Obama Signs Unemployment Benefit Extension Bill For 2.5 Million Jobless Americans

President Obama signs H.R. 4213 at the Oval Office, which extends initial eligibility for emergency unemployment compensation and 100 percent Federal funding for extended unemployment insurance benefits through November 30, 2010.

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 22, 2010

Washington, D.C. - President Barack H. Obama didn't take long to sign the federal extended benefit bill. Shortly after the House passed it, Obama signed the bill making it possible for more than 2.5 million jobless Americans whose benefits ran out to continue getting extended benefits.
In some states, the unemployed will resume retroactive payments and in other states benefits will become available within a week to three weeks. The U.S. Senate passed the bill and today the House passed the bill providing $34 billion in unemployment insurance benefit aid for Americans out work for more than six months through no fault of their own. 
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 H.R. 4213 shortly after 2:00 p.m. to extend federal unemployment benefits more than 2.5 million Americans, which by the weekend will reached 3 million. Their benefits had ran out and U.S. Senate Republicans blocked the bill three times and tried to stall it for 30 hours, until Democrats finally cleared it and sent the bill to the House for approval.
The House vote was 272 to 152, including 3 Republicans who joined 241 Democrats in supporting the measure. Voting against extending benefits to jobless Americans were 142 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
Republicans and the GOP have gained the label as being un-American for opposing the jobless benefit measure to the end and they have previously blocked Democrat aid to states, which with the aid could have improved the states economy.

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House of Representatives Passed Extended Unemployment Insurance Benefits For 2.5 Million Jobless Americans

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 22, 2010

Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 H.R. 4213 shortly after 2:00 p.m. to extend federal unemployment benefits more than 2.5 million Americans, which by the weekend will reached 3 million. Their benefits had ran out and U.S. Senate Republicans blocked the bill three times and tried to stall it for 30 hours, until Democrats finally cleared it and sent the bill to the House for approval.
The House vote was 272 to 152, including 31 Republicans who joined 241 Democrats in supporting the measure. Voting against extending benefits to jobless Americans were 142 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
Now, the bill goes to President Barack H. Obama for his signature. Obama supported and advocated extending benefits to jobless Americans through no fault of their own.
Republicans and the GOP have gained the label as being un-American for opposing the jobless benefit measure to the end and they have previously blocked Democrat aid to states, which with the aid could have improved the states economy.

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Moran Elected LULAC President In New Mexico At Annual Conference

Margaret "Margie" Moran

In July, LULAC filed one of seven lawsuits challenging Arizona's SB 1070

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 22, 2010

Albuquerque, New Mexico – On Thursday,  the Washington D.C. based organization League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) announced the results of their annual election of officers and president. LULAC is the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country. Members elected Margaret "Margie" Moran as President at the LULAC general assembly and its officers on Saturday, July 17th in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the conclusion of the convention. Moran has been a LULAC member for 30 years and served in various positions throughout her membership. She carried every state and Puerto Rico with 70% of the membership vote.
“We made history on Saturday,” said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “I am honored to serve in this role. LULAC is a non-partisan organization that consists of people from all walks of life and perspectives. Our organization must move forward by continuing to recruit and inspire youth and young adults to participate. We provide them with the resources to become leaders and have many members that are outstanding models and mentors."
Lizette Jenness Olmos, Spokesperson for LULAC in the press release said, "it is the first time a husband and wife both served as national president of the organization and the third woman in 81 years to hold this position. The first woman president was Belen Robles and the second to hold the position was Rosa Rosales."
Moran as President committed herself to make sure that LULAC will continue to support for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, an effective health care reform, the Dream Act, worker’s rights and addressing social justice and human rights issues. She wants to expand 100% growth of LULAC Councils in every university and college throughout the nation and to increase enrollment of Latinos in higher education.
In July, LULAC filed a Class Action lawsuit against the State of Arizona and SB 1070, which allows state and local police officers to request the legal status to be in the country from people they encounter during enforcement of ordinances and criminal investigations. LULAC's lawsuit became one seven lawsuits filed against Arizona in federal court in Phoenix.
The complaint, was filed on July 9, 2010, in federal court in Phoenix as a class action, it alleges that Arizona’s training materials developed and distributed to Arizona law enforcement agencies to implement SB 1070 “exacerbate the conflicts between the United States Constitution and federal laws on the one hand, and Arizona law on the other hand.” The complaint alleges that Arizona’s training materials violate federal law “by failing to recognize that numerous categories of immigrants who did not enter the United States lawfully nevertheless are eligible for legalization of status,” and “by permitting law enforcement officers to rely upon vague and ill-defined factors such as a person’s ‘dress,’ ‘difficulty communicating in English,’ ‘demeanor,’ and ‘claim of not knowing others … at [the] same location,’ as providing justification for a detention based on suspected undocumented status.” The lawsuit argues that Arizona’s SB 1070 is “void and should be struck down under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”

