There is another feeding frenzy in DC over this issue.
link to story
Liberals say keep paying, even while they keep bleating that the economy is recovering. Conservatives say, create jobs instead, save the SIX BILLION dollars, and if the economy IS recovering, the problem will correct itself.
What is really going on, as we all know, is that liberals want Americans out of work, and tied to government.

I don't like to see people going through hardship any more that the next guy does. That being said, I don't agree with extending the benefits. There's work out there-it may not be what folks want at this time, but there's jobs to be had. I really struggle with extending these benefits, when there's places hiring. I would do whatever it took, work-wise to put food on the table for my family. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where the steel industry collapse devastated the local economy. Through the collapse, I was unemployed for a grand total of 1 day. 'Didn't particularly like the job I took when I got laid off from my other job, but it was work and it paid the bills until I found something better. Folks need to swallow their pride and just get a job period, then start looking for a better one.

Watching the 10:00 news last night and the interviews with the people who just got cut off was depressing.

We need to rename the phenomena that Obama and the Progressives have brought us. Wrap the Affordable Care Act, the IRS targeting non progressives, the EPA's tyranny, the Attorney General's war on Justice, and the Congress' willingness to run us into bankruptcy.

We need to lump it all under the title "Democratcare".

Ed

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.

Good. Although I'm sure when congress gets off there vacation it will be the first thing they re-instate. Dems can't lose there voting block, and I'm sure they will blame it on the right ( and yes, I am unemployed although not on unemployment)

BINGO!

My feelings, too. Some of these people have been drawing for what, 2 years or so ( between their state & federal benefits )?

as the article says "the GOP is right on policy, but wrong on the politics".
As long as the liberals control the mass media, any viewpoint other than theirs will get short shrift on the 6:00 news.
The so called "free press", the supposed cornerstone of a Democracy, has been hijacked by the left, and is the vehicle they use to destroy Democracy.

I don't have any problem with cutting off employment benefits. It's a simple insurance proposition. We all pay our premiums, and for that we get up to six months of unemployment. Not 12, not 24, not 36.

We all know people that game the system. They are probably a fairly good sized minority, but the bigger problem is that the government teat keeps people from going out and doing what it takes. Go drive a truck. Go work night shift. The "job" has become some status symbol of who you are, instead of just paying your bills, and taking care of yourself.

My wife's friend figured out how to extend her unemployment 2 1/4 yrs. She worked for a credit counseling company only for 1 year. I was amazed!

On interesting statistic is how many people actually "find" a job really close to when the benefits run out compared to at, oh, 10 months.

Some people need incentive to actually take a job instead of looking for the "perfect" job.

How many of those without jobs voted for zero?

My one big problem with this is cutting off benefits to everyone that's been receiving unemployment for longer than 26 weeks with basically no notice.

They have could have at least given people 90 days to plan ahead. I'm not in favor of forever unemployment benefits but cutting people off right after Christmas is cruel.

IMO, there should be a time limit on receiving full benefits and after a certain point they should taper off. Make it hurt to be unemployed for a long period of time.

even more amazing, is the number of folks that finagle their way into the ranks of the 'disabled' when their unemployment runs out. They are committed, just dip out of a different pocket.

Most likely, all of them.

Gunner

are not people told how long their benefits will last at the start ,,MARK it on the calander dumb ass then when they turn the page 6-12 months or so later the WAKE UP call is there,

norm

The following is just my personal opinion:


While I agree in principle with this there are other factors in play.

Take the area I live in for example. The economy has been on the downhill slope since all the outsourcing of manufacturing began in the 1990's ( i.e. the reason I went back to college as my decent paying job went to Guatemala)

Couple this with the most recent downturn and there is almost nothing left.

Jobs on the lower end of the pay scale (i.e. fast food workers, loading docks, etc.) are in large part filled by the burgeoning illegal Hispanic influx.

Another factor here is programs like Tyson Foods is instituting at one of their chicken production facilities in NC. They are bringing in something like 450 workers from Burma to replace many current employees and run the operation . I am sure there are other companies doing the same thing.

And this is being done with the blessings, replete with monthly stipends for the workers and tax breaks for the company, of both the NC state government and the varmints in DC.

The better paying jobs are even fewer and further between. Any openings that appear usually have an avalanche of applications (i.e. 1,000 +). Thus, it often becomes a sheer numbers game.

Then add in very unique job requirements on many positions like one I recently saw that wanted fluency in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani and the employment field gets even more narrow.

Another thing that has to be looked at is folks that have, like my own situation ( permanent long-term neuro-muscular ailments that affect my back, legs, and eye-hand coordination), medical issues that preclude them from working some jobs.

I know I would be happy to work on loading dock or a production line but my body would not last more than a day or two and I would be back to walking with a cane or in the hospital with my arms and legs seized up again.

One more item I have encountered if you have a good education and a lot of experience ( like my personal case) many potential employers will shy away. I have actually been told " you are far too qualified for any position we have open."

I guess the fear of having to pay someone too much or the fear of a more highly qualified person not staying with them drives this.

In short, I guess what I am saying is that the issue is seldom as cut and dried as governmental reports and figures or media reporting is showing.

There are folks that really need unemployment, and there are those gaming the system. Democrats lump them all into the poor and downtrodden. Its there game.

I'm all for folks with a work history receiving the benefits, those with no history should get nothing.

