So, in light of Obama's plan, can someone tell me what is on the table?

First topic message reminder :

I am so sorry to be having a hard time figuring things out. I am wondering what's on the table now. I am almost at the end of my second tier of EUC. My third tier kicks in and runs out just before the December 31, 2011. We lost Tier 4 in PA anyway, right? Is that still gone? And as of now the December 31, 2011 deadline still also holds, right.

Is Obama's plan proposing extend the eligibility period of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) through to December 31, 2012 (another year)? His proposal does not add more weeks of benefits but simply extends the period of time someone could file for EUC, right? So I am done anyway at the end of December, even if the deadline is extended, 'cause we don't have Tier 4 here in PA?

Thanks in advance for any help. And again I apologize.

huh

wausauguy wrote:I received a strange unemployment notice today. Stating I was overpaid $25 on a week in June 2010 under federal extension. I guess I have to just be ok with it and I guess it could be worse. I have had a few big mistakes unemployment made in the past and with the little issues like this, I really have little trust and wonder if Wisconsin and Federal government arejust screwing with things for those who are suffering the most.
I am counting my blessings, but $25 is alot of money to me.
Also, I feel ashamed to say this, but found myself jealous of someone when I say them doing a job function I had just applied for. Jealousy... anger... muttering not so nice words... I am pretty ashamed of myself, but it is really telling how it has been too long, too many applications and still no job.
Now that my unemployment is almost up in the next week or two, I am being told I was overpaid $25 over a year ago. Like I said I will keep counting my blessings, but I feel like I am being sabotaged or something.

This happened to my dad about a year ago. Remember when everyone got an additional $25 a week? Some states made a mistake and continued paying people who weren't eligible. Here in NC they worked it out and let the people who were overpaid keep it but some states deduct it from a current check. My dad would have owed a couple hundred bucks.

It's absurd when they not only refuse to give people any more unemployment checks, but instead try to get some of it back.

answer to the title: Beers!!

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011109190537

"Obama waste reduction campaign includes Wisconsin unemployment benefit errors 12:00 AM, Sep. 19, 2011
WASHINGTON -- More than one in 10 Wisconsin workers who file a claim for unemployment benefits are paid money they are not entitled to receive, according to President Barack Obama's administration.
From July 2008 through June 2011, Wisconsin's unemployment insurance overpayments have amounted to more than $491 million. The state paid out $4.1 billion in benefits during that period.
But the Badger State's 12.4 percent error rate is far from the highest in the nation. That distinction goes to Louisiana, with a 43.6 percent error rate, followed closely by Indiana at 43.5 percent.
The overpayment data were released last week in conjunction with Vice President Joe Biden's announcement of new initiatives to reduce wasteful spending. The effort targets Medicaid, Medicare and unemployment insurance.
The waste reduction campaign also coincides with Obama's $447 billion plan to stimulate job creation. The president sent his proposal to Congress last week.
"If we're going to spur jobs and economic growth and restore long-term fiscal solvency, we need to make sure hard-earned tax dollars don't go to waste," Biden said.
The unemployment insurance program, which originated in Wisconsin in 1932, is a federal-state partnership to compensate eligible jobless workers. Eligibility rules vary by state, but most states require workers receiving payments to show proof that they have sought employment. In most states, unemployed workers can collect benefits for up to 26 weeks.
With the economy still struggling to recover from a recession, Obama signed legislation in July that extends benefits for 2.3 million Americans through November. Obama has called for another extension, as the economy shows no sign of picking up.
To help states reduce overpayments, the administration has committed $192 million to states to upgrade technology for more accurate data collection and claims processing. Wisconsin was awarded $1.4 million.
Most of Wisconsin's errors, 44 percent, were attributed to failing to confirm claimants met job search requirements, according to the Labor Department. Also, 29 percent of Wisconsin's overpayments were to workers who no longer were unemployed.
Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker, said Wisconsin's error rate was "primarily due to claimant and/or employer error." Wisconsin's error rate for 2011 so far is at 7 percent, compared with 14.8 percent in 2010. A new one-week wait period that has been signed into law will help avert fraud through background checks on claimants, Werwie said.
"States bear the responsibility of operating an efficient and effective benefits program, but as partners, the federal government must be able to hold them accountable for doing so," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a written statement. "These new measures demonstrate our commitment to working closely with states to ensure the integrity of the system, turn around underperforming programs and save taxpayers money."
On Medicaid, the Obama administration estimates it will save taxpayers $2.1 billion in the next five years through an initiative modeled after an audit program targeting Medicare. Biden said that program has recovered $670 million so far in 2011, an almost 800 percent increase from the take in 2010 "

