Dear Senator, we need your help.
Friday June 25, 2010
I have never been one to share personal or private information on the web. I think that my presence on the web should be a “Happy Place”. That has recently changed. There has been a unemployment extension in the Senate trying to get approval. To put some context around this, this is an extension of existing benefits. I am not talking about those unfortunate men and women that have exhausted 99 weeks of benefits. I am talking about those that have not used all of the benefits available to them.
Unfortunately, I am one of them. I missed the cut-off by one week. The kicker is that I missed it because I was honestly claiming work that I had performed. If I would have lied and not claimed some part-time work, I would still be okay. I guess I had too much faith in the US Government. I mean, who would have thought that they would leave millions of Americans out in the cold?
I am including the email that I wrote to my Senator trying to give some context to my particular situation.
If you would, and if you agree with my stance on this issue, email your Senator and help get the benefits to those honest men and women that need them.
Dear Senator Voinovich,
I am an unemployed father of three that is being affected by the recent unemployment extension issue. I would like to place some context around my situation. I am a laid-off Ironworker. I have been an Ironworker since 1996, but that industry has taken a direct hit. Of course, I saw this coming, and knew it would arrive someday. Because of that I took action and went back to school and received an Associates Degree in Website Development in anticipation of work drying up.
While I have been laid-off, my wife has returned to work. Unfortunately, the only work she could find was part-time. I try to pick up what work I can when available, usually in the form of building websites, but there is not much work in that field in my area. I have also been asked to return to Davis College (where I received my Associates Degree), and teach part-time while also helping them develop a better web design program. The problem is that the position is only part-time.
My issue is that my honesty has left me desperate. You see, I claimed all of that part-time work for Davis College on my unemployment, just as I was supposed to do. I was to be paid $xxxxxx.xx per course, and a course is 10 weeks. I was paid every 5 weeks, but I had to claim $xxxxxx.xx a week on unemployment even though I wasn’t to see that money for quite some time.
Because of my honesty, I missed the deadline for my extension by 1 week. If I were to have been dishonest, I would still be receiving some sort of paycheck and I would know how I am going to put food on the table in the coming weeks.
For the record, I am not anywhere close to receiving 99 weeks of unemployment. I am closer to half of that.
I ask you to think of the men and women that are honest, hard-working citizens that have fell upon hard times and are losing their faith in our government. I hope you can see that there are worse things than the unemployment extension that have been pushed through the system.
Thank you
Gerald S. Radcliff