Gunner

Generally state unemployment lasts for 6mos. The people I feel bad for are the ones in construction (i know this all to well, but im lucky that im never off long enough to worry about it) It can very easily be 6-7 months between projects in the northern part of the states. I know many will say "just go pick up and go to the dakotas" we'll leaving ones family and everything they've ever known is just not for everyone. The sad part about the construction guys is they are contributing into the top 10% when they are working. vicious cycle. But if ya plan for it, its doable. Where many of these people would rather just sit on unemployment is if they go get a 10/hr job, if they get layed off from there, it shows less earnings, and they get less unemplyoment really putting themselves in a bind next time. vicious cycle. I personally do side jobs, and plow snow for the city. I also "bid" on every job that comes up dont care what it is or who its for. Probably why im generally off only 4mos at the longest, ive taken some real lemon jobs and turned them into 80-100K jobs.

Not renewing the extension of benefits changed how long people planned on receiving benefits. This didn't come up until December and they had now way of knowing they'd be cut off prior to that.

Are a lot of people who won't take a job because unemployment pays more. Why work when you can do whatever you want and get more money? They'll take jobs when they have to, when the money runs out.

Have an extended family member in Illinois that has just received 3 years of unemployment benefits. And keep in mind, he hasn't been cut off yet. It should be 90 days, then zero. The corruption is mind boggling.

I thought unemployment only lasted 6 months and then you had better have a job because unemployment ran out. Why 1 or 2 years?

Around here, all the jobs that normally high school kids get, ( like working at McDonald's for instance) are being held by adults that WILL work....

programs at the local community college, particularly that have to do with anything medical, has a 2 to 3 year waiting list, of those that have been accepted....mainly women who have a husband that is permanently unemployed ( meaning he won't work), is a meth head or deals drugs and steals stuff from others.. they mainly take the minimal courses it takes to qualify as a CNA and then hope to get on with the local hospital... then work enough hours to get medical benefits and that is it...

my wife works in the staffing office at the local hospital, and it is amazing how little work ethic there is here on the west coast, vs the Midwest work ethic she came from being from Minnesota....

she even has to take periods of time off, when she maxes out her accrued vacation time.. and is one of the few women in the hospital in that position... use it or lose it and state law doesn't allow the hospital to just make her lose it...

if the roads are bad, half the staff calls in sick... if the weekend is going to have nice weather, seems half the staff calls in sick....people want to be paid to be on call, and then get all pissed off when they are called in....

as my wife grumbles about " I can't come in to work today, I broke a nail and have to go see my manicurist at 11..."...

this in a town with the economy being crap, even in the best of economic times...

about a third of the local working aged adults around here, are on some sort of assistance, half those are collecting under multiple identities weekly..... and it is probably just coincidence that according to the sheriff's office and the county commissioners, that they figure 1/3 of the local economy is also tied into production and distribution of illegal drugs...

however they look the other way, if it is not going to be distributed locally... they figure it is the job of those down the highway in California where most of it is bound for, to stop distribution down there....

people lose their unemployment benefits around here, they are busy scamming another way to stay on the Government Hand out program....doesn't seem to concern many.. they don't want to work anyway....

and getting a job, just means that they figure how much time it takes to work, and then get laid off, to start the cycle all over again... and the local governmental distribution agencies, seem to be orientated to counsel them on just how and when to do so... means job security for them to be needed to hand it all out...

democrats, spending other people's money....

That's the way it used to be until Hussein started handing out welfare benefits to the chronically unemployed.

maybe true but they should not Expect extensions an realy only on what was the initial term

norm

If they made people work for the state--mowing lawns, picking up trash, washing buildings, etc.--as a condition of unemployment pay, most of the unemployed would be employed within a few weeks.

What about the people that are already employed doing that work?

About two years I got unexpectedly laid off. Unemployment was a God-send because I had made a career move to take the new position and got screwed. However, I gave myself 4 months (120 days) to find a another career position. Once that 4 months was up, I had made a deal with my wife to get a job. Any job. Even if it hurt my career. So I did. I got a job selling cars. I hated it, but it paid the bills. I've still not found a position at the level, pay and status I was at before I was laid off, but at some point, you have to be a man, take your lumps and feed your family.

There are plenty of jobs and opportunities, but most of them aren't great jobs. That being said, they are JOBS. You really think my grandfather wanted to do half the things he did during the depression to support his family?

This is just the start of the 2014 election season and this is the first (of many) Democrat "distractions" to shift the attention from the Democrats and Obamacare to the Republicans.

Unemployment benefits need to be changed in to an interest free loan. You get three years of benefits and then you don't get any more until the loan is paid back. If you never pay it back they take it out of your SS.

I say extend them. The jobs out there(at least my area) arent enough to keep pace with the unemployed. Especially at this time when the retail market is ridding themselves of seasonal workers. We lost over half of our workers this past year(more going in the spring) and the number one complaint from those workers at the recent job fair? Getting turned down for lower wage positions because they are "over qualified". A bunch of these employees are losing their homes, though a union rep was on hand to help enroll some in union sponsored mortgage programs to see some through. A couple filed for bankruptcy. I really feel for these people. Looks like ill be heading the same direction, though I dont have nearly as much to lose.

So one gets penalized for not paying back a loan you already paid for?

Many of you fail to understand the economics of unemployment, what we have are basically good people that are out of work.

For these people to loose their homes and cars makes little sense, the jobs are gone for good, unfair trade packs and restrictive taxes guarantee they won't be back any time soon.

I don't know the answer but helping these people out short term is a way better option then letting them fail.

Explain why giving people money for 3 years and basically encouraging them not to work is a good idea? The long term unemployed, become very difficult to employ again. It is a dependency trap that needs to end after initial 90 days.

Make recipients pay back funds received.

Allow 6 months free and clear, any extension beyond that should be payed back when the person is gainfully employed.