I can only speak for myself, but I really doubt there is fraud going on. I have been applying for jobs, jobs that I should have been able to land, jobs that would be a fit and even some that would not fit but I am willing to try. It disturbs me that there is such negativity towards unemployed people. I guess I would find it hard to believe that I could not land a job after many months, but that is my reality for the moment.

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/on_assignment/unemployment-payback

" Unemployment payback
Updated: Friday, 23 Sep 2011, 6:48 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 23 Sep 2011, 1:26 PM CDT

Reporter: Robert Hornacek
Shawano resident Amy Kroenke wondered why she is being asked to repay $250 in federal stimulus money.

"Why are they going after the ones struggling the most?" she said. "To tell you the truth, if I would've known this was how it was going to turn out I would've rather not gotten it."

Kroenke was laid off about three years ago. She spent one year on unemployment. A little extra help came in 2009, in the form of federal stimulus dollars. When she started receiving an extra $25 a week on her unemployment check, Kroenke thought it was a mistake.

"I called to ask and they said at this time due to the stimulus everybody's getting an additional $25 on their checks," Kroenke said.

Last year, Kroenke went off unemployment and back to work in a job at the Shawano County Courthouse. But her experience with unemployment wasn't over. First, she received a notice saying she received too much unemployment. So she repaid $250. Then just a few weeks ago, another notice arrived in the mail saying that the $250 in stimulus money she received nearly two years ago also had to be paid back.

"I think this should've been caught a long time ago," she said.

FOX 11 On Special Assignment contacted the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development for some answers.

"This is federal money that we have to repay," said administrator Craig Barkelar. Here's how the stimulus program worked: If someone received unemployment benefits, they automatically qualified for the extra $25 per week stimulus payment. If it was later determined the person was overpaid on unemployment, they would have to repay both the regular unemployment overpayment and the stimulus money.

"They were paid for a week or more where they really didn't qualify for that unemployment benefit and because of that they also didn't qualify for the additional $25 check they received," Barkelar said.

While the state notified people about the regular unemployment over payments last year, the stimulus over payments were just identified by an audit earlier this year. Barkelar says the state had to create a new software program to identify the people who were overpaid.

In the last few weeks, the state sent letters to 83,700 people, including Kroenke, who have to pay back a total of $9.9 million in stimulus funds. The amounts range from $25 to $2500. The average repayment is $125. A total of approximately 1.1 million people received unemployment benefits during that time.

"This was a lot more grief than it was worth," Kroenke said.

While Kroenke says she'll be able to pay back the $250 in stimulus funds, she's worried some of the 83,700 people in Wisconsin won't be so lucky.

"How do they expect people that are just getting back on their feet and maybe have gotten back to work at this point, how do they expect them to pay that on top of bills that are backlogged?" she said.

The Department of Workforce Development is willing to set up payment plans for people need some time top repay the stimulus funds. The state has also updated its computer system to try to prevent future over payments.

Wisconsin is not the only place this happened. A similar problem happened in Minnesota where the state mistakenly paid out more than $3-million in stimulus money. "

My friend called me yesterday and said he had seen this on their news. I find it interesting that it looks like this is the only tv station talking about this, not even the newspapers Seems to me this is so telling that the unemployed are being ignored. And now are even being forced to payback money they had no say in. I am so tired of politiicians and their games.