Philadelphia Unemployment Project

Hey Everybody,

Our Harrisburg Lobby Day & Rally in support of HEMAP was a huge success.  PUP members visited numerous members of the Republican leadership, as well as Democrats who we already know are on board with bringing HEMAP back.  There were mixed responses from the GOP, ranging from contesting that there are available funds to being sympathetic and even very supportive.  It was great to see the effects that

Our rally was a huge success as well.  We had various speakers, including Senator Vincent Hughes, Representative Vanessa Brown, Alan Jennings of Community Action Committee of Lehigh Valley, and two of our PUPsters, Sharon Greene and Andre Horne.  Both Sharon and Andre are homeowners, and each gave moving speeches about their own struggles.

It was great to work with so many wonderful people, and to see democracy in action. These days it sometimes seems like only corporate lobbyists can effect change.  But yesterday showed that everyday people can have a real impact on the legislative process. That’s why we’ve got to keep organizing, and never let up.

We’ll have pictures from the trip posted on our Facebook soon, and I’ll keep everybody posted on new developments in the campaign to save HEMAP.

Update: check out the ample news coverage of the event:

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/09/28/activists-ask-governor-corbett-for-more-mortgage-relief-money/

http://articles.mcall.com/2011-09-27/news/mc-pa-emergency-mortgage-help-20110927_1_corbett-administration-hemap-mortgage-assistance

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/flexicontent/item/27370-15-million-sought-to-help-those-in-danger-of-losing-pa-homes/

http://www.witf.org/state-house-sound-bites/advocates-call-on-state-to-restore-mortgage-assistance-program-funding

http://blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas/2011/09/activists-call-for-home-mortgage-program-to-be-re-funded.html

Last Thursday, Terrance and I, along with some of our leaders, drove out to Bucks County to take part in another funereal protest.  It was a “funeral for the middle class” outside of Rep. Fitzpatrick’s office, in protest of his lack of support for policies that would create jobs.  Various people spoke, including our own Frank Wallace.  Speaking from the heart, Frank said:

“Fitzpatrick and others would rather stand up for the top 1 percent of Americans. They see us as shiftless bums just looking for handouts. I find that working for my money is much more satisfying.”

It’s time for politicians to start doing what the people want: creating jobs.  As long as they continue to cater to the fat cats who’ve got them bought and paid for, we’ll be out in numbers letting them know that the people may have put them in power, but we can take them right back out.

If you’ve got a minute, check out this article about the protest.

Yesterday’s rally/press conference went great!  We carried HEMAP in a coffin from the Arch Street Methodist Church over to City Hall, and stood it up on a symbolic altar for all to see and pay respects. The Reverend Randy Barge read the obituary and did the sermon about the  untimely demise of this vital program. There were various speakers, including State Rep. Cherelle Parker, Patty Hasson from Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Nick Alpern from the AFL-CIO, George Gould from Community Legal Services, Lance Haver from the City of Philadelphia.
And this is just the

beginning!  The PA Save Our Homes Coalition is going to keep pressuring our state government to revive HEMAP.

In the next few days, we’ll be posting up photos and video of the event on our PUP Facebook page, as well as the PA Save Our Homes Facebook page, which is located at http://www.facebook.com/PASaveOurHomes.  Also, remember to sign

our petition, which you can find at www.pasaveourhomes.org

This story has been all over the web the last couple of days.  A man in North Carolina was recently arrested for peacefully robbing a bank for exactly $1.  Why might someone do this?  It turns out that he was laid off in the recession and cannot afford healthcare coverage.  So, he robbed the bank with the intention of getting arrested and then using the prison system’s medical services to get treatment for multiple conditions.  According to the Chicago Tribune:

Verone has an undiagnosed growth in his chest, two ruptured back discs, and a problem with his foot.

His medical ailments made working difficult after his 17-year career as a Coca-Cola delivery driver ended a few years ago. He tried living off of savings and part time jobs, but still came up short. He applied for Social Security benefits but only received food stamps which did not help his medical problems.

When Verone robbed the bank he presented the teller with a note explaining that he was robbing the bank and only wanted $1. He did not want to scare anyone and was not doing it for the money. After receiving the dollar, Verone told the teller, “I’ll be sitting right over here on the chair waiting for the police.”

This story really highlights just how bad we’re doing as a country.  When people are willing to go to prison to get healthcare coverage, you know something is off track.  People are desperate, and all our government can talk about is the budget deficit.  No jobs? Cut unemployment.  People can’t afford health insurance? Cut adult basic and try to give healthcare money to businesses (a la Liberty Loans).  Our state reps and our national Congress (not to mention our president) need to focus on making sure people can afford medical services and creating jobs.  Instead, as has been said over and over, they’re cutting assistance for the most vulnerable people in our society.  When that’s the direction we’re heading in as a nation, it looks like sometimes the only way to get medical care is to get yourself locked up.