.5 - 5% or so withheld from future paychecks, depending on the amount borrowed, would go a long way to motivate some to find work and at the least ensure some form of taxes were payed.

In my state you can receive nearly $600 dollars a week for a year and a half! Over 40k just handed over! Lots of people claim UE while working full time under the table.

I have a friend/neighbor and neighbor who milked it for I believe two years. He was an HR manager for a number of years and knew the system.
For two years he went on line weekly and applied for jobs that he really would not have taken anyway and was sure that he would not get.
Finally the gravey train ran out on him, so his wife found a job.
This story is quite a bit more complicated, but the bottom line is he milked the system for a long time and had plenty of time to hunt and fish, on our dime.
Oh, and he got rid of an old Ford explorer and got a nice new car for his daughter under the "cash for Clunkers" program.

And thats called fraud! If you know someone, turn them in!

I used to think stories like that were the exception. Not anymore.

There is a good point right here.... the Federal Government is allowing Corporations to send jobs overseas like mad...

I am in total support for the Federal Government of taxing these corporations for each American job sent overseas, to the tune of exactly what the worker would have been making stateside... then they can pay the worker they put on unemployment via that...

Where Hillbilly Bear talked about Tyson importing people from Burma or Thailand to work in their factories.... the Federal Government needs to outlaw that practice period...

Hell, last summer in Nebraska, I stopped at a small town rural Walmart off of I 80, and the store was full of Mexicans and Somalians... in the middle of Nebraska...

asked a local woman WTH was with all of that, and she said there was an Iowa Beef Packing plant in town... they dropped the wages so that they got few if any Americans working there.... so they import Mexicans and Somalis to work for low wages... this ought to be outlawed by our federal government also....

but bottom line, our politicians are driving the country this way...and the bottom line motivation is to create environments where they can get re elected over and over...

the problem and solution lies in Washington....and remember folks, our Federal Government is actually lead by 546 people who make up the 3 branches of government...

2 in the Executive Branch...
100 Senators in the Legislative Branch
435 Congressmen in the Legislative Branch
9 Supreme Court Justices....in the Judicial Branch..

What they create by policy and laws is what is ruining this nation....

as a nation of 300 million, what are we doing about it besides just complaining???

And I have a LNIB Ruger pistol for sale. cheap!

I know In Pa when you fill out paper work for UI. They do specifically tell you how long you will be able to recieve benefits. If you cant find a job in 6 months thats your fault

Most people that live off of the government tit won't understand . And that's a larger % of our population every day.

I really do sympathize with those that are in careers or areas with high unemployment. It sucks. It's bad luck. It's awful. It's terrible. There's no jobs. Yes, I get it. We all get it.

So what?

No one owes you a job. You don't have the right to a job. You most certainly have no right to a nice job at a nice pay level exactly where you want it.

Move. Get a truck driving job. Start a home business. Start a regular business. Telemarket. Buy and sell. Work in the oil fields.

It's up to you

The government ("we the People") doesn't owe you anything....

If "you the people" didn't tax the snot out of me I might agree with you.

Actually, they(we) do. I pay into the fund weekly. It better be there when someone needs it.

And as being self employed I can never collect it, but that doesn't mean its a bad program.

Its an investment, an investment in people, mostly good people that with some luck will pay dividends.

Someone I know has been ranting about this for years, his solution;

Anyone who receives their income from the Government should NOT be allowed to vote.

Think about it, government workers voting is a conflict of interest.
It�s like people in the private sector picking their own bosses, are they going to pick the best person for the job, or pick the person who promises the biggest raise and most days off ?

The federal gov just tried to rollout healthcare for everyone. As a result, many companies are laying off employees to get under 50, or doing many more part time workers. Or canceling health plans altogether. The MASSIVE amounts of regulations that have rolled down in the last 5 years have caused many companies to go overseas. The solution is less government involvement, not more.

And agree with you though on how more cheap labor drives down labor rates. I am sure all the unions are lined up against any amnesty program. Oh wait....

Totally agree with you.

The solution is not more of the same. The answer is to nurture business, capitalism and entrepreneurial spirit to grow the economy. There are 91,000,000 Americans out of work. How about we adapt a strategy of "a rising tide lifts all boats".
Who said that? Certainly no progressive republican!

I feel that Federal un-employment extensions should work like this;

To start, you get what ever your state provides, then once that runs out the first federal extension should be

100% for six months

The second federal extension should be

80% for six months

Then 60%, then 40% then 20% until straight up welfare is more lucrative.

You can dilly dally around with those numbers just about any way you want, as long as each extension is noticeably less than the one before it, slowly weaning people off the gravy train.

For the six months of the contract, of course. After that, it's just hogs at the welfare through.

I know in my state the employer pays for UE.

A few years ago I lost my machinist job due to unfair trade practices
with China. The government paid for me to go back to school so I picked
Public Works Maintenance.
I applied for a city job where 400 of us were applying for one job.
I finally got a six month job working for $13.00 per hr. working ing for the county. The next summer I worked for three months for a small city making $11.00 per hr.I decided to try machine shops again.

Dude - got fascism? The government should tell businesses where they have to offer jobs? Maybe you should apply for a position with the Oblather administration. The government has a responsibility to create an economic climate that fosters growth, not one that encourages moving the jobs overseas. Obamacare, with it's mandatory health insurance mandates is the greatest exporter of American jobs and it's just going to get worse.

The reason that those Nebraska meatpacking towns are full of Somalis and Mexicans is because they work hard and they don't mind getting stinky at work. Americans used to be willing to work hard.

Here in PA both contribute.

