US senator single-handedly freezes unemployment payment

US senator single-handedly freezes unemployment payment

news.bbc.co.uk

Some 2,000 construction workers building road projects across the US have been sent home after a senator blocked a bill to extend payments.

Republican Jim Bunning single-handedly blocked the legislation, saying it would add to the deficit.

He used procedural tactics to delay the bill and a new vote will now have to be taken, possibly next week.

Doctors and the unemployed may also be affected by failure of a bill to extend payments for government projects.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Jus t how does one man stop unemployment payments to so many people?
How do you get that kind of power?

Funding for doctors working on programmes for the poor, unemployment benefit for a million people and payment for cable television in the countryside will also be affected.

A MILLION people!!!

That's an awful lot of hungry mouths... possibly soon to become homeless too...

I am stunned that this has been allowed to happen. I am currently working full time yet struggling. Most of my wage goes on just my rent. My heart and mind reaches out to those who are about to suffer immensely.

One month of non payment seems to be on the ropes right now and to change this action is going to take time, they say..

How long? A month? Two months? Three?

Or will this have a knock on effect and even more payments will be stopped? Are we going to see riots or protests or something more severe?

An army marches on its stomach as Napolean once commented.
A million people planning a protest march wont be going if they are hungry.

What with the trouble in Greece and the drop in value in the British pound yesterday, are we going to see this spread across Europe now? Is this 'idea to save the economy' going to mothball into something much larger and more sinister?

Is this the start of 'refuge camps' that are under government control?

You know where I'm going with this...

Good luck to all those who are affected by this. I hope you can find some food for you and yours.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Extralien


Where is the President?

Surely this is illegal?

reply to post by kawacat


The President is obviously too busy to fight this as he is involved in getting his health issue pushed through..

Seems like they all fight for their own issues, which get approved, and discussed about by the public the next day..

"Stand up or shut up" sounds appropriate here... Stand up and stop these swine or shut up and let them carry on destroying everything really..

I'm not in the USA, but I feel this method of keeping the economy afloat is coming to a cinema near me soon... So I will be standing up and saying certain words very loudly if it comes to my shores.. Even though I am working..

reply to post by Extralien


OK - so, the President is too busy to stop a million people having no money, no food and no hope.

EXCUSE ME????

So - when he has his bill through, will they get some food and money?

Ohhhhhhhhh.

in germany the foreign minister recently said that all healthy unemployed people should be made to work for their benefits...saying if the state 'gives' them something they should fairly be expected to give something back!!!

totally forgetting that the state doesnt give anyone anything....the tax payers pay unemployment insurance every month for the eventuality that they may be need unemployment money one day...i pay my insurances...everyone has to....then i may have to work to get what ive already paid for should i become unemployed!!!!..

this is sadly what people like alex jones have been saying for years...basically making you pay taxes..then getting less and less back...its theft..they want to put tolls on motorways now too...making people pay to use the roads they have already paid for!!!..more and more things are being taken off the list of things the medical insurance will pay for....again..meaning the people have to pay for more themselves..even though people pay..in some cases..over 1000 euros a month health insurance..

its robbery...

[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

reply to post by alienesque


And what about all the fat creeps (I won't say cats - I love cats) in government getting untold money to do not much at all.

They are living off the state, actually - and they should be tested on performance or lack of it and booted out if they are not delivering.

Originally posted by kawacat
reply to post by alienesque

 

And what about all the fat creeps (I won't say cats - I love cats) in government getting untold money to do not much at all.

They are living off the state, actually - and they should be tested on performance or lack of it and booted out if they are not delivering.

i heard yesterday that all the EU politicians pay only 17% tax..they created a special rule for themselves.....and...everyone in germany who is a government employee gets a FREE pension..they dont pay a penny..ever..into the pension pot.....and get a large pension when they retire!!!..they also cannot get sacked (unless they do something REALLY bad like kill someone)....they cannot lose their job...its 100% safe...with a free pension...cool...

