Unemployment Benefits

Thousands of Marylanders face being cut off from unemployment benefits next month — just in time for the holiday season — as Congress remains undecided on whether to extend the payments in one of the worst job markets in decades. An estimated 2 million people nationwide are slated to lose benefits, including 14,000 in Maryland. And more than 30,000 laid-off Maryland residents will exhaust their benefits early next year. The phase-out is happening because a federally funded program that gave residents payments beyond the normal 26 weeks lapses on Tuesday.

While it's ill-advised to read too much into any weekly or monthly report on the nation's jobs outlook, the latest unemployment numbers are heartening, not merely because weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell to a four-year low but because that news follows an unmistakably positive trend. An increase in the rate of economic expansion - estimated at nearly 3 percent in the final three months of last year - has given rise to the improvement. But that's not exactly cause for celebration, as the U.S. unemployment rate remains relatively high at 8.3 percent as of last month (and that's not counting those who have given up looking for work)

Sixteen Democratic governors led by Maryland's Martin O'Malley have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to quickly broker a compromise to extend long-term unemployment benefits before the money runs out at the end of the year. “We are extremely concerned about the potential impact of the expiration of these programs on families and our economic recovery as a whole,” reads the letter from the Democratic Governors Association, which O'Malley chairs. “Now is not the time to turn our backs on hard-working Americans.” Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are locked in their latest down-to-the-wire effort to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed in the face of a national 8.6 percent jobless rate.

All but one Maryland Democrat in Congress bucked party leaders Friday to vote against extending a nationwide payroll tax break through the end of the year, most of them because of a requirement that newly hired federal workers contribute more to their retirement. The proposal, which will maintain a 2 percentage point payroll tax reduction for millions of Americans that was set to expire this month, failed even to capture the support of the two Maryland Democrats who were instrumental in its crafting: Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Chris Van Hollen.

Either your editorial board drinks Obama Kool-Aid or you have zero understanding of basic economics. Your editorial about the so-called tax break for the middle class shows this clearly ("The GOP tax hike," Dec. 22). I am pleased that those who write the editorials don't even pretend to be "objective" but willingly serve as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. Social Security is not now, nor was it ever intended to be any form of "tax. " Theoretically, it was a forced savings imposed on those citizens incapable of saving for themselves into some sort of trust fund (ha ha)

It's a confrontation few people would want to face: The former security guard sat across the table from the employer who had pink-slipped him as they rehashed his firing. At stake was the payout of unemployment benefits. Jobless workers are entitled to benefits if they lost a job through no fault of their own. In this case, the employer claimed that the man was discharged for absenteeism, while the guard admitted that he had missed work partly because of a drinking problem that he has been treated for since he was let go. Maryland had denied unemployment benefits, and the former employee appealed the case last week to a state hearing examiner.

Look for a letter that went out over the weekend from the Maryland Labor Department to find out if you're eligible for extended unemployment benefits.  The state says it will provide another 13 weeks of federal benefits to about 58,000 unemployed residents. Jobless workers were already entitled to 26 weeks of benefits - which has been the standard in Maryland - plus another 47 weeks through emergency unemployment compensation during this economic crisis. To be eligible, according to state officials, you must be unemployed and meet the requirements of the Extended Benefits law, which require a higher level of job hunting.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed changes to unemployment benefits have at last won the support of key business groups. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce's legislative policy committee voted Monday to back the Democratic governor's plan after changes were made to address concerns about long-term costs to employers. Until Monday, the Maryland Chamber and other business groups had opposed the legislation. With additional support now secured, the Senate Finance Committee will likely vote on the proposal today.

As many as 58,000 Marylanders could be eligible next week for a new federally funded extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, state labor officials said Friday. The Extended Benefits program, which takes effect Sunday, provides an extra 13 weeks of payments to Marylanders who have run out of their 26 weeks of state benefits plus the 47 weeks of federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Employers will not be charged for the benefit, state officials said.

WASHINGTON -- Extending an election-year olive branch to Congress, President Bush yesterday endorsed a $2.7 billion compromise measure to extend jobless benefits another 13 weeks for the long-term unemployed.The House Ways and Means Committee swiftly adopted the bill without opposition.In contrast to monthslong battles over unemployment benefits last year, the new bill was expected to sail through the House and Senate next week and be rushed to the president's desk for his signature as the first recession-relief measure of 1992.