Employer Taxes

A 5.1 percent (.051) surcharge on employer contributions, reduced from 5.8 percent in 2012. The surcharge adjustment is computed by multiplying your basic rate by the 5.1 percent surcharge. The surcharge adjustment does not apply to reimbursable employers.

A 0.65 percent (.0065) additional employer contribution, unchanged from 2012. The additional contribution is added to your tax rate as adjusted by the surcharge. The additional contribution is not applicable to non-delinquent newly liable and reimbursable employers.

A 1.1 percent (.011) interest factor, increased from 0.2 percent in 2012. Due to the passage of Act 60 of 2012, the interest factor will be used to fund the payment of bond obligations beginning in 2013. It may also be used to fund payment of interest on federal loans, although Pennsylvania does not currently have a federal loan balance. The interest factor is not applicable to non-delinquent newly liable employers and reimbursable employers. Also, it is not credited to the employer's reserve account nor considered for federal certifications.

Employee Contributions

A 0.07 percent (.0007) tax on employee wages, or 70 cents on each $1,000 paid, reduced from 0.08 percent in 2012. Employee withholding contributions are submitted with each UC-2/2A quarterly report. Employee withholding applies to the total wages paid in 2013. It is not limited to the $8,500 taxable wage base for employer contributions.

Do you wanna suck up an extension or foreclosed homes, unpaid taxes, cars, etc etc etc? We've been through this before. Eventually the economy turns around. We can hold our own or watch things get worse.

Looks like business owners are getting screwed.

They were on notice the day they lost their jobs! They don't need further notice, IMO. What do we do, let them malinger until we notify them to get out and really LOOK?

Many of these people have no idea how to find a job, many are long or life time employees who's jobs have been eliminated or out sourced over seas, they don't need kicked in the face they need a hand, some more than others.

I know of no one that asked to be in their situation, and if you are not then be happy things have worked out well for you.

Had a lousy employe we fired. Little over a year goes by and this person shows back up. Turns out this person wanted to be in the fashion industry, and had arranged to be fired in order to move to a fashion center in another state to start a job search while receiving Arizona unemployment benefits. Never found a job, which is not a surprise given the work ethic displayed.

Everyone pays into ue insurance, but so do the employers. I'm uncertain if we have had to pay increases as a result of the continuances, but would not object if they would simply shut down the fraud. It hurts to hear about about people getting years of unemployment fraudulently. The scams involving disability insurance coming to light is particularly disheartening.

No one is forcing them to take this loan if paying back what you borrow is a penalty I guess we know where your political affiliation is. People would be looking a little harder for a job. Now a lot of them just sit around on their ass and get what they think they have coming to them.



It isn't going to turn around as long as obarry and his ilk are in charge.

Many of the people responding to this thread do not recognize the difference between a helping hand for those who have lost their job, while they find a new one, and long term financial support for those who cannot find a job or will not take a job, and the latter is called WELFARE. Period.
The money paid out to people who are legitimately, temporary unemployed is THEIR money, part of THEIR payroll deduction and THEIR former employers taxes. Once they go on a federal extension, it�s our money, yours, mine everybody�s.
At that point, it transitions from unemployment to welfare.
They still call it unemployment to make people feel better, but maybe the stigma of �welfare� will motivate some people to find another way to support themselves.
Don�t get me wrong, I sympathize with the long term unemployed, and people on welfare who really WANT a job, but the fact is, there are millions (not thousands but millions) on long term unemployment, federal extensions and welfare because they don�t want to work, they like living on the dole.
My opinion is welfare and long term unemployment should be a minimal existence. No smart phones, no trips to Disneyland. Food, shelter and not much more. I believe a slow transition would be compassionate, but if your going to live off of my tax dollars, I don�t think it�s right that you should live better than me.

I think this idea needs some examination.
Not first claim unemployment, but starting with the second federal extension, and all welfare in it's many forms.
Don't cut it off at three years, just slowly reduce it to bare existence living.
This could provide a great incentive for those needing help and a great relief to the federal burden of paying out my/our tax dollars to those who need help no matter what the reason.

Gee that has a little socialist Kaliforniacopia union ring to it.

Some thing some of you don't quite have a handle on is the fact the jobs these people need do not exist any longer.

Some of say , move, to where? with what? Just how do you sell your home when the economy in that area is dead? Who wants it?

Who takes care of your elderly parents? The state? The church? Or maybe their elderly neighbors?

Some of you would rather bitch and whine about others than to be thankful for what you have.

Some people are actually not capable of supporting themselves. I don�t want to see them starve to death, I just want them to eat mac & cheese without the cheese. Call me a commie.

Why is selling your house, or taking care of your parents any of OUR problem?

Here's are reality check. LIFE IS NOT FAIR.

There are loads of truck driving jobs available paying pretty damn god money. Most of us don't get to do what we want to do - some folks are just hungrier than others. Most of the unemployed will now suddenly find some type of work.

"Some thing some of you don't quite have a handle on is the fact the jobs these people need do not exist any longer." sez jimy.


Well, so effing what? I lost a job that went away forever. I went and took another job(1/3 less pay, but better benefits).

Schitt happens to us all. I took unemployment for six months, could have gotten extensions, too, but did NOT do so. I couldn't stand sitting on my posterior at home. I went out and took something, anydamnthing, to get back to work.
I'm working crappy, long, nighttime hours, when I'm a morning guy. SO WHAT! At least I'm being a productive member of society now, as opposed to being a leech. I was making a good deal MORE MONEY on unemployment than I am now, but at least I have some dignity and pride in what I do, and myself. Self-respect is worth more to me than some extra money in my pocket, too.

TOO damned many of these folks have no self-respect left. I don't give a damn about self-esteem, I'm talking about respecting oneself as a productive member of humanity. A lot of these folks are just leeches, period.

