I personally would love for these 16 senators out on the streets trying to find jobs like the rest of the people are. I want them to have nothing but what they use to do before being Congresspeople. And we will see how long it takes them to find a job, and they can't fall back on their congressional status.
Today, the Senate passed a bill extending jobless benefits for the rest of the year by a 62-36 vote. Extending unemployment benefits following a recession like one the country just experienced should be a no-brainer, but as Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) and hissupportersdisplayed last month, such a step is by no means a slam-dunk. Throughout the course of the recession, the economy shed 8.4 million jobs, and there are currently six workers for every available job opening. The national unemployment rate is at 9.7 percent, and in many states it is much higher. 41.2 percent of the unemployed have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, which is the highest since 1948. Just to make up for the jobs lost during the recession (not accounting for population increases), the economy would have to produce 350,000 jobs per month for two full years.
Still, 36 senators saw fit to vote against extended benefits (as well as extending COBRA, which helps unemployed workers pay for health insurance). Here are the 16 senators from states with double-digit unemployment (according to the latest figures, released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) who voted against the bill:
SENATORS
STATE
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby
Alabama
11.1%
Sen. George LeMieux
Florida
11.9%
Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson
Georgia
10.4%
Sen. Dick Lugar
Indiana
11.1%
Sens. Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell
Kentucky
10.7%
Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker
Mississippi
10.9%
Sen. John Ensign
Nevada
13.0%
Sen. Richard Burr
North Carolina
11.1%
Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham
South Carolina
12.6%
Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker
Tennessee
10.7%
This vote is in line with a trend among conservatives in Congress, who have taken to displaying a callous disregard for the plight of the unemployed by continually claiming that unemployment benefits discourage people from looking for work. Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), for instance, said that extending benefits is creating “hobos,” while Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said “we shouldn’t turn the ’safety net’ into a hammock.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who voted against the bill today, said benefits stunt job-seeking “because people are being paid even though they’re not working.”
Sens. Kit Bond (R-MO), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), George Voinivich (R-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) joined all of the Democrats except Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) in voting for the measure. Sens. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) did not vote. The Senate bill now has to be reconciled with a bill passed by the House last year. House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-MI) is reportedly considering pushing for a conference committee to work out the differences.
President Obama spoke about health care reform. This was his third trip in a week to bolster support for reform legislation. In his remarks he talked about a woman from Strongsville, Ohio, who was forced to cancel her health insurance after her annual premium rose by 40 percent.
"I'm Here Because of Natoma"
Posted by Jesse Lee on March 15, 2010 at 02:45 PM EDT
This afternoon the President was in Ohio as the year-long battle to finally reform America's health insurance system draws towards a close – and he took the opportunity to remind everybody why he has fought so hard for so long against such powerful interests. He was introduced by Connie Anderson, the sister of Natoma Canfield – a woman whose awful but all-too-common struggles have served as a brutal symbol of what is wrong with our system for millions of others.
It began with a letter – the type of letter millions of Americans have written to their presidents since the founding of this country. But this letter, which she likely never expected anybody even close to the President to see, ended up in his hands. It told of her story having battled off cancer sixteen years ago, and having battled with her insurance company ever since -- see the scanned images below or read the text of the letters here.
Letter from Natoma Canfield to the President
December 29, 2009
President Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama
I am 50 years old. I was diagnosed with carcinoma in-situ 16 years ago and following my divorce 12 years ago I became self-employed. After my Cobra ran out I was able to find costly, but affordable health insurance. As a responsible individual, I have struggled to maintain my individual coverage and have increased my deductible and out of pocket-limits in an attempt to control my cost and keep my health insurance.
Last year (2009) my insurance premium was increased over 25% even though I increased my deductible and out of pocket to the highest limits available. I paid out $6075.24 in premiums, $2415.26 for medical care, $225 in co-pays and $1500 for prescriptions. I never reached my deductible of $2500 so the insurance company only paid out a total of $953.32 to my providers.
I must repeat, in 2009 my insurance company received $6075.24 in premiums and paid out only $953.32! Incredibly I have just been notified that my premium for next year 2010 has been increased over 40% to $8496.24 ($708.02 per month)!!!! This is the same insurance company I have been with for over 11 cancer free years!!!
I need your Health reform bill to help me!!! I simply can no longer afford to pay for my health care costs!! Thanks to this incredible premium increase demanded by my insurance company, January will be my last month of insurance.
I live in the house my mother & father built in 1958 and I am so afraid of the possibility I might loose [sic] this family heirloom as a result of my being forced to drop my health care insurance. The health insurance industry technically has not denied me insurance directly, but indirectly they have by increasing my costs. They perceive me as becoming a higher risk factor to them despite being a loyal customer. I will never be able to obtain new health insurance due to the lack of real competition.
We are talking about Anthem who apparently has no respect for your attempts to reform the health insurance industry.
Please stay focused in your reform attempts as I and many others are in desperate need of your help.
Sincerely, Natoma Canfield
Natoma Canfield
CC: many
Text of the Response to Natoma Canfield from President Obama
Natoma-
Thanks for your letter. It’s because of folks like you that we are still fighting to get health care done!
Barack Obama
When the President and HHS Secretary Sebelius met with insurance company executives recently asking them to justify their alarming rate increases across the country in recent months, he read her letter to them to make clear that this was not about politics, or lobbying, or grandstanding – this was about countless stories of working Americans being crushed under their health care costs, even when they play by the rules and pay their dues to insurance companies for what is supposed to be peace of mind.
Last week, though, Natoma collapsed. She was taken to an emergency room, and has since been diagnosed with Leukemia. Natoma and her family are struggling to determine how they will afford Natoma’s medical treatment now that she no longer has insurance, which she dropped in January 2010 because of rate hikes that simply made insurance unaffordable.
After being introduced by Natoma’s sister, the President recounted her story – and leaned into the microphone as he told the crowd what he has been trying to do for the past year:
THE PRESIDENT: So you want to know why I’m here, Ohio? I’m here because of Natoma. (Applause.) I’m here because of the countless others who have been forced to face the most terrifying challenges in their lives with the added burden of medical bills they can’t pay. I don't think that’s right. (Applause.) Neither do you. That’s why we need health insurance right now. Health insurance reform right now. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!
THE PRESIDENT: I’m here because of my own mother’s story. She died of cancer, and in the last six months of her life, she was on the phone in her hospital room arguing with insurance companies instead of focusing on getting well and spending time with her family.
I’m here because of the millions who are denied coverage because of preexisting conditions or dropped from coverage when they get sick. (Applause.)
I’m here because of the small businesses who are forced to choose between health care and hiring. (Applause.)
I’m here because of the seniors unable to afford the prescriptions that they need. (Applause.)
I’m here because of the folks seeing their premiums go up 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 and 60 percent in a year. (Applause.)
Ohio, I am here because that is not the America I believe in and that’s not the America that you believe in.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What’s your plan?
THE PRESIDENT: So when you hear people say “start over” --
AUDIENCE: No!!
THE PRESIDENT: -- I want you to think about Natoma. When you hear people saying that this isn’t the “right time,” you think about what she’s going through. When you hear people talk about, well, what does this mean for the Democrats? What does this mean for the Republicans? I don’t know how the polls are doing. When you hear people more worried about the politics of it than what’s right and what’s wrong, I want you to think about Natoma and the millions of people all across this country who are looking for some help, and looking for some relief. That’s why we need health insurance reform right now. (Applause.)