I am always wondering why any objection to President Obama's policies isn't good and clear thinking, but racist ("Newt the demagogue," Jan. 20). Is it racist to suggest that poor people and the young work as janitors? The only bigots are those who consider hard work in any profession, whether a laborer of any kind or a janitor or a kid mowing lawns, to be beneath them and foster the idea that constantly extending unemployment benefits and increasing social umbrellas are creating a working class and an entrepreneurial conscience.

I find it disconcerting and quite troubling as I read opinions being sent in to this paper stating that people collecting unemployment are just lazy and aren't looking for work because they're getting money for nothing and have no incentive ("Benefits in hand, unemployed are content not to work," Dec. 23). While I will agree there are people like that out there, I must say that just making a blanket statement like the one above does a disservice to unemployed folks like myself who work hard every day to try and find work and just come back unsuccessful.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw letters from apparently well-fed individuals complaining about paying unemployment insurance. For all those beleaguered employers who don't want to pay unemployment benefits I've got a solution: Hire illegal immigrants. They are non-persons, so an employer does not have to pay unemployment insurance and really shouldn't bother about niceties like Workers' Compensation, minimum wage laws, child labor laws, unions, OSHA or any other oppressive, socialistic safety net provisions.

Either your editorial board drinks Obama Kool-Aid or you have zero understanding of basic economics. Your editorial about the so-called tax break for the middle class shows this clearly ("The GOP tax hike," Dec. 22). I am pleased that those who write the editorials don't even pretend to be "objective" but willingly serve as the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. Social Security is not now, nor was it ever intended to be any form of "tax. " Theoretically, it was a forced savings imposed on those citizens incapable of saving for themselves into some sort of trust fund (ha ha)

Maryland's congressional delegation will have unusual influence in helping to resolve big issues left hanging on Capitol Hill, because two of the state's lawmakers were appointed Friday to help sort out differences between House and Senate legislation. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, were appointed to the conference committee that is charged with finding a compromise on a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, along with a continuation of the current rate that Medicare pays to doctors.

I am writing in response to Jeremy Schwartz's op-ed defense of extending unemployment benefits ("Unemployment benefits are not like welfare," Dec. 21). He babbles on about the virtues of continuing the give unemployment benefits and tries to decry those who see these benefits as another form of welfare. Mr. Schwartz is a professor of economics at Loyola University, but not a very good psychologist. I personally know of several people receiving unemployment benefits, and they have all have told me that it would be foolish to seriously look for employment as long as they can get a free handout.

Jobless Marylanders don't have their unemployment benefits eaten up by "junk fees" on prepaid debit cards like people in other states, according to a national consumer group. National Consumer Law Center last week released a report on prepaid debit cards now used by 40 states to disburse jobless benefits. Maryland didn't take top honors — that went to California and New Jersey — but the consumer group gave the Free State a thumbs up. "It has one of the better cards," Lauren Saunders, managing attorney for the consumer group, said during a teleconference last week.

Maryland has denied unemployment benefits to Sinclair Broadcast Group whistleblower Jon Leiberman, fired last fall for criticizing plans to air an anti-John Kerry documentary shortly before the 2004 presidential election, www.broadcasting cable.com reported last night. Leiberman, a Westminster native, was fired by Hunt Valley-based Sinclair after he told The Sun the documentary Stolen Honor was "propaganda." The Reed Business Information-operated Web site reported that a state Department of Labor report labeled Leiberman's actions "gross misconduct" and a "wanton disregard" of his obligations to Sinclair.

Jeremy Schwarz's op-ed piece contrasting unemployment insurance and welfare makes several points that don't bear up under scrutiny ("Unemployment benefits are not like welfare," Dec. 21). He's correct that people pay insurance to protect themselves in case of an adverse event; however, workers do not pay for unemployment insurance. Unlike Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, to which both employers and employees contribute, unemployment insurance is paid entirely by the employer.

Beware of outside websites claiming they want to help you file for unemployment benefits. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation's unemployment insurance division warns these sites can collect personal information about you and possibly leave you open to identity theft. The state named one of the sites, Unemployment Help Center, in a press release. The only way to apply for unemployment benefits, the state says, is directly through the state's unemployment insurance division's website or by calling its office at 410-949-0022 or 800-827-4839.