You're dam right about that! I could be unemployed tomorrow and behind the wheel the next. I know it's not an easy life but it's a dam sight better that sitting on my ass hoping checks keep falling from the sky! Once you have a CDL you will not be without a job unless you want to be.

Then they need to find new jobs.


Someplace with jobs and a lower cost of living.

At a loss !
Tell me, if you sold your house at a huge profit, did you plan on sharing that profit with me ?.....I didn't think so

Social Security, 401Ks, savings.

If need be, but only as a last resort.

The ads I see for truck driving
all say two years experience minimum.
How do you get the first job?

The bigger companies have their own trainers and you work for them for a time to pay off your schooling then go wherever you want. Smaller companies will often give you a tuition reimbursement or pay for your training in advance.

I started at a company that trained me then I could go anywhere after the first year working for them..

North Dakota is grossly under-employed. We need workers, and have needed them for years now.

The work is hard, the pay is good, the living is cold but fine. No experience required.

Why you just head on down to "Microsoft", into the office, up to the front desk and tell em;
"I'm here to apply for the job of C.E.O. !
Say it with confidence, you should be making millions in no time.

Anaconda, California is damn lucky to have such clear, concise and open minded thinkers like you.

Governor Brown is in good company.

no one is saying there should not be any safety net, or short term unemployment benefits. Heck most workers pay in advance for that with their State taxes.
The beef is that the benefits now, never end. It's a political football at this point.

Sorry jimy, for the sarcasm, but do you want to know how to get a truck driving job that takes two years experience ?

Go get two years experience.

Go take a minimum wage, entry level truck driving job, or head up to the Dakotas and drive in the cold and snow for two years.

THEN, go back and apply for the job that takes experience.

In short, do whatever you have to do. If that means finding a way to live on minimum wage for a couple of years, then DO IT.

Nobody said it was easy.
Easy was the first two years of unemployment, when you had full benefits. That was easy, but if the whole unemployed experience does not get tougher over time. If it isn't uncomfortable, then why go back to work at all ?
There are lots of people who have made the decision, the "lifestyle choice" to not work, sit back and live off of taxpayer dollars.
I know some of them, and frankly, they live pretty good. At least in California, nobody goes hungry, nobody gets cold, far from it. Not unless you spend your welfare money on booze and drugs.
People on welfare have cable TV and Smart Phones. People on welfare have high speed internet and go to see movies at the movie theater.
I'm tired of paying for it.

Like I said above, if your on "unemployment" for over two years, your not on unemployment, your on welfare.
And if your on welfare, living off my tax dollars, you better be spending your days trying to find something productive to do, not sitting on your azz watching Opra on the big screen.

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.

But I like Oprah, and I like my big screen, and I deserve both of them.
Why would I want to work for minimum wage, or be cold ?

I'd really like to be selling weed but big government and over regulation make it almost impossible on a small scale, Mexican imports grown with out DEP regulators or labor relations demanding FICA payments make it tough.
Maybe I will look into trucking.

Shoot MoFo, no mo welfare checks???

Wife and I were talking about the "Obama" economy today, we are seeing more and more clean cut, educated, neatly dressed middle aged white men at the highway off ramps with cardboard signs looking for help. In the old days (Bush and before) the only folks looking for handouts in our town at the street corners were unshaven folks that looked like they spend the past 20 years living in the woods drinking.

Yep! This is the right thought!

See, i always thought it should be a dollar amount. Say 6 months at 100%, or whatever the initial rate is. Calculate that dollar amount and that is how much you can collect. If you go to work at Burger King at minimum wage and only need to take $300 a week, then you benefits last longer. Give the person an incentive to take a lower paying job right away while looking for a better job. We cant just keep paying people to now work. 6 months is a pretty good deal.

That works for 6 months. After that, you should not expect someone to pay your way. A career change or a move might be in your future. The government could open the economy like crazy if they would process some permits on drilling and mining. Energy is a booming industry that can drive this country, but the government is fighting it every step of the way.

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.

When I was "downsized" in the fall of 2008, I did what was needed. I moved 500 miles away and had to essentially commute for 6 months until my family could join me. While at that job I kept looking for a better one. After 18 months I found a job back in our old area, better than the one I lost. It takes some perseverance and maybe even a bit of hardship but I never collected a dime of unemployment money. It most certainly can be done.

A return question would be... why do I have to pay for that person and the choices he made. It is unfortunate that some jobs have disappeared, but there is work and business in this country. A person needs to do what is necessary to make a living.

But that's so cold and hard shouldn't you be carrying them for 12 or 15 years or forever if they whine well enough?

I spent 9 months looking for a job that paid more than $8 an hour. I didn't find one so I took a Walmart job. I didn't like it but since I was getting retirement pay I could not get Unemployment money. I spent 25 months at Walmart before I got a job I could make real money at. I made just enough at Walmart to pay for health care but it was worth it. Working at Walmart sucks and you will have to lower your standards but it was the right decision to take the job.

I don't have any sympathy for those folks who's unemployment runs out because Walmart is hiring. Sometimes you have to do what is necessary to survive. kwg

Here's one big "atta boy" for the Duckster, well done!

There are plenty of "shovel ready" jobs available. Trouble is, there IS a shovel involved.

These parasites do not desire to work and would sit on their lazy ass and starve to damn death before they would put in an honest day's work..

The country is on it's way down.

G

So it is you paying them? Are you saying men that worked their whole life paid nothing into this fund that they are now using ?

If you do feel this burden is being unfairly placed upon you maybe you should take a look at how much we really piss away.




