Jobs and the Economy
"Good jobs help build strong families and a higher quality of life."
— Congressman Bart Gordon
The American economy is in a recession and many people in Tennessee and around the country are struggling to pay their bills, and in many cases, hold on to their jobs. To get our economy back on track, we need to create jobs and extend unemployment benefits. In addition, the greedy CEOs that created the current financial crisis need to be held accountable.
Holding Complicit CEOs Accountable
The current economic and financial problems facing the United States and international community were fueled by greedy executives who made excessively risky decisions. Many of these executives understood their actions could have expansive, catastrophic effects and still walked away with millions. The FBI has launched high-level corporate fraud investigations to determine the level of responsibility corporate executives had in contributing to the financial crisis. Bart is committed to ensuring that the FBI has the resources necessary to fully carry out these investigations. He recently wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney General calling on him to ensure that the FBI had the personnel and funding needed to properly carry out these investigations.
Creating Jobs for Tennesseans
In October of 2007, Tennessee’s unemployment rate was 5%. Just one year later, in October 2008, more than 20,000 Tennesseans lost their jobs and the state’s unemployment rate had jumped to 7%. At the same time, Tennessee has many infrastructure problems – 21% of the state’s bridges have been deemed “structurally deficient or functionally obsolete,” and there are eight major dams that have been “determined deficient.” Bart supports the funding of infrastructure projects that can immediately employ Tennesseans who are looking for work. These projects would help many residents in Tennessee who are struggling to pay their bills and help the state deal with infrastructure issues.
Extending Unemployment Benefits
Unfortunately, the state’s unemployment rate – 7% as of October 2008 – only reflects people who are unemployed and receiving unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits are given to people for only the 13 weeks that follow the last day they were employed. As a result, if someone is not able to find work within those 13 weeks, regardless of their situation, they stop receiving unemployment benefits and end up having to rely on friends and family members to get by. In these tough economic times, 13 weeks has proven to be insufficient time for many individuals who have been laid off to find a new job. Bart recently supported the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, which was signed into law on November 21, 2008. This legislation extends unemployment benefits for Tennesseans from 13 to 33 weeks – nationwide, it is expected to help 1.6 million Americans.
Related Press:
· Addressing Economic Challenges with Science & Technology (December 18, 2008)
