Something in Washington reeks—and it’s not the dreary swamp the city was built on—it’s deficit hypocrites. You may have seen them on TV—folks who have no clue what life’s like for ordinary Americans. They are fighting for $700 billion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires but think maintaining emergency unemployment is “too expensive.”

These deficit hypocrites have basically told long-term unemployed workers to “drop dead.” Right now, more than 800,000 long-term job hunters have lost their emergency unemployment benefits. Every additional second of delay costs more than one worker his or her emergency lifeline.

We’ve updated our unemployment counter to track the ongoing cost of greed and purposeful, heartless delay in real time.⁽¹⁾

Find out how many workers have lost emergency unemployment insurance—and tell your senators this is totally unacceptable.

Today—as you read this message—100 unemployed workers are in Washington, D.C., to lobby their lawmakers.

Their message is clear: We have an urgent jobs crisis. With five job hunters for every one opening, we need jobs now. And while jobs aren’t there, job seekers need a lifeline.

The unemployed workers on Capitol Hill today—and the 2 million workers around the country who will lose their benefits by January unless Congress acts—need your help.

See how many workers have lost their emergency unemployment—and urge your senators to act.

In solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

⁽¹⁾ Simulation based on the National Employment Law Project’s estimate of 2,013,058 workers who will lose benefits by Dec. 31, 2010.