This is a temporary order that provides some relief from both the unsecured creditors and the lender attempting to collect money.

FORBES: Avoid Foreclosure: Properly Handling An Underwater Mortgage

Some background: Donziger has spent more than a decade trying to collect money for Ecuadorean villagers he says have suffered a variety of health problems due to millions of barrels of oil and waste products left behind at drilling sites that Texaco, now part of Chevron, operated until it left the country in 1990.

FORBES: Judge To "Crude" Filmmaker: You're Part Of The Story

He would let the unemployed continue to collect benefits for up to 99 weeks, and wisely funnel some unemployment-insurance money into retraining and subsidies for hiring the long-term unemployed.

ECONOMIST: The jobs plan