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21 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from Second Samuel, King David expresses dismay at the humble accommodations that shelter the ark of God. Budget officials in many states are expressing dismay because of dwindling resources to cover unemployment benefits to the rising tide of unemployment workers. Many states are running out of money to accommodate those in need. The funds in 30 states are at risk of becoming insolvent over the next few months, according to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. Funds in two states, Indiana and Michigan, have already dried up, and both states are borrowing from the federal government to make payments to the unemployed. Unemployment taxes are collected by states from employers, but the rate varies from state to state per employee. In good times states presumably build up trust funds so that when unemployment is high there is enough money to cover the requests for benefits. The Labor Department said last week that initial applications for jobless benefits rose to 573,000, the highest reading since November 1982. It is recommended that states keep at least one year of peak-level benefits in their trusts, but many have not. The situation puts states, many of them facing huge deficits, in a tight financial bind. As more people lose their jobs, the revenue base the benefits are drawn from shrinks, making it harder to pay claims. Adding to that burden is that states will eventually have to pay back what they borrow, often at high interest rates. Source: An article by Jennifer Steinhauer for the New York Times

unemployment benefits states
The not-so-general welfare

08 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's readings Job laments his "months of misery, and troubled nights," while the psalmist tells how the Lord "sustains the lowly." Though economic misery is a fact, how those in distress will be sustained is another matter. Despite soaring unemployment and the worst economic crisis in decades, 18 states cut the number of people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the main cash welfare program for families and children. Back in 1996, critics of the move to "end welfare as we know it," in President Bill Clinton's famous words, predicted this result. The trends raise questions about how well the revamped welfare system involving a great deal of state discretion is responding to growing hardships. Michigan cut its welfare rolls 13 percent, though it was one of two states whose October unemployment rate topped 9 percent. Rhode Island, the other, had the nation's largest welfare decline, 17 percent. Of the 12 states where joblessness grew most rapidly, eight reduced or kept constant the number of people receiving TANF. The program, which mostly serves single mothers, ended a 60-year-old entitlement to cash aid, replacing it with time limits and work requirements and giving states latitude to discourage people from joining the welfare rolls. While it was widely praised in the boom years that followed its creation, skeptics warned it would fail the needy when times turned tough. Even some of the program's staunchest defenders are alarmed. "There is ample reason to be concerned here," said Ron Haskins, a former Republican Congressional aide who helped write the 1996 law overhauling the welfare system. "The overall structure is not working the way it was designed to work. We would expect, just on the face of it, that when a deep recession happens, people could go back on welfare. "When we started this, Democratic and Republican governors alike said, 'We know what's best for our state; we're not going to let people starve,' " said Haskins, who is now a researcher at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "And now that the chips are down, and unemployment is going up, most states are not doing enough to help families get back on the rolls. Source: An article by Jason Deparle for the New York Times

states recession temporary assistance for needy families tanf welfare bill clinton unemployment ron haskins
Some reassurance at least

08 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus is kept busy in this Sunday's gospel healing the many sick people who were brought to him. In one bright spot on a dark economic horizon, it will become vastly cheaper for most people to keep their health insurance after losing a job if a provision in the current stimulus proposal makes it into law. The billions to be poured into health care from the economic stimulus package will do little if anything about the chronic conditions behind the nation's stubbornly large ranks of uninsured, advocates for reform point out. Instead, the plan is a temporary lifeline for nearly desperate times. For those who qualify, relief would be substantial. Under a dramatic, temporary expansion of COBRA, the law that lets the unemployed keep health insurance from their old job for up to 18 months if they pay for it in full, costs would drop by about two-thirds for a year. Moreover, people who lose a job they've had for 10 years could stay on COBRA at their expense all the way to age 65, when Medicare takes over, if they don't get another job with insurance first. People 55 and over could do the same without meeting the 10-year requirement. It's so expensive for people to extend that insurance now that many don't do it. It can quickly eat up a majority of unemployment benefits. People who lose jobs at businesses that employ fewer than 20 people don't qualify for COBRA. For them, the government plan would bring many more jobless people under Medicaid's wing. The federal government would pay for that and give states much more money to run the cost-shared part of the program. In return, states taking the extra money would have to back down on some of the cuts they've made to the program recently. Altogether it's a pricey lifeline: $40 billion to subsidize health insurance for the unemployed and more than twice that to support Medicaid. Source: An article by Calvin Woodward for the Associated Press

unemployment benefits states health insurance health care uninsured cobra unemployed medicaid medicare
Among unemployed a discouraging word is heard