Now doesn't that bite you right on the sak?

I talk to contractors weekly who are having a hard time getting guys who can work inside the plants, general laborers, people in the trades, equipment operators etc.. that start off at $15/hour and go up very quickly to $25-$40 per hour because they can't find people who can pass a drug test, a background check to get a TWIC card, and now plants are doing credit checks as well.

They also make them take training test, shave clean daily etc...Lots of folks can't pass the test or keep their beard off or show up to work wihtout missing a day every two weeks.

Seems like when I entered the work force for the first time unemployment was 6 weeks and then they extended it to 12 weeks after a big deal about it.

I'm 42 and have never been eligible for unemployment. When I don't get paid I just don't get paid.

Years ago a friend of mine got out of the Navy and went on unemployment and came by and asked me to sign his deal saying that he was looking for work (pre internet days). I told him to get the [bleep] out of my office. SOB then went to my dad and asked him the same thing. Pretty much the last I talked to him but I hear about him every so often.

I don't know if they still do it but guys in the heavy construction industry around here used to really abuse the crap out of the system when things were really going good. They would always try and get laid off right before hunting season and draw unemployment thru hunting season and go right back to work after.

way to twist the man's statement. There is a huge difference between stating that there should be a finite limit to the length of benefits one can collect for unemployment and your projected assertion

This was posted on a local marketplace recently. Is it me?


Does anyone here know of anyone that is hiring? My husband has been out of work since May and with the end of the federal unemployment coming on the 28th its getting pretty desperate. I have an interview at City Market tomorrow but our landlord has decided that he can't work with us anymore. If anyone has any ideas they would be very welcome.

Just another slacker looking for a hand out, right?

you are speaking of yourself?

I'm your huckleberry,

I find it odd that a week before your benefits run out you are desperately searching for, not one, but two jobs. No particular skill set mentioned, so not a high bar. There are jobs available locally and I am sure they had a nice relaxing summer.

Some of you truly astound me, for you to believe that so many of your friends and neighbors would risk loosing their homes, vehicles and self esteem to collect unemployment checks, instead of trying to find a job.

You do understand these people were once gainfully employed, are long term tax payers that are being taxed on the benefits they are receiving.

The money they receive is being spent locally to improve the economy where they live, paying for utilities, grocery's and every day family needs, its not being pissed away in foreign lands on people that would kill you if givin the chance.

These "benefits" are finite and must end.

Folks my never work in the same jobs or in the same place... but they can work.

I am 59yrs old...

When it comes for me i will never get the same job I have back

I will learn to do something else.

Snake

They can work, and want to work, yet not every man out there was equally blessed as many of you critics were with double digit IO's.
Many need trained, many are aging and many more are just not physically capable of doing some of these manual labor jobs.

And to slap over the rode truckers in the face by saying any one can drive a truck is just irresponsible.
piloting 85 thousand pounds of steel down the road at 70 plus MPH is not child's play, it takes a prompt, skilled, and disciplined individual to safely deliverer products across America.

I got layed off, I had 6 months of unemployment. 2 months later I had found a job. Not doing what I was doing and at only half the pay but it was better pay than unemployment. Still have that job and looking for something with more pay. I am 58 years old.

Duckster and mtnsnake are both examples of the system working, and working well, congrats to both.

We only hear of the long term users that haven't yet found meaningful employment.

i didn't reply to this yesterday, cause you're obviously a troll, or an idjit. but i'm watching a process run, so i thought, "why not".

ok, so here you go troll boy. let's keep extending unemployment bennies. you tell us how long we're going to pay them?

since 3 years isn't long enough, what is? 5? 10?

how about we just pay people not to work infinitely?

it's not about blessings, IQ's, manual labor, or slapping OTR truck drivers. it's not even about UE abuse or fraud, or republicans or democrats. it's about a finite resource that you people think you can just wish into being infinite.

no matter how much you want to keep giving stuff away, the music is eventually going to stop. and somebody is going to be without a chair.

Who's going to pay for the funerals? The taxpayer I suppose?

jimy,

One question: exactly how long should "unemployment" continue for? Are you arguing that it should go forever? If not, please give us a length of time.

Troll boy, that coming from some one with the grammatical equalivent of an inner city third grader. Touching.

You are giving nothing away, these Americans earned a hand,
our government pizzes away billions of dollars every day,
this is an investment in the very people that make this country great, the American worker.

Oh yea GFY.

I don't know, maybe till the economic climate improves, jobs are more readily available, no one has an answer but I will tell you this.

There is more shame in kicking a good man while he is down than reaching out and helping him to his feet.We are not talking about life time welfare recipients here, we are talking good people in a bad spot, they have paid taxes and with a hand will again pay taxes, that's a good thing.

I've got to go split some wood, I'll be back after dark for our next lesson.


Troll Boy,

Start handing these folks a cup to piss in before another check is cut and the numbers will fall on their own. Do the same with state welfare benefits.

Jimy, you are accusing us of jumping to conclusions of the nature of all of the unemployment recipients, yet you jump to conclusions as to how we define the mass of these recipients. A bit of irony there. The reality of the situation is, some people can do math. If that math tells them that unemployment causes less pain than employment, they will many times choose unemployment.

My observation of the ad that I posted is there is no planning and foresight in that couple, as if the end of benefits were a surprise to them (of course I will not mention that May-Dec layoff does not even qualify them for benefit extension, so I don't believe them). In my world view they would not starve but only if they chose to, but the threat of an empty belly is a great motivator in a responsible individual.

"We only hear of the long term users that haven't yet found meaningful employment."

What is 'meaningful employment' and does it even exist for 6 billion people?

