When I think of SEO (search engine optimization), silly slide shows and headlines about Lindsey Lohan come to mind. But unemployment benefits?
This morning I criticized the play The New York Times and Washington Post gave news that House Republicans blocked an extension of unemployment benefits and quibbled with The Wall Street Journal, which gave it decent play, for not putting comparing the $12 billion cost with that of extending the Bush tax cuts.
The Times dropped the news in two paragraphs deep in a story on A16 while the Post gave it three sentences in a story on A3 (which led off with some eight paragraphs on tax cuts).
But guess what: Readers really, really want information about this story.
Our traffic spiked this morning like it does when we get an inbound link from a popular site. I looked to see who linked us. But there’s no big link. All that traffic is coming from people Googling “unemployed benefits” and the like—which has already brought us more visits in six hours than any other keyword has this month (if it SEOs well, it’ll sell papers, too, by the way).
Now, maybe our traffic spike was a fluke of Google News placement or something. I don’t know. The point is, people want to read about this story. Indeed, many, many of them need to read about this story. What the heck are you doing not covering it day in and day out?
Here are a few of those in the need-to-know camp—some of the people who took time to comment on that post this morning. Read them all:
Here’s James Shockley:
I need help from my Goverment!!!!! I am 60 years old and unemployed for over 1 year now. I am on my computer for several hours a day posting my Resume and applying for jobs. I have had interviews but have not been hired yet. I need the unemployment money so I can pay the bills while I continue to look for a job. If we can spent Billions on unnessary wars, then we can keep people afloat while the despertly look for work.
Troy:
Hey goverment, you can give millions to war, you can bail banks and car companys out with millions of my taxes. Now I need help because I can’t find a job in my state. (Industrial Electrician). GM just started paying You back, Do you understand you get that money back alot faster when you give it to the people that will turn right around and spend that monet on housing, food, fuel. because they NEED TOO. That damn war pays nothing back, and will keep costing long after its over. If millions lose thier house do you think they will be able to buy another. Lets see you foreclose on your house, even if you get another job what bank will loan you money…
David Carignan:
I have been unemployed for a year and a half. While i have had many job interviews there are so many people applying there is always someone more experienced to take the job. I am all for stopping unemployment benefits when there are many jobs and people are not taking them
Daria Rockwell:
I pray I will still have a home at Christmas. Working 2 jobs for so many years & now jobless for 6 mos…please understand we WANT JOBS but need ALL parties to understand even when homeless- I WILL VOTE IN 2012! I do not want welfare, please extend unemployment until summer recovery begins! Rich or poor- do the right thing, tax cuts vs unemployment benefits….really?
DB:
Just got off the phone with Mom, after another interview that resulted with “Sorry, we are looking for somebody else”. She is on week 18 of 26 on state benefits (laid off in June) and will be SOL after that. Had the same job for ten years before she was laid off, every lead so far has been no response or no thanks. Can’t sleep at night thinking about her situation, but luckily the elite will only lose sleep deciding how many Christmas presents they will be able to by with their $83,000 tax cut. God Bless America!
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The benefits are barely enough to keep us going. There are not enough jobs open for everyone. Until there are, we can freeze when the gas/electric is shut off? Do without water? Kids can't go to school without clean clothes, school supplies.We are not talking about enjoying the holidays - we are talking about survival! Not everyone has family to help out. There are not enough homeless shelters for millions out of work. We are talking about emergency situations!
#1 Posted by Kate, CJR on Sat 20 Nov 2010 at 02:07 AM
The benefits are barely enough to keep us going. There are not enough jobs open for everyone. Until there are, we can freeze when the gas/electric is shut off? Do without water? Kids can't go to school without clean clothes, school supplies.We are not talking about enjoying the holidays - we are talking about survival! Not everyone has family to help out. There are not enough homeless shelters for millions out of work. We are talking about emergency situations!
#2 Posted by Kate, CJR on Sat 20 Nov 2010 at 02:08 AM
The benefits are barely enough to keep us going. There are not enough jobs open for everyone. Until there are, we can freeze when the gas/electric is shut off? Do without water? Kids can't go to school without clean clothes, school supplies.We are not talking about enjoying the holidays - we are talking about survival! Not everyone has family to help out. There are not enough homeless shelters for millions out of work. We are talking about emergency situations!