26 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from the Second Book of Kings, many are fed from a few barley loaves, thanks to the abundance of the Lord. In the U.S., many of the unemployed must rely on federal programs and charities for their daily bread. And in some states, nearly half of those job seekers are so discouraged they have given up looking for work. The number of discouraged workers nationwide has more than doubled in the past year, according to Bureau of Labor statistics. This trend isn't reflected in the widely publicized unemployment rate--discouraged workers aren't included in unemployment figures, which only measures those actively looking for work. In states as diverse as Mississippi, South Dakota, and New York, however, this invisible segment of the unemployed signals a population losing hope. Some jobless people have stopped looking for work because they are otherwise occupied--they're back in school, taking on family responsibilities, or too sick to search. They, along with workers who have stopped looking because they're discouraged, make up a group the Labor Department calls the "marginally attached." Discouraged workers make up about a third of the marginally attached nationwide, and their numbers have been increasing. Between the third quarter of last year and the second quarter of this year, Mississippi averaged the highest percentage of discouraged job seekers among its marginally attached--nearly 50 percent, compared with 32.6 percent nationwide. South Dakota ranked second, and Florida, Michigan, Connecticut, West Virginia, and New York followed. Discouraged workers are characterized by their perception that there are no jobs to be had or that they lack the necessary training to be hired. They may be convinced that employers think they're too young or too old or that they face some other kind of discrimination that prevents them from finding work. Other factors, such as negative media coverage of the job market, unsuccessful job searches among friends and family, and their own long-term unemployment, nudge job seekers toward hopelessness, analysts said. Hoyt Bleakley, Jr., a University of Chicago economist, said researchers now are paying less attention to how many job seekers say they're looking for work and more attention to how quickly they are actually finding it. With 4.4 million job seekers nationwide out of work for more than 27 weeks or more in June, "those numbers are pretty grim," Bleakley said. "People who claim they're looking for work are not finding it." Source: An article by Liz Wolgemuth for U.S. News and World Report

unemployment unemployed discouraged workers marginally attached hoyt bleakley jr
Many no longer count on finding a job

18 Jul 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The author of the Letter to the Colossians talks of having a commission from the Lord he needs to “bring to completion” for the Colossians. Having largely brought their work to completion for another decade, the U.S. Census Bureau is shedding hundreds of thousands of workers--about 225,000 in only the last few weeks--putting further pressure on an already tight job market. In past decades the bureau faced a challenge just keeping workers around to close up shop, as most dashed for new jobs that might pay better. Not this time around, said observers. Jobs remain scarce. “Typically, at this point in the process, we’re losing a lot of people because they’re taking jobs,” said Kathleen Ludgate, the bureau’s regional director in Boston. “I wish we had that problem now.” Stubbornly high unemployment is causing political headaches for Democrats. Four months before the November congressional elections, Republicans have tried to paint Obama and Democrats who support him as anti-business. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a leading business group, issued a rebuke of Obama’s economic agenda Tuesday, accusing him and Democrats in Congress of neglecting job creation and hampering growth with burdensome regulatory and tax policies. Polls have reinforced Democrats’ fears of big losses in November. A survey by the Washington Post-ABC News showed 54 percent of Americans disapproved of Obama’s leadership on the economy. In a CBS News poll, only 40 percent of Americans said they approved of Obama’s handling of the economy. To counter such perceptions, the administration trumpeted an analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) that said government funding of clean energy, economic development, construction projects, and other initiatives was spurring “co-investment” by the private sector. The report, unveiled by CEA Chairwoman Christina Romer and Vice President Joseph Biden, estimated that Obama’s $862 billion economic stimulus package had saved or created roughly 3 million jobs and was on track to meet its goal of 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year. Source: Articles by Michael Powell for the New York Times, Caren Bohan for Reuters, and Dow Jones News Service

unemployment kathleen ludgate jobs census bureau economy republicans democrats elections business chamber of commerce
Democrats find Obama’s agreement with Republicans disagreeable

