Unemployment

I'm not entirely against an expansion of unemployment benefits. I've known too many people who lost jobs and had a difficult time finding jobs and don't think its unreasonable to extend the benefits for longer than 36 weeks.

While this should basically be a state issue, in those areas where states meet and people routinely cross state lines for employment it does become a legitimate federal issue. The situation exists here in DC but also in New York, Kansas City, St. Louis, and to a lesser extent Boston. Im sure its also going on in other cities.

Anyway, you can always find work, but sometimes finding the right job takes too long and once you accept a lesser job, you lose the opportunity to fully apply yourself to finding more appropriate employment.

Of course, any extension would need to have certain limits on it ... a definite time frame, showings of actual effort undertaken, etc.

In any case though, it doesn't belong in a Tort Reform bill.