According to The Daily Beast, congressional legislators have sharply increased the amount of traveling they do (frequently using taxpayer money) despite all the hubbub over the federal budget.  Many of the expenses (bringing family members along, etc.) aren’t even related to the primary purposes of the trips.  The author focuses on the hypocrisy of calling for budget cuts while using more taxpayer money to fly around the world.  While I definitely agree that it is hypocritical, this isn’t the most important aspect of the issue, i.m.o.  To me, this is a symptom of the growing class divide.  Legislators are perfectly willing to cut funding for vital programs that keep people fed (unemployment compensation, anyone?), but absolutely refuse to impose any tax raises that might hurt the poor CEOs and corporations who are making record profits while millions are struggling to get by.  And guess what!  While they’re busy dismantling social safety nets in order to save those poor CEOs and corporations, they’re gonna use the money they’ve saved to schmooze it up with the world’s political and economic elite.  As my buddy Tim likes to say, it’s straight gangsta.

Check out this clip that features John Dodds & PUP members being interviewed late last year when extended benefits were being threatened in Congress, much like they are now in the PA legislature: Click Here.

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Daily News profiled Frank Wallace, a PUP member and unemployed worker. The article covers the difficulty in finding a job, and the lack of decent-paying positions for workers who don’t have college degrees. Check it out here.

Hello, everybody! This is Adam, the intern here at PUP. I’ll be blogging here over the summer to bring you updates on unemployment-related matters. For my first post, I’m glad to say I have great news:

This past Tuesday, HB 916, the bill that would have made tremendous cuts to Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation program, was voted down by a stunning vote of 122-79. This is great news for the many people who rely on UC to survive. Significantly, Republican legislators in the Southeast region joined Democrats to vote this down. In the days before the vote, these reps received calls from numerous PUP members, along with members of unemployedworkers.org, the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, SEPA AFL-CIO, UFCW 1776, and others. When so many of the policies being put in place ignore the needs of ordinary people, the fact that our voices have been heard is nothing short of inspiring.

Of course, there were those who favored the bill. In a letter to state reps, the National Federation of Independent Business claimed that 916 is “…an important and necessary first step to bring Pennsylvania’s state unemployment trust fund to solvency.” Of course, they failed to mention that one of the major reasons the system is in crisis is that employer input hasn’t been raised since 1984! I’d like to see if they’d be in favor of raising that input (not likely). Instead of letting employers rake in the profits, we should be demanding that they pay their fare share. In calling your legislators, that’s exactly what you did.

However, as Wisconsin workers are well aware, politicians are great at slipping legislation through unnoticed. In this case, HB 916 could still be reconsidered. So, we have to stay vigilant. Keep calling your reps, and tell them that they should vote this bill down if it comes back up. The corporate world will keep pushing back. They’ve got a lot of power and a lot of influence. But, as you showed them this time, Goliath isn’t invincible.

Also, if you’re on Facebook, “like” our new Pennsylvania Unemployment Project page in order to received the latest news and alerts on important issues and PUP activities. If you’re not on Facebook, just hop on over and sign up. Here’s our link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pennsylvania-Unemployment-Project/144316815639382

According to the New York times at www.nytimes.com published on April 9th 2011. Americans know that banks have mistreated borrowers in many ways in foreclosure cases. Among other things, they habitually filed false court documents. There were investigations. We’ve been waiting for federal and state regulators to crack down.

Prepare for a disappointment. As early as this week, federal bank regulators and the nation’s big banks are expected to close a deal that is supposed to address and correct the scandalous abuses. If these agreements are anything like the draft agreement recently published by the American Banker — and we believe they will be — they will be a wrist slap, at best. At worst, they are an attempt to preclude other efforts to hold banks accountable. They are unlikely to ease the foreclosure crisis. All homeowners will suffer as a result. Some 6.7 million homes have already been lost in the housing bust, and another 3.3 million will be lost through 2012. The plunge in home equity — $5.6 trillion so far — hits everyone because foreclosures are a drag on all house prices.

According to http://www.nelp.org/page/speakout/continue-extended-benefits-in-PA . Unless Pennsylvania lawmakers take action soon, long-term unemployed workers in Pennsylvania will lose up to 20 weeks of unemployment compensation known as Extended Benefits on June 11, 2011. Senate Bill 994 would allow Pennsylvania’s unemployed to keep these federally-funded benefits.

On June 11, 2011, an estimated 45,000 unemployed workers in Pennsylvania will be cut-off of the Extended Benefits they’ve been receiving — unless the legislature acts. Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry estimates that a total of 135,000 jobless workers could lose eligibility for these benefits this year starting on June 11th.

The federal government now covers 100% of the cost of these benefits for non-government employees. All the state needs to do to continue receiving these federally-funded benefits is to enact a technical fix to the state unemployment insurance law. Senate Bill 994 would do just that.

To participate in this action go to this URL

http://www.nelp.org/page/speakout/continue-extended-benefits-in-PA