Margaret Moran for LULAC 2010 campaign video: http://bit.ly/djgytL

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Federal Extended Insurance Unemployment Benefits Reinstated For Nearly 3 Million Americans

Democrats succeed in passing benefit bill ending weeks of Republican defiant opposition preventing emergency unemployment benefits to Americans

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 21, 2010

Washington D.C. - Today, the U.S. Senate voted 59-39 to reinstate federal extended unemployment insurance benefits to 2.5 million Americans, bill headed now to House of Representatives for Thursday's approval and then to President Barack H. Obama. Obama is expected to sign it by Friday once it makes through the House.
Congress is expected to release $34 billion dollars to meet economic emergency relief for almost 3 million unemployed workers and their families whose benefits have run out.
The GOP and Republicans had been stalling the apporoval and were opposed to extended benefits for unfortunate Americans. They block the bill three times with a filibuster, until Democrats and two Maine Senators overrode it. But, the Republican minority then stalled the bill for 30 hours, according to the Whithouse this morning.
Senate rules requires 30 hours of debate after over riding a flilbuster, but Republicans could have waived the rule and didn't. The Republicans have previously blocked Democrat aid to states, which could have boosted their economy.
Both Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins from Maine broke party lines and voted to approve the benefits. Only Senator Ben Nelson a Democrat from Nebraska voted with Rpeublicans to oppose an emergency extension.
Republicans repeated actions to stall the benefit bill from passing the U.S. Senate affecting millions of Americans was considered un-American.

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Republican Minority Again Blocks Emergency Passage Of Unemployment Insurance Benefits To 2.5. Million Americans

GOP and U.S. Senate Republicans un-American delaying benefits to economically suffering unemployed Americans and their children!

July 21, 2010

Washingtong D.C. (HNNUSA) - On Wednesday, the Whitehouse released the following press release. A day after the Senate moved forward to pass the unemployment insurance extension to help millions of Americans fighting to get back on their feet and find work, the partisan minority in the Senate is yet again obstructing passage of this bill.  After blocking this aid three separate times over the past weeks, Republicans have once again refused to reach an agreement and allow this bill to come to the floor for a vote quickly so these benefits can be restored. 
Republican obstruction has already cost 2.5 million Americans essential aid they need to pay their rent, put food on the table, and take care of their kids.  By the end of this week roughly 350,000 more Americans could be added to that number.  The livelihoods of nearly 3 million Americans shouldn’t hinge on partisan game playing in Washington. 
This latest move gives the partisan minority thirty more hours to stall in the Senate, but that means thirty more hours of suffering for these hardworking families trying to get by.

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U.S. Senate Passed Bill To Extend Federal Unemployment Benefits To 2.5 Million Unemployed Americans

Graph: Internet

"Americans remember the Republicans (GOP) in November, remember they opposed extended unemployment benefits for 2.5 million fellow Americans."

