WE NEED JOBS BILL, NOT BULL. A group of determined and talented 99ers make a statement

For additional articles about unemployment and 99er efforts to secure jobs and extended unemployment benefits, please visit Rochester Unemployment Examiner.

A new 99er video titled “We Need Jobs Bill, Not Bull” has been released by Unemployed Workers Action Group. The video will be introduced in a press release soon, but Kian Fredrick of UWAG gave Donalee King (San Diego Unemployment Examiner; see Donalee’s story at link), Edward Nelson (NY Public Policy Examiner) and me an opportunity to pre-release the video to our readers.

The grass-roots effort video was created by jobless workers and takes place at the Wall Street Bull in Manhattan, NY, which is the perfect location for the 99ers to make a point. That point being; why was Wall Street and its corrupt and mismanaged companies bailed-out, but there is little help for the unemployed and no help for 99ers. Wall Street and its banksters received trillions of dollars in bailouts and backstops that continue to serve their needs for profit and outsized bonuses, but the unemployed, and 99ers in particular, are given nothing but hopes of extended benefit legislation and promises of job creation; neither of which are happening quickly for the 4-5 million 99ers, the 10-15 million non-99er unemployed, and the 15 million underemployed.

The UWAG’s “We Need Jobs Bill, Not Bull” video is another fine effort of getting media and political attention. Keeping the 99er issue alive and in the media, particularly before an election, is vital. Without the media’s interest, the 99er issue could lose the attention it has generated to this point and politicians could go on their merry way avoiding the issue entirely. While there is a great deal of disappointment that 99er legislation has not yet been passed, it wouldn’t have been introduced if not for the media attention of Ed Schultz and other 99er advocates pulling the strings of anxious politicians.

What media attention has been paid to 99ers of late? I was contacted by the Dylan Ratigan Show and introduced them to Edrie Irvine for their program today. While the program didn’t deal with unemployment in the way I expected, it was nonetheless an opportunity to discuss the problems of long-term unemployment. Yesterday, Ed Schultz briefly mentioned the 99ers in his interview with Debbie Stabenow and he plas to keep the pressure on Congress to act now for the 99ers. I’ve been in contact over the past week with Swiss TV and the Christian Science Monitor who are both doing 99er stories. Others have been in contact with various news organizations as well. Arthur Delaney of HuffPost writes on unemployment issues regularly. While Delaney is a journalist and not an advocate, he keeps the 99er issue alive for his large readership. Annie Lowrey of The Washington Independent is another journalist who covers unemployment on a regular basis.

Keeping the 99er message in the media needs to continue until 99er legislation passes and there are enough jobs to go around for all the long-term unemployed. How can you help keep the media on the case? I spoke to Kian Fredrick and she said there is power in the local media. What starts as local news often goes national. Contact your local media and ask if they are even aware of the 99er issue. Congress is home again, so going directly to their campaign office and state the case for 99er relief. Join a group that supports your needs and the 99er agenda. Continue to participate.

99ers, as Kian mentioned, are the face of the melting middle class. And melting it is; in America 1 in 5 are unemployed/underemployed, 1 in 7 live in poverty, 1 in 5 children live in poverty, 1 in 6 don’t have health insurance, 1 in 7 are mortgage delinquent, 2/3 live paycheck to paycheck, 40 million are using food stamps. The US has the greatest income inequality since just prior to the Great Depression. We rank in the top 1/3 of world income inequality between Cameroon and Uruguay; and the US has more income inequality than Indonesia, Russia, China and Turkey.

Without constant pressure from you, those statistics will only worsen, since most in Congress and other elected officials are more concerned about campaign contributions from major corporations that ship jobs offshore than they are about the shrinking middle class and growing number of poor. Congress has given the middle class enough bull to last a lifetime, so it’s time to grab the congressional bull by the horns and let them know whose boss.

For additional articles about unemployment and 99er efforts to secure jobs and extended unemployment benefits, please visit Rochester Unemployment Examiner.