The latest 2014 unemployment extension petition is asking that President Obama call House Speaker John Boehner and attempt to work out a middle ground for the millions of Americans who have their unemployment benefits expire.
In a related report by The Inquisitr , we have previously noted that “Obama could threaten to veto other Republican-backed legislation until the unemployment extension is enacted, but he has not chosen to exercise that power. Nor has he even placed a phone call to Boehner to discuss the 2014 extension.”
It’s also been claimed that Democrats have lost interest in supporting the 2014 unemployment extension bill due to the upcoming mid-term elections.
The new petition specifically highlights that issue by discussing the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program in these terms:
“There are over 3.5 million long term unemployed Americans, including over 200,000 military veterans, who have lost EUC benefits since December 28th, 2013. Please put politics aside and help these hard-working, responsible Americans make ends meet and support their families as they look for a job. For each week that Congress fails to act on this crucial issue, approximately 70,000 more long-term unemployed Americans lose their vital economic lifeline. Please give John Boehner a call and ask him to allow the House of Representatives to vote on the bipartisan approved Senate bill to extend EUC benefits, which awaits a House vote. Also, please tell Congress to work harder for those who are struggling to get back into the workforce, because our nation’s future depends on it.”
This new unemployment extension petition was created on May 19 and has until June 18 to gather the required 100,000 signatures in order to have any effect. As of this writing, it is up to 5,797 signatures and has a long road to travel in the next two weeks. This sounds ba,d but to put this in perspective it’s already beating the last major WhiteHouse.gov petition which made this demand:
“Respectfully asking President Obama to pass the unemployment extension- millions of Americans need it urgently! Help us! Stop stagnating the bill in the House! Help hard Working Americans get back on their feet!”
This older petition expires tomorrow and only has 2,449 signatures, which means it’s highly likely to fail. Even the MoveOn.org petition, which doesn’t expire, only reached 25,700.
If the 3 million and counting unemployed affected by the extension bill were to raise awareness of this petition, it’s possible that the White House would be forced to respond as dictated by the terms of the WhiteHouse.gov website. If that occurs, then major news media would take note and the issue may become more paramount in the minds of politicians. So I would recommend sharing the petition or even this article on social media so that your friends and family might help reach the goal of 100,000 signatures.
Why do you think President Obama and the Democrats have not made the 2014 unemployment extension bill a higher priority compared to other issues (for example, changing the allegedly racist name of the Washington Redskins )?