Republicans opposed extending unemployment benefits to Americans with filibuster, but were out voted by Democrats who overrode blockage of benefits

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 20, 2010

Washington D.C. - On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democrats passed bill by 60-40 to override a Republican filibuster and proceed to extend federal unemployment benefits to 2.5 million unemployed whose benefits had ran out, despite opposition by Republicans. The Senate will take up the bill once again on Wednesday and is expected to be approved. Then the full House will get the bill, which is expected to easily pass it and extending $34 billion in federal unemployment benefits. President Barack H. Obama will sign the bill later in the week, after Congress approves it.
Two Republicans, Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both from Maine voted with Democrats to end the filibuster. Only Senator Ben Nelson (Dem) of Nebraska voted with Republicans to oppose extending benefits to unemployed Americans.
The Republicans in Congress have blocked extended benefits three times forcing Americans who are unemployed through no fault of their own, to face losing the roof on their heads and can't affort to pay monthly ultilities and buy food for their children.
The lack of extended unemployment benefits support by Republicans had forced President Barack H. Obama to address the issue and call on Republicans on Monday to end the block of extended benefits to jobless Americans who continue to look for work.
Republicans and the G.O.P. were accused of using Washington politics to block benefits, according to Democrats and President Obama.
On Tuesday afternoon, West Virginia U.S. Senator Clarke Goodwin (Dem) was sworn in and within minutes the Senate took up the unemployment benefit bill and approved it. Goodwin provided the 60th crucial vote to pass the bill.
On Monday, President Obama called on Congress to extend critical unemployment insurance to millions of Americans looking for a job.
In the three previous efforts, Senate Republicans have blocked the extension of emergency relief for the unemployed. Across the country, this stonewalling has already blocked assistance to 2.5 million Americans, and hundreds of thousands more are impacted by each additional week of delay.
The President also highlighted that many Republicans have previously supported unemployment extensions under Republican administration, but refuse to offer relief to middle class families today. Many of these Republicans want to extend hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while telling working families that we can't afford to help them when they need it most.
President Obama said, "who need emergency relief to help them pay the rent, cover their utilities, and put food on the table while they look for another job. For a long time, there's been a tradition under both Democratic and Republican presidents to offer relief to the unemployed. That was certainly the case under my predecessor, when Republican Senators voted several times to extend emergency unemployment benefits.
These benefits that are often a person's sole source of income while they're out of work are in jeopardy. After years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, the same people who didn't have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest American are now saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle class Americans.
Over the past few weeks, a majority of Senators have tried not once, not twice, but three times to extend emergency relief on a temporary basis. And each time, a partisan minority in the Senate has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote, denying millions of people who are out of work much-needed relief. Republican leaders in the Senate are advancing a misguided notion that emergency relief somehow discourages people from looking for a job.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

Federal unemployment insurance provisions expired on June 4th. The Republicans refusal to act has already blocked assistance to 2.5 million Americans, and hundreds of thousands more are impacted by each additional week of delay.

There also is a broader economic imperative to extending these benefits Independent assessments from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Duke University/CFO Magazine survey have cited sales concerns and weak product demand as the largest concerns voiced by small businesses and corporate financial officers. The Duke survey found that 36.4 percent of the CFOs believed that weak consumer demand was the top macro concern for their corporation more than 18 percentage points higher than any other listed concern.

Extending unemployment benefits expands local purchasing power Economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com put the economic multiplier of extending a dollar of unemployment benefits at 1.6 meaning that, for every dollar spent on unemployment compensation $1.60 is added to our economy's output. Similarly, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office places the multiplier in a range between 0.8 and 2.1.

