Living

As a special holiday gift – your unemployment may be cut.

I’m seeing more people losing their jobs, and I’m not seeing too many getting jobs – and if they do, its practically minimum wage. Its still not pretty out there.

Even if you’re not on unemployment – would you sign the petition to help out your neighbors?

Dear MoveOn member,

Unless Congress acts now, 126,400 people in Illinois will lose their unemployment benefits by July 10.1

With Illinois’s unemployment at 10.8% and the economy still struggling towards recovery, now is the absolute worst time to be cutting off unemployment benefits.2

This is incredibly urgent, because Congress has just two more days before they adjourn for the July 4 recess. If they don’t act, more than two million Americans will lose their benefits during the holiday week.

There’s already tremendous outrage over jobs, and we need to make sure every member of Congress knows that if they block this critical assistance for workers, they’ll be held accountable by their constituents. If we can get 150,000 signatures by tomorrow, that will really help increase pressure on Congress to act. Clicking the link below will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/unemploymentinsurance/?r_by=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&rc=comment_paste

The petition says: “Congress: I urge you to immediately extend emergency unemployment benefits for jobless workers.” Then, after you sign, please forward this email to five friends to make sure we can hit our goal of 150,000 signatures by Thursday.
Republicans and conservative Democrats have been blocking the extension of unemployment insurance because they say it’ll cost too much and add to the federal deficit.3 But economists say that cutting off unemployment insurance in the middle of a recession will make the economic situation even worse and cause even bigger deficits.4

And there are much better ways to balance the budget. For instance, last month, Senator Bernie Sanders offered an amendment to cut over $35 billion in tax subsidies for oil companies like BP—enough to cover every penny of the unemployment extension.5

But after Big Oil lobbyists fought it, that bill was defeated. And guess what—every single Republican and conservative Democrat who now says we have to cut unemployment insurance voted to keep giving those taxpayer dollars to Big Oil.6

This is an outrageous rip-off for all of us, but it’s a day-by-day crisis for the workers and families who are about to get cut off from their only lifeline if Congress doesn’t act in the next two days.

Will you sign the petition urging Congress not to go on recess until they’ve extended emergency unemployment insurance? Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/unemploymentinsurance/?r_by=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&rc=comment_paste

Thanks for all you do.
–Steven, Kat, Daniel, Carrie, and the rest of the team

1. “Don’t Cut Off America,” National Employment Law Project, accessed June 30, 2010

http://www.unemployedworkers.org/

“Today’s Unemployment Crisis by the Numbers,” National Employment Law Project and Center for American Progress, June, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89261&id=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&t=7 [PDF]

2. “Unemployment Rates for States,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed June 30, 2010

http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

3. “Democrats seek to extend emergency jobless benefits,” The Washington Post, June 30, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89259&id=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&t=9

4. “Mark Zandi: ‘It Would Be Counterproductive’ To Offset Unemployment Benefits Now,” The Huffington Post, April 14, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89258&id=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&t=11

5. “Sanders Amendment Would Repeal Big Oil Tax Breaks,” press release, June 9, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89257&id=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&t=12

6. Roll call vote, Sanders Amdt. No. 4318, June 6, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89256&id=21476-6816791-k_yEyQx&t=13

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

——————————————————————————–
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This email was sent to Carole Pagan on June 30, 2010.

The Wall Street Journal reported that last month, more workers quit than were fired or laid off.

In a survey they conducted, 60% said they would be quitting when things got better.

What a shake up that’s going to be! All these companies that have abusing their employees because they knew people had no where else to go are going to be in for a rude awakening.

Read More Workers Start to Quit

In all things, good or bad – remember; “This too shall pass.”

Did you even get a bonus? Yet we’re supposed to pay for big bonus and trip packages for those poor struggling bailed out still gloriously employed – OK, I’d better stop this thought now while I’m still ahead.

Here’s a great email I got a little while ago. Does it make your blood boil?  

Dear MoveOn member,

Last Friday, Sen. Claire McCaskill took to the Senate floor and said what I imagine a lot of us have been thinking about Wall Street lately:

Sen. McCaskill was reacting to the $18.4 billion in bonuses that Wall Street bankers took home in 2008. $18.4 billion going to the people who crippled our economy with their recklessness and greed and then took $700 billion of our money.²

Yesterday, President Obama took an important first step, limiting pay at companies taking bailouts going forward.³ But Congress is considering going even further, applying the limits retroactively and even taking back some of the most extravagant bonuses at firms that took taxpayer money.⁴

A huge public outcry will give them momentum and push them to real action. Can you sign this petition to Congress, urging them to act now to rein in Wall Street greed? Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/bonus/o.pl?id=15503-6816791-zJUVvPx&t=3

The petition says: “Congress must place enforceable, common-sense limits on salaries at all the banks that have taken taxpayer dollars.” 

Wall Street’s defenders make all kinds of excuses about why the bonuses were justified.  They say that bonuses are an accepted part of compensation packages on Wall Street, that those receiving bonuses weren’t the ones who lost their firms billions of dollars, and that they need to pay bonuses to retain top talent.⁵

Those arguments are outrageous.

If automatic bonuses are a part of Wall Street culture, that culture has to change—a firm that’s still afloat only because of huge taxpayer bailouts shouldn’t be paying bonuses. And while tens of thousands of Wall Street employees are losing their jobs, it’s hard to believe that those still employed will go looking for new positions because they didn’t get a bonus.

Sen. McCaskill showed courage standing up to the status quo. We’ve got to show the rest of Congress that this is the kind of leadership we need to get us out of this crisis and make the economy work for all Americans. Limiting pay at companies taking bailouts won’t fix our financial system—that will take a lot more hard work—but it’s an important first step.

Can you tell Congress to rein in Wall Street’s excesses now and then pass this petition on to your friends? Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/bonus/o.pl?id=15503-6816791-zJUVvPx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Peter, Justin, Marika and the rest of the team 

Sources:

1. “McCaskill Proposes Compensation Cap For Private Companies Getting Federal Dollars,” Senate Newsroom, January 30, 2009
http://mccaskill.senate.gov/newsroom/vid_013009.cfm

2. “What Red Ink? Wall St. Paid Fat Bonuses,” The New York Times, January 28, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/business/29bonus.html

3. “Obama Outlines Limits on Executive Pay,” The Washington Post, February 5, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51145&id=15503-6816791-zJUVvPx&t=5

4. “Despite Treasury’s New Rule, Senators Aren’t Giving Up Their Push to Cap CEO Pay,” TPMDC, February 4, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51146&id=15503-6816791-zJUVvPx&t=6

5. “‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Feb. 1, 2009,” MSNBC.com, February 1, 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28964188/page/5/

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Did you know that the major Pharmaceutical companies have banded together in a group called the Partnership for Prescription Assistance. If you do not have prescription drug coverage at all – no medicare or medicaid, nothing – you can get the TogetherRX Access card that will give you an automatic 25%-40% savings on your prescriptions.

I haven’t found a catch. Of course, I don’t need any prescriptions, so I haven’t been able to actually try using the card. You can get the card easily at http://TogetherRxAccess.com

They also provide listings to public and private medical assistance programs and free health clinics at http://trxaccess.pparx.org

Of course, eating healthy so you don’t need drugs is your best defense

Are you a High Energy Eater Yet?

I just finished a new special report. You see, I’m hearing how many people are in real trouble and looking for ways to save money fast.

This report contains some extreme stuff – and some things you may never have thought about, or even heard about. But if you were to use all of the tips, you seriously could shave hundreds off your monthly expenses fast.

So go grab a copy of this extreme cost cutting report if you need it >>>