12 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord sustains the fatherless and the widow and gives food to the hungry, the psalmist informs us Sunday. Unemployment benefits serve a similar purpose for many of the long-term unemployed. An extension of expiring benefits is part of a compromise deal between President Obama and Republican leaders that would also extend Bush-era tax cuts. The deal has some Democrats crying foul. “It’s not perfect, but this compromise is an essential step on the road to recovery,” Obama said on Monday in announcing the deal. “It will stop middle-class taxes from going up. It will spur our private sector to create millions of new jobs and add momentum that our economy badly needs.” The president touted a temporary break on payroll taxes, saying it will give a lift to the economy and put more money back in the pockets of workers than the main tax break included in last year’s economic stimulus it is meant to replace. A family making $50,000 would save $1,000 with the payroll tax cut next year. At the same time, Obama made substantial concessions to Republicans. In addition to dropping his opposition to an extension of the current income tax rates on upper-income Americans, he agreed to a deal on the federal estate tax that angered many Democrats. The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years, to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, at a time when both parties are professing a desire to begin addressing long-term fiscal imbalances. Defending the deal during a press conference Tuesday, Obama said: “This isn’t an abstract debate. This is real money for real people and it will make a real difference in the lives of the folks who sent us here.” Adding to the urgency for a deal to extend unemployment benefits was news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that the unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent in November as hiring slowed, indicating that the economic recovery is wobbly. More than 15 million people looking for work are unemployed. On a more positive note, however, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday morning that the number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits fell slightly last week. Source: Articles by Richard Cowens for Reuters, Jared A. Favole for the Wall Street Journal, Susan Page for USA TODAY, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David M. Herzenhorn for the New York Times, Scott Wilson, Felicia Sonmez, David A. Fahrenthold, Peter Whoriskey, and Nathan Rott for the Washington Post, and Annalyn Censky for CNNMoney.com

barack obama income tax payroll tax tax cuts national debt republicans democrats unemployment unemployment benefits estate tax
Democrats find Obama’s agreement with Republicans disagreeable

12 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord sustains the fatherless and the widow and gives food to the hungry, the psalmist informs us Sunday. Unemployment benefits serve a similar purpose for many of the long-term unemployed. An extension of expiring benefits is part of a compromise deal between President Obama and Republican leaders that would also extend Bush-era tax cuts. The deal has some Democrats crying foul. “It’s not perfect, but this compromise is an essential step on the road to recovery,” Obama said on Monday in announcing the deal. “It will stop middle-class taxes from going up. It will spur our private sector to create millions of new jobs and add momentum that our economy badly needs.” The president touted a temporary break on payroll taxes, saying it will give a lift to the economy and put more money back in the pockets of workers than the main tax break included in last year’s economic stimulus it is meant to replace. A family making $50,000 would save $1,000 with the payroll tax cut next year. At the same time, Obama made substantial concessions to Republicans. In addition to dropping his opposition to an extension of the current income tax rates on upper-income Americans, he agreed to a deal on the federal estate tax that angered many Democrats. The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years, to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, at a time when both parties are professing a desire to begin addressing long-term fiscal imbalances. Defending the deal during a press conference Tuesday, Obama said: “This isn’t an abstract debate. This is real money for real people and it will make a real difference in the lives of the folks who sent us here.” Adding to the urgency for a deal to extend unemployment benefits was news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that the unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent in November as hiring slowed, indicating that the economic recovery is wobbly. More than 15 million people looking for work are unemployed. On a more positive note, however, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday morning that the number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits fell slightly last week. Source: Articles by Richard Cowens for Reuters, Jared A. Favole for the Wall Street Journal, Susan Page for USA TODAY, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David M. Herzenhorn for the New York Times, Scott Wilson, Felicia Sonmez, David A. Fahrenthold, Peter Whoriskey, and Nathan Rott for the Washington Post, and Annalyn Censky for CNNMoney.com

barack obama income tax payroll tax tax cuts national debt republicans democrats unemployment unemployment benefits estate tax
Where are the jobs?

