My partner and I have both lost our jobs at a mid-sized metropolitan daily newspaper. Given our ages (54 and 46) and our last combined salaries (topping six figures) we've been deemed by the marketplace as unsuitable candidates for even minimum-wage positions here in the brutal economic climate of South Florida. We have sent out hundreds of resumes to little effect. Our retirement savings have been depleted. I've managed to get the occasional freelance reporting gig, but other than that our sole source of income has been unemployment compensation -- supplemented at times by caring and understanding siblings.

And depending on what the U.S. Senate does later this week, that source could possibly dry up very soon. I am one of those 1.2 million people standing to lose those benefits in March should Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell fail to reach accord.