I would suggest perhaps niether side is real excited about extending because it will show what the real unemployment numbers are and the economy is still in deep doo doo because of a total lack of leadership in Washington.
Time to talk up that Oblama economy again NWA. Only near 48 miilion on foodstamps. Life is great on the left.
Perhaps we can eliminate poverty and unemployment (in one fell swoop) just by letting the unwashed, poor and, unemployed starve to death. That way, universal prosperity is just around the corner.
spoken like a true progressive djs. Make up a worst case scenario, assign it to your opposition, and then finish up with sarcasm and innuendo. Bravo.
Why, thank you for the complement Sam.
But the fact remains, all the unemployed are not lazy (yes, some are) but with new technologies, many skills are no longer in demand and the training requirements for many new skills are lengthy and expensive (or unattainable). In the mid-1980's recession, the organization I worked for closed and about 300 of us were laid off. After much searching, I did take a down grade in salary (was making just over $195,000, accepted a position that paid only $36,000). I was considered unemployable for many positions since I was told that I'd leave if I got an offer for $200,000 or thereabouts - well, duh).
I went to the hospital this morning for pre-op tests and was greeted by a robotic check-in device which allowed me to check in, sign releases, etc., pay and, confirm the surgery I'm having in two weeks. The doctor told me that they've eliminated about 30 admitting people (over 20 departments) with this system. Perhaps these folks who are now technologically and structurally unemployed are in favor of cost cutting as much as most do, but their skills are now obsolete. With no job, there is no income to use for re-training (maybe we need much greater government grants for multi-year re-training).
I read one economic journal in which it was postulated that the US will need to accept a permanent unemployment rate of about 15-18% (compared with the traditional 3-4%) due to loss of labor-intensive jobs (from robotics, technological innovation and, greater efficiency). The unanswered question is "How will these folks survive"?