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Milwaukee South Side Alderman Can't distinguish Graffiti From Mural "Art"

Top photo: Alderman Robert G. Donovan argues over graffiti or art with Sarah Patterson, executive director of True Skool before the press conference

Bottom photo: Mural Raw Love

Photo: True Skool

Donovan is "misinformed and misdirected," True Skool does not receive public dollars

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 19, 2010

Milwaukee - On Monday, Alderman Robert G. Donovan called a spontaneous press-conference and before he could address the media Donovan got into heated words with the a coordinator of True Skool Inc. over the difference between mural art and graffiti. Donovan believes such murals are "garbage, this is crab and needs to end" and teaching students about community-based graffiti art is a "disservice" to the kids. The mural only encourages destructive forms of graffiti, Donovan said.
An argument the graffiti artists say, is unprofound and Alderman Donovan doesn't know the difference between illegal graffiti and legal art murals.
"Graffiti is on a huge increase in the city of Milwaukee, that's the bottom line, and when I see stuff like this, these individuals are doing a disservice to the young people in this community by creating this aura that if you get involved in this illegal activity, somehow you'll become a leader," said Donovan. Ald. Donovan says, he is a member of the city Public Safety Committee and allows him to go into any neighborhood. He is member of the Anti-Graffiti Policy Board.
"There's no dispute that graffiti is an art form. For those who don't see it as an art form, are coming from a different generation. They're from a generation that doesn't understand the culture of hip hop, the culture of graffiti as an art form," said Sarah Patterson, executive director of True Skool.
Ald. Donovan left the press conference abruptly before it started. The mural in question was painted Saturday during the True Skool 5th Annual Block Party on a wall donated by Robert Smith, who owns the building at 934 S. Barclay St. and E. Mineral St. More than 750 people attended the weekend event.
Donovan in a press release on Monday said, the mural was brought to his attention by Captain Donald Gaglione from the 2nd Police District Station and the supervisor of the graffiti abatement for the Department of Nieghborhood Services.
"I think they've been successful in misleading people...Graffiti is at its worse level now since we started taking records, and that worsening seems to coincide with the arrival of TRUE Skool on the scene," Donovan wrote.   
Alderman Donovan also called for an investigation to "see why precious grants and resources are being used to 'educate' young people on how to create graffiti...In my opinion this outfit is nothing more than a front for propagating and endorsing graffiti."
Patterson said, the mural "Raw Love" was created for the block party by a group of students surpervised by professional artist Jay Sterling, known as "J Bird" and it was a temperary mural. The mural was scheduled to be painted over at 1:00 p.m. on Monday to avoid confrontation with aldermen, but Ald. Donovan acted before contacting the group.
Donovan said, the owner of the building didn't want the mural on his property and was removed. Smith could not be reached for comment.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West who attended the conference on Monday says, she supports community-based graffiti art and it's not vandalism or promotes vandalism as Donovan alleges.
True Skool will paint a permanent community-base graffiti art in several weeks at S. 3rd St. and W. Bruce St. Another mural was painted previously at S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive and W. Washington St., and a different mural is also painted on S. 12th St. and W. National Ave. Other acceptable murals have been painted by different artists in the area not associated with True Skool located in the 800 block of W. National Ave. and in the 800 block of S. 2nd St.
To some people they become an eye soar, but to others its art and a modern day form of art popular with young artists. Illegal graffiti is usually the defacing of public/private property or businesses without owners permission with spray paint marking gang affiliation insignas, initials, names, and marking gang control of a neighorhood or area. The removal of illegal graffiti has become expensive to do and usually the city enforces removal within days or property owners get heavy fines.
Donovan is a member of the Anti-Graffiti Policy Committee, and is one of several members that engages in "divisive, dishonest, or disrespectful...who lack the courage and integrity to communicate with people they disagree with or do the necessary research to uncover the truth before making sweeping public statements about an entire organization," said Reggie Moore, True Skool vice president of the Board of Directors and member of the Anti-Graffiti Policy Committee.
Moore says, "the board and staff of True Skool share Ald. Donovan's concerns about illegal vandalism, however his concern over this mural is both misinformed and the press conference held this morning was an embarrassment to me and this committee...True Skool is not an alternative school and receives no public dollars for its programming," as Donovan alleged in his press release.
True Skool is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization and receives private funding.

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