Texas trying to keep up with unemployment claims.
The rising number of jobless Texans has generated more claims than the Texas Workforce Commission can handle.
The commission has added hundreds of workers and phone lines to call centers to deal with soaring unemployment claims, but officials acknowledge that they can’t answer every call.
A commission spokeswoman, Ann Hatchitt, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram they were hiring and training folks as fast as they can.
Claimants are urged to file for claims on the commission’s Web site, http://www.twc.state.tx.us, which also has answers to commonly asked questions.The percentage of claims filed online has risen from about 30 to 50.
The state’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 percent in May, from a revised 6.6 percent in April.
And yet somehow, a majority of Texans approve of Governor Perry’s shortsighted decision to reject stimulus funds for unemployment insurance, according to the Texas Lyceum. I don’t know if that’s good messaging on his part or just bad math skills on everyone else’s, but you have to admire his ability to frame the conversation. Which is about the only admirable thing about him that comes to my mind right now.
The figures speak for themselves. What the figures don’t include are the self-employed who no longer have much income if any and basically are unemployed at this point but who don’t qualify for unemployment and who along with many who did qualify but whose benefits have run out are having to turn to one-day jobs as they pop up on Craigslist.
Main Street simply doesn’t matter to the Republicans. Only Wall Street. Sadly, Main Street also doesn’t matter to a lot of Democrats.
I doubt there is a social service agency in this state that hasn’t seen a dramatic increase of individuals and families in need but then Rick Perry didn’t seem too concerned with that either. But then neither, really, did Barack Obama. Wall Street is doing just fine. Particularly the banks that in most cases are showing an average of 20% return on investment and other income, including loans, for the first quarter. That is an average of 20% for the banks and at this point an average of 2% for the bank customers who have savings accounts. The return on the gross income is even higher. The banks certainly were stimulated.
The banks are doing quite well. As are the stockbrokers and the hedge fund managers. While more and more Americans are being foreclosed on or being evicted and ending up homeless. Many because they either don’t qualify for unemployment or have seen their benefits run out.
Both parties have for the most part abandoned the people in this country. But the Democrats not as much as the Republicans. And the Republicans apparently are hell-bent on emphasizing that compassionate no longer is synonymous with conservatism.
And no Republican more intent on it than Rick Perry.