I am approaching my first year of no full time employment in two weeks. Last night I had these dreams defining the past year.
In dream one, I was cycling on a deserted highway (such as Highway 70S). I believe that there were one or two walkers on the road. I approached a part of the road under water and had to turn back. I warned the walkers that the road was not passable.
In dream two, I was on the side of a road (I think Charlotte Pike) that was backed up with cars. I was attempting to climb up and walk along the side of the road and avoid being hit by cars. I had a very thin roadside to walk along. Part of the roadside was covered with plowed snow that I had to brush aside to walk.
I think that pretty much describes the experiences my husband and I have had the past year.
Our government pays some drug trafficker money, but we haggle over giving our citizens a public option for healthcare:
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, October 27, 2009 — 9:10 PM ET
—–
Brother of Afghan President Is on C.I.A. Payroll, Officials Say
Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a
suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium
trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence
Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according
to current and former American officials.
The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, and
those financial ties and the agency’s close working
relationship with him raise significant questions about
America’s war strategy, which is currently under review at
the White House.
This quotation from the late Hubert Humphrey explains perfectly why I am a Democrat:
Tennessee Democrats want dignity, equality and respect for everyone. To achieve that end, we will work tirelessly in our communities to promote initiatives that create good jobs, better schools and a cleaner environment. We are fortunate to live in a prosperous society, but we sometimes forget those who are left behind.
Hubert Humphrey once said, “The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
We agree. We become stronger as a community, as a state and as a nation when we help all segments of society prosper.
This morning I sent a version of the following letter to my federal lawmakers: Rep. Jim Cooper, Sen. Lamar Alexander and Sen. Bob Corker. I am awaiting their response. I know that I will receive a canned letter. In sending the letter to Cooper and Alexander, I noticed that unemployment was not listed on the pull down menu for subject of the letter. Only for Corker could I write in my issue, unemployment.
Both my husband and I are unemployed. John lost his job in September 2008; then six weeks later, I lost my job in November.
We have benefited from unemployment, the stimulus package and extensions to unemployment. I have benefited from the government picking up part of my payment for COBRA coverage. My husband has no insurance. When the government COBRA coverage expires, I will need to find an affordable option for insurance.
Collectively, we made over $XXXXXX in 2008. We have a fixed rate mortgage which we are paying through my retirement savings. We paid in federal taxes last year about what we are making this year with unemployment checks. Aren’t you as a legislator concerned about that tax deficient? There are many others like us.
I’ve tried to sell promotional products on commission and have just opened a pet sitting service for our neighborhood. I will probably net a negative income after expenses.
We need help. As a fifty-something, I sense that my age and my former income are detriments to me getting a job. My husband is in his late 40s. He cannot find employment because of his degree, although he has been willing to do unskilled labor jobs.
We have good health for now. We are not homeless. We have college degrees. What we do not have is confidence for our future.
Are there federal training programs available to us to help us get new employment? We want to be taxpayers, not government recipients.
My husband was quoted in a story about unemployment in our local newspaper this morning:
Laid-off workers in the Nashville area say they’re often finding hundreds of their fellow jobless submitting applications for the same positions.”I had one (human resources) manager tell me she got 1,000 resumes for that one job,” said John Mathieson, 46, of Bellevue, about a sales and marketing post in Brentwood that he wanted.
The former hotel bellhop captain has been out of work for 13 months, and he estimates he’s applied for 300 openings. It’s been almost a year since his wife lost her job, as well.
While I am checking email, my husband is watching the talking heads debate Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I like this letter that President Obama sent out to his constituents:
Barbara –
This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I’d been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I’ve said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won’t all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.
This award — and the call to action that comes with it — does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we’ve begun together. I’m grateful that you’ve stood with me thus far, and I’m honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
I hope this passes, but I need healthcare coverage, like a public option.
This is great. From the morning news:
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Fri, October 09, 2009 — 5:08 AM ET
—–
Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
The U.S. president Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize
“for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international
diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Nobel
Foundation said in Sweden on Friday.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
Be there if you support healthcare reform as I do:
CSI: BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
Join us as we expose insurance industry crimes!
Come out to the rally and show your support for health care reform!
TUESDAY OCTOBER 6TH
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
3200 West End Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
Directions from downtown:
Southwest on West End Avenue
Pass 31st Avenue
Right on Acklen Park Drive, to park there
At this rate, will I be able to stay on unemployment until I qualify for social security?
After More Job Losses, Democrats Move to Extend Benefits
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: October 3, 2009
WASHINGTON — In the wake of further job losses in September, President Obama on Saturday called the new figures “sobering” and said that he was working with his economic advisers “to explore additional options to promote job creation.”
Mr. Obama suggested that a health care overhaul would help revive the economy and create jobs. The president’s remarks, in his weekly radio and Internet address, came as the White House and Congressional Democrats considered steps to help the unemployed, including extending enhanced unemployment benefits past December, continuing a tax credit for workers who have been laid off and extending a tax credit for first-time home buyers.
The jobless numbers, released by the Labor Department on Friday, showed that the unemployment rate for September had risen to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent and that 263,000 jobs were lost last month.
The House on Friday approved legislation that would provide 13 more weeks of benefits to states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher. Democratic leaders in the Senate are pushing a measure that would also provide aid to states that do not meet the threshold.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, is promoting legislation that would provide four more weeks of unemployment coverage to all states, while states over the 8.5 percent threshold would get 12 more weeks.
Lawrence H. Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview with The Atlantic online that the administration should “continue to support people who are in need, whether it’s unemployment insurance, or the Cobra program,” which provides health insurance for the unemployed.
