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Bill Knight - December 29

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wium/local-wium-998161.mp3

Macomb, IL – It's not like the elves went on strike at Santa's North Pole, but in the last month, when a lot of unemployed Americans rallied on Capitol Hill and delivered 75,000 petitions urging Congress to extend unemployment insurance coverage, actions occurred that celebrated a mood and a momentum that was filled with the hope of the holidays.

Besides, St. Nick's one of the 99%, too, right?

Thousands were in Washington for days of protests saying that Congress cares more about America's wealthiest 1%than it does everyone else. What seemed like an early Christmas gift - the nation's unemployment rate in November fell to 8.6%, down from October's 9% and the lowest in more than two years - when examined closer was a lump of coal.

The US economy added 120,000 jobs last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the drop in the unemployment rate was also affected by about 315,000 workers dropping out of the labor force. The jobless rate counts only those who actively look for work.

Unemployment Insurance coverage for the long-term unemployed is set to expire December 31, as of this writing, which will cut off almost 2 million out-of-work Americans from federal aid next week unless Congress acts.

Besides organized labor, groups for the actions have included the Interfaith Worker Justice, the Center for Community Change, Faith in Life, MoveOn.org, and the Service Employees International Union. Also, representatives from 15 Occupy protests from around the country took part, according to Robert Borosage, co-director of Campaign for America's Future, another sponsor.

Demonstrators pressed their case with members of Congress, protested corporate lobbyists, and held a prayer vigil on Capitol Hill for the unemployed.

Borosage said, "People are getting pretty tired of a Washington that works for the few and not for the many."

Indeed, other government agencies concede that a few are prospering as many struggle. Despite the lousy employment picture - or, perhaps, because of it - the Department of Commerce has reported that US corporations are enjoying robust profits. (From 2009 and 2010, 88% of income growth went to corporate profits, but just 1% went to employees. A year ago, companies reported their best financial quarter ever.)

The nation now has the worst economic inequality in US history.

Author Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and University of California professor, said, "People are outraged at what feels like a rigged game - an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards."

Grassroots momentum has been building for months. In August, progressives held more than 400 protests in local congressional district offices, pushing for jobs. In September, the Occupy Wall Street movement began. In October, 2,000 liberal activists gathered in Washington for the "Take Back the American Dream" conference. And in November, the American Dream Movement held a national day of action in which protesters gathered on structurally deficient bridges across the country to call for greater infrastructure investment to create jobs.

This big push happened just weeks into Advent, Christianity's season celebrating "the Arrival." And this different arrival of the 99% brings both optimism and defiance to the streets - the affluent Wall Street and the struggling Main Street, where Reich sees differences mounting.

He said, "The disconnect between Washington and the rest of the nation hasn't been this wide since the late 1960s. The two worlds are on a collision course. I can't tell you when the collision will occur, but I'd guess 2012."

Huh; happy New Year.

Bill Knight is a freelance writer who teaches at Western Illinois University. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of WIU or Tri States Public Radio