My buddy's daughter says she can't find a "fun job".

This is just a troll fest

These benefits are not ment to be a welfare program

The will end at some point.


Snake

The problem is, we've turned unemployment into a new entitlement, a new kind of welfare. Frankly, we would be better off to have it end after 90 days and have people kicked out of their homes and living on the streets so it would created political pressure for a real economic recovery/ Not the bullshit statism we are getting that does not entail job creation or growth.

Jordan

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"?

I've had good jobs and I've had bad jobs, but I've never has a fun job. Hard work, even in something that you enjoy (e.g., R&D, business development, etc.) is satisfying, but not fun.

I guess your buddy's daughter want a party every day.

the reason "both party's" did not extend the benefits is cause..... "they want to see if """them on it"""" head out a discover a job" the job of the demoncates is the whine and the repub's job is to catch some crap about it .....ARE/U AND ME -are jobs as "peasants" is vote for one party or the other ....while being screwed by both...no matter which way it goes.

One thing, some of the same folks complaining about loss of "good jobs" due to outsourcing were/are many of the same people quick to buy a product made overseas because they want it cheap. Bite the hand that feeds you.

Perhaps the democrats have stumbled onto the very real possiblilty that not extending the benefits will decrease unemployment. Going into the election I sure they would like to see that.

Post a picture of her, and I will try and find her something fun to do.

Sorry, then we simply disagree. Open-ended unemployment benefits are something I don't want to see started. I'm only in my 40's, but I sure don't recall seeing many (any) entitlement programs cut, let alone abolished.

You'll be paying that expense either way.

Yep put them on welfare and make it less.

I really do feel many of you just don't understand the economics and the benefits of this program.

The total cost is not or can not be figured on a zero sum basis, this money benefits many as it spent and re spent in your community, as an example the local grocer, the gas station and any other of the hundreds of places we all spend money.

Some one mentioned letting them loose their home, brilliant idea, then the rest of you make up the property tax revenue and the crack heads have a place to crash, inturn costing the rest of you more cash in the form of added police protection and medical costs.

These are good people that can with some help once again contribute to the betterment of the community or can become a life time burden on all involved.

What part of the constitution says that folks get housing, cars, food, and phones from the other taxpayers? 90 days of unemployment max. Have an emergency cash fund and stop whining. You are starting to sound like Nancy Pelosi, another great economist.

Not a life time burden on me, be productive or starve. Not my problem. Get serious about getting the .gov out of private business and get the job engine going again if you are serious about helping people.

By the way, all the folks who had full time jobs and were squeaking by and who have now had their hours cut to 29 due to soetorocare, how do you feel about them? Think they got screwed by the democrat socialist party or was that those greedy capitalists?

Stop taxing me after 90 days max.

Great Idea huh?

I have been self employed for the last 27 years, I've payed a chit pile of unemployment taxes that I can not collect a cent of.

That's just not how America works, we help those whom need a hand.

I too am self employed. I too will never collect a cent. I have my emergency cash fund and am debt free.

Allow people to opt in or out of unemployment insurance. Cap the payouts at 90 days. It reminds me of social security abuse that is now rampant. Can't believe you can't see the widespread fraud and the negative impacts it is having on this country.

So what do you you do when unemployment benefits received surpass moneys paid in to the unemployment compensation funds? Raise the percentage paid in by the the ones who are working to cover their extended stay?

Propping up bubbles is why we're at where we're at. Something is going to give eventually, and when we keep putting it off, it makes the inevitable more painful.

I've had some friends laid-off long-term. A few had to move, but all got jobs within 2 years.

I am a realist, our government no matter whos in charge is going to spend huge unsustainable amounts of money.
As long as they are going to continue spending wildly, the only retort we have is spend the money here at home on good people that benefits our locality.
We have a need and we have the resources so in my book I say bring it home, I have no need for any more cruse missiles.

slam fire

"Have the resources" ??? Last I knew we had over $17 trillion in debt, not counting unfunded public pensions. Your definition of the "have the resources" is one I would love to hear.

He means, like all socialists, that .gov can just print more money.

We have a spare Billion we give to Egypt each and every year, are you "non socialist" sniveling about those "resources"?

so extending unemployment is going to be $6b?

how much are we giving in foreign aid to the middle east?

Who would want to live on unemployment wages anyway?

Just to put some of this in perspective,

We the USA spend 50 billion every year on foreign aid, that's cash, not all the military and humanitarian aid.

yet you snivel whine and name call me because I feel we should help our friends and neighbors first. And we could still bank 20 billion dollars.

CBO looked at four extension options and estimated the cost of each.

--Fully extending both federal programs for a year, which carries a price tag of $30 billion

You can thank me later or, GFY

What you don't "get" is that if you want to help people, you stop enabling them.

Damn right I am. Along with the other TRILLION in deficit spending we are doing.

You just drop them right? That way theyll fend for themselves right? Theyll take that Walmart job when they run out of food, right? Sure, and end up in another trap provided by welfare, housing, and food stamps. Some bright ideas in here, none of which gets them back to work making living wages the rest of us dont have to subsidize.

That makes as much sense as saying cops, cause bank robbers or fireman cause arsonist or that peanut butter and jelly causes famine.

I'm on a roll here huh?

Hell forest fires prevent bears so think what they would do for for the unemployed!

Jimy, where would you draw the line?
Would you not agree that there has to be a limit?

There are fun jobs out there - I was once paid to be a squirt bottle operator/judge at a wet tee shirt contest. That's livin large!

