by Laura Conaway

ProPublica runs the numbers on jobless benefits and how the states are handling them:

Fourteen states have simply run out of money to pay benefits and been forced to borrow from Washington a total of more than $8 billion. That number is almost certain to grow as more states reach the brink. If they are not able to pay that amount back before 2011, which most will not be able to do, they face paying hundreds of millions of dollars in interest.

Among the hardest hit: California and the automobile-heavy Midwest.

Bonus: Homeowners fed up with government's loan modification program.