#3 Posted by Kate, CJR on Sat 20 Nov 2010 at 02:10 AM
After 17 months of unemployment the savings are gone, as is all hope. I am already behind on the rent and without the insurance benefits I am sure to be evicted. My parents are dead and I have no other family. I worked hard for 25 years, but have never worked harder than I have these past 17 months to find a job. I paid my taxes and saved, and did not buy more than I should. I did not cause this recession. But I am paying a dear price for the failures of others. The homeless shelters in my city are all full. I do not know where I will go. If our representatives in Washington can't see fit to help out the victims of this economy that they screwed up, they should at least make sure to build more homeless shelters and morgues.
#4 Posted by Broken, CJR on Sat 20 Nov 2010 at 04:11 AM
i dont know how to feel about this story, i have my job, everyone i know has there;s, in long island ny, and it seems every year or a few times a year this story pops up, so i do feel bad for those who cant find work, but also how many times does this thing have to be extended, lets just extend it five years and be done with it,
#5 Posted by ian, CJR on Sat 20 Nov 2010 at 09:25 PM
1. The rebs have chanted : Are you listening to American people ?
The majority of Americans support the idea of extending unemployment benefits to the jobless, according to a poll out from Hart Research Associates.
Nearly three-quarters of the 802 registered voters surveyed agreed that it was "too early to start cutting back benefits for workers who lost their jobs."
2. Are the reps listening to America people ?
According to CNN polling, voters said that unemployment is roughly twice as important as all other top issues combined.
Despite the fact that unemployment remains above nine percent, the incoming House majority has made it clear that jobs and unemployment are not at the top of their to-do list.
3. Are the reps listening to the outcry from their conscience ?
(a). The reps shipped decent-paying manufacturing jobs overseas to lower production costs and eliminated the need to comply with those pesky environmental laws.
(b). The recession caused by the reps wiped out as many as 8.2 million jobs, but they don't care !
(c). Throwing people out into the streets in the cold this holiday season, the heartless, cold-blooded death panels are having a good night's sleep.
(d). Never before has Congress decided to cut-off extended unemployment benefits when the jobless rate was so high. And not since the 1930s have so many unemployed job-seekers been out-of-work for so long.
(e). The 154 members who voted against the extension may find their principles are very costly indeed—far more than the $12.5 billion their yea votes would have cost.
4. Are the reps listening to the various reports ?
(a). Ending federal extensions would drain the economy of $80 billion of purchasing power, according to a report by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Every dollar spent on benefits increases the gross domestic product by $1.60, the report said.
“Workers receiving unemployment insurance payments are typically cash-strapped and will spend their benefits quickly,” the report said. They spend about $6.5 billion a month on the local economy to buy essentials such as food, clothing and utilities.
“A failure to extend the unemployment insurance program could hamper the fragile recovery,” the report said. It predicts that consumer spending will fall by $50 billion over the next year if benefits are not extended, and that economic growth will be reduced by 0.4 percentage points by February 2011.
(b). Bloomberg News reported that some economists estimate not passing an extension might result in the economy growing 0.4 percent less between December and February, a significant bite when GDP growth has been hovering in the anemic 2 percent rage
(c). The CBO reports that the BEST WAY to spur growth is to increase aid to the unemployed. Other efficient ways to grow the economy is by investing in infrastructure and providing more aid to the states.
The CBO also says that without extensions in 2009, the poverty rate might be 15.4 percent, more than a full point higher than it is.
(d). A similar report from the California Budget Project said that unemployment benefits put $225 million into the nation’s economy every day in 2010.
Some economists worry that if jobless workers keep receiving extensions, they will stop looking for work. But the dearth of jobs in the labor market makes that point moot, the California Budget Project said.
“Cutting off federally supported unemployment insurance benefits would make unemployed workers more desperate to find work, but it would not make them more likely to find work, because jobs are scarce,” the report said.
At a time when there are five unemployed workers for every available job
#6 Posted by hsr0601, CJR on Sun 21 Nov 2010 at 02:28 PM
Hello,
Congress' Median Household Net Worth: One Picture Is Worth 1000 Words
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/11/congress-median-household-net-worth-one.html
#7 Posted by drypto, CJR on Tue 23 Nov 2010 at 09:55 AM