CT Woman Lobbies Obama, in Person, To Extend Unemployment Benefits

By Paul Petrone

This week, East Haddam resident Katherine Hackett met President Barack Obama. Unfortunately, it was on terms that neither would have preferred.

The Huffington Post reports that Hackett, a single mother of two men who served in the military, has been unemployed for the past 13 months, and her unemployment benefits are about to run out. Hackett, who was working in the health care industry, has been desperately searching for a job, but has been unable to find one and is reliant on her unemployment benefits, according to the report.

She met with Obama Tuesday to encourage him and the rest of the government to extend unemployment benefits to her and the other 1.3 million people whose benefits are about to run out. On Tuesday, the Senate agreed to extend the benefits for another three months, according to the New York Times.

"When times get tough, we are not a people who say you are on your own," Hackett told The Huffington Post. "We are a people who believe that we are all in it together."