I went from managing an engineering department to being a shift worker dealing with instrumentation and controls in a refinery when my job disappeared. I have worked the last 6 Christmas and New Years. Right thru the teen years of my last son at home.
Had to find a job 40 miles away from my last one, but I did it.
26 weeks is a generous period to allow a serious job hunter to scope out the local area. Do that for the 1st 6 weeks or so and then pack your bags and have the remaining 20 as a cushion.

If a person is willing to go that route, then a very very good chance exists that they weren't that valuable in the workforce to begin with.

You act like the people who are against your proposed infinite unemployment benefits are for giving aid to countries like Egypt.

I would guess that most are not. I know I am not.

As for the logical fallacy of the false equivalence that you are trying to use, well, two wrongs don't make a right, which is why it's a logical fallacy......

Of course there has to be a time for it to end, but never has this or any other country seen the kind of job looses we have experienced over the last ten years.
There are fewer jobs now than when Obama took office, we are simply not creating jobs at a rate to absorb the new college gradates and the unemployed , neither of which have the experience that many of todays jobs require.
There is no easy way out of this dilemma, things that worked in the past have failed miserably, I don't have the answers but I do know what a desperate man is capable of, we do not need to create more criminals or destroy more families.

And another $5,500,000,000 ($5.5 billion) to Israel. Pretty soon it adds up to big bucks!

see: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/cost_of_israel.html

I'm not sure if you're joking or an idiot.

Sincerely,
The Great Depression

and 5 billion to solyndra

I'm sorry your commie logic just don't understand work ethic or having to bear the responsibility for things that take place in your life.

Jimy, let this non native speaker give you an English lesson.

When someone tells you to man-up, that's not sniveling, nor whining.

Huge difference between then and now. The majority, of any of us, wont be hired on our word. The whole HR process didnt exist as it does today. Are there jobs out there? Yes, not many but yes. Landing that job, totally different story. 4 out of 6 vendors at a local job fair, hiring upwards up 300 people, turned away every former employee from our company due to over qualification. 300 jobs that were basically worthless.

It might change the way they vote and how they look at life but if they have been on the dole that long, I doubt it. miles

Dutch, no need for lessons here, I quit working (for myself}when I was 50,semi retired, I just see men as more than taxable dividends, I helped my men get jobs before I quit, my men were my friends, neighbors and partners in business.
I lent them money, bought them cars and paid their doctor bills when they couldn't, and when I need to get work out the door they busted azz for me, that's just how it works.
Some will never get it, and they don't deserve to.

The hatred is deep in many of you, but the names are great, you guys are creative. Simple but creative.

I'm not the one who made the ridiculous and untrue assertion. I just pointed out it was ridiculous and untrue.

The truth is that during the 10 years of the great depression we lost some where between 13 - 15 million jobs that was a ten year period.

In a two year period we lost 7.5 million, I won't take the time to look but I'm sure ten year span to ten year span I am right.

Jan. 1980 to July 1980: 968,000 jobs lost
July 1981 to Nov. 1982: 2,824,000 jobs lost
July 1990 to March 1991: 1,249,000 jobs lost
March 2001 to Nov. 2001: 1,599,000 jobs lost
Total jobs lost in the four prior recessions: 6,640,000

"Great Recession" -- Dec. 2007 to June 2009: 7,490,000 jobs lost

So the numbers show that -- about 850,000 more jobs were lost during the great recession than in the previous four recessions combined.

And, what, pray tell, was the population of the US at the time? Oh, and, unlike now, what percentage of women were considered "workers" in the numbers?

Again, it is a ridiculous assertion.

Wrong is spelled soooooo many ways

Bet the bank on liberal idiot you have a winner.

I thought I settled this last night, I come home from WORK, and jimy still arguing anything but the facts.

#1 (A) Nobody, and I mean NOBODY want anyone in America to starve, or have to sleep out in the cold.

#1 (B) there are dozens, possibly hundreds of different welfare programs that provide enough to keep people from starving or sleeping out in the cold.

#2 If you keep giving people a living wage for doing NOTHING, many millions of people will take it, sit on their butts and do NOTHING, content to live the easy life.

Unemployment can't just go on forever. It needs to end somewhere, and those who STILL can't/won't find a job need to transition to welfare.
I have suggested a "more than fair" time frame of two years, then a slow transition to public assistance.

You can suck your chest back in, this is just an internet forum. Besides, when we want to fix the worlds problems I doubt the answer is going to come from CA.

I never argue, I explained that helping working people regain their place in the work force is not only feasible, practical and cost efficient, I posted facts and answered questions.
I have no dog in this fight I was pointing out the other sides point of view.

I couldn't give a rats ass either way I just get a kick out of how some people think, and damn glad they aren't my neighbors.

For those folks who are collecting un employment you know they are not paying into social security and they probably are not putting money away for retirement.

That money sounds good right now but what are they going to do when they turn 65 and want to draw their social security and their monthly amount is reduced by two years or more of NOT paying in.

It's all fun and games now cheating the government (the tax payers) and sitting on the couch eatin' tato chips but wait until they REALLY need it in their old age and it's not there.

They are only hurting themselves and I won't feel sorry for them. They can set out their final days in a squatters camp down by the tracks for all I care. kwg

Unfortunately, many of us wont see SS and it sure as [bleep] doesnt have anything to do with a couple people on UE

Kwg,
You are assuming social security will be around in the future?
Thats a fools bet!

Actually it was $535 million (11% of $5 billion); it is projected that about $140 million will be recouped in the bankruptcy proceedings for a projected net loss of $395 million.

Regardless of any monetary recovery, it is a significant amount anyway. But to put it in prospective, the government loss on the General Dynamics A-12 program was a $2billion loss when cancelled by (then) VP Dick Cheney.