Little Federal Help for the Long-Term Unemployed

``"The problem is incredibly urgent," said Kevin A. Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and an adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign. "Spain had a financial crisis in the late 1970s and has never seen its unemployment rate drop back to where it was before that crisis. The unemployed become discouraged, and ultimately the employment to population ratio might take a permanent hit."''