11 Sep 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In instructing his listeners to forgive one another generously in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable of a debtor who owed a "huge amount” to a king and "had no way of paying it back.” That pretty much sums up the state of affairs for the national treasury as well as for many of the unemployed and those whose homes have been foreclosed. The question before Republican presidential candidates in their debate Wednesday night and President Barack Obama in his speech to Congress and the nation Thursday night is how to put America back to work at a time of ballooning federal deficits. A dismal August jobs report showed zero net new jobs, prompting growing alarm that that the U.S. could slide back into recession. Fewer Americans with disposable incomes and less tax revenue for the U.S. government mean economic growth is effectively stalled. Adding to the woes of the unemployed is a move in many states to adopt lifetime limits on cash welfare benefits, such as a cap enacted this week in Michigan. Advocates for the poor warn that tens of thousands of Michigan residents will find themselves without cash assistance on October 1. The news is no better in terms of the nation’s ability to compete globally. The U.S.--which topped the annual Global Competitive Survey as recently as 2008--slipped for the third year in a row and now stands in fifth place worldwide. The weaker performance was attributed to economic vulnerabilities as well as “some aspects of the United States’ institutional environment,” notably low public trust in politicians and concerns about government inefficiency. Sources: Articles by Matthew Saltmarsh for Yahoo Finance and the New York Times and Brian O’Connell for TheStreet.com

barack obama welfare unemployment republicans economic recovery jobs global competitive survey
Rising number of poor and uninsured signals “lost decade”

18 Sep 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The gospel parable this Sunday features idle laborers who wait all day in the marketplace for someone to hire them. Persistently high unemployment in the U.S. caused the poverty rate to jump from 14.3 percent in 2009 to 15.1 percent last year, a 27-year high. About 46.2 million people, or nearly 1 in 6, live in poverty. At the same time, the number of people lacking health insurance increased to 49.9 million, a new high. Decreases in coverage were due mostly to working-age Americans who lost employer-provided insurance in the weak economy. The percentage of workers covered by employer-based insurance has steadily declined in the past decade, from 65 percent in 2000 to about 55 percent in 2010, a U.S. Census report said. Main provisions of the health overhaul law mandating wider coverage do not take effect until 2014. In new signs of distress among the middle class, median household incomes fell last year to levels last seen in 1996. It is the first time since the Great Depression that median household income adjusted for inflation has not risen over such a long period, said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard University. “This is truly a lost decade,” Katz said. “We think of America as a place where every generation is doing better, but we’re looking at a period when the median family is in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s.” This year is not likely to be any better, economists said. Stimulus money has largely been used and state and local governments have made deep cuts to staff and to budgets for social programs, both likely to move economically fragile families closer to poverty. Sources: Articles by Annalyn Censky for CNN Money, Sabrina Tavernise for the New York Times,Daniel Gross for Yahoo! Finance, and Hope Yen for the Associated Press

poverty unemployment health insurance census lawrence katz
For December 25: Young adults dwell in insecurity

23 Dec 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” proclaims the elevating prologue to John’s gospel this Christmas Day. The long-lasting economic recession has left many young adults without a stable dwelling of their own, and the not-so-good news is that many end up in homeless shelters or even on the streets.Across the country tens of thousands of underemployed and jobless young people, many with college credits or work histories, are struggling to house themselves in the wake of a recession that has left workers between the ages of 18 and 24 with the highest unemployment rate of all adults.Those who can move back home with their parents—the so-called boomerang set—are the lucky ones, but that is not an option for those whose families have been hit hard by the slow economy. Without a stable home address, they are an elusive group, mostly “couch surfing” or sleeping hidden away in cars or other private places, hoping to avoid the lasting stigma and danger of public homelessness during what they hope will be a temporary predicament.The unemployment rate and the number of young adults who cannot afford college, however, “point to the fact there is a dramatic increase in homelessness” in that age group, said Barbara Poppe, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.Those who provide services to the poor in many cities say the economic recovery has not yet relieved the problem. “Years ago, you didn’t see what looked like people of college age sitting and waiting to talk to a crisis worker because they are homeless on the street,” said Andrea Bailey, the executive director of the Community Food and Outreach Center, one of the largest charitable organizations in Florida. “Now that’s a normal thing.”Homily hint for Mass Christmas Day: Homelessness hits hard any time of year but especially during this season of short days and long, cold nights. During his public ministry Jesus knew what it was like to live on the road. Encourage all who celebrate the Savior’s birth in a manager to reach out in whatever way they can to those without stable shelter. Remind folks that when it comes to the really big problems, while none of us can do everything, all of us can do something. Source: An article by Susan Saulny for the New York Times

recession unemployment homelessness young adults barbara poppe andrea bailey

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