[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

Originally posted by alienesque
they want to put tolls on motorways now too...making people pay to use the roads they have already paid for[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

Do you honestly believe that once a motorway has been built and paid for, it stays in the same perfect condition? They are expensive to maintain ... I'll rather pay to use a perfectly maintained road than ruin my car or worse driving over potholled roads.

This politician should know his own people. Having lived in Kentucky myself. There are plenty of guys with guns that are 3-4 beers short of a 6 pack. Either he is crazy or he just has some of the biggest brass ones around. Either way a militia is probably forming now. LMAO!

Originally posted by deltaalphanovember

Originally posted by alienesque
they want to put tolls on motorways now too...making people pay to use the roads they have already paid for[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

Do you honestly believe that once a motorway has been built and paid for, it stays in the same perfect condition? They are expensive to maintain ... I'll rather pay to use a perfectly maintained road than ruin my car or worse driving over potholled roads.

erm....do you think im stupid?..you do know that when they introduce the toll that we will still be paying road tax..and lots of other taxes that are supposedly for the roads?..these wont stop..its just more taxes...more and more tax money gets wasted or lost so they need to introduce more...this is no accident...one day we will be paying 100% of our wages to the government...mark my words..

its come out in the german media that a large portion of the road taxes dont go on the roads....its come out that only about 15% of ALL taxes can be tracked...that the people in the government only know where about 15% ever goes..the other 85%....gone..somewhere.....they dont know where it goes...

reply to post by alienesque


In reply to your example from Germany, France works in a slightly similar manner but this is from the business tax and health care payments viewpoint.

From what I was told several years ago by an English friend who has his own business in France, he has to pay 300 Euros a month towards health care before he pays out anything else or collects any profits from his business...

This 300 Euros is mandatory.. no exceptions.. from what he was telling me.

Also the accountant who sorts out your book keeping is an employee of the government and not a random accountant that you can just phone up and ask to balance your books like you can here in the UK.

I just dont understand how a bill like the one just passed can be implemented to stop unemployment payments.
If you have been paying your taxes and such, and through no fault of your own, you are legaly entitled to unemployment benefits (from a UK perspective... not sure exactly how it works in USA).

Changing the law to suit themselves seems to be a game that these so called politicians seem to favour...

reply to post by Extralien


hi...i pay a lot more than that a month JUST for health insurance...then if i need a doctor ive go to pay 10 euros for one visit in every quarter year..and lots of the treatments/medication i have to pay for too...and i know people who pay a lot more each month and still have to pay for certain things themselves...

Originally posted by deltaalphanovember

Originally posted by alienesque
they want to put tolls on motorways now too...making people pay to use the roads they have already paid for[edit on 2-3-2010 by alienesque]

Do you honestly believe that once a motorway has been built and paid for, it stays in the same perfect condition? They are expensive to maintain ... I'll rather pay to use a perfectly maintained road than ruin my car or worse driving over potholled roads.

This is a bit of a side issue from what the main thread is about, but it does revolve around finances and governmental ideas and policies.. especially for those who MUST have a car to do the daily things they have GOT to do, like finding work, paying bills, getting food or fuel. America is a big place and not everyone lives on the doorstep of all that they need.

Regardless of wether the road is perfectly maintained or not, you not only have to pay road tax, but you must also get your car serviced and /or repaired at your own cost. Yet if the road is damaged and it damages your car, you are still expected to repair your car at your own cost.

If every road was 'gun metal' smooth, then many a car would be still on the road and in perfect working order and we wouldn't be paying extra to do the things we need to do.

With potholes estimated to cause as many as 1 in 5 mechanical failures on UK roads and costing motorists an estimated £320 million every year, Potholes.co.uk has been created to help you avoid the cost and misery they cause...

www.potholes.co.uk...

According to this site, UK road maintenance is underfunded by 1 billion pounds every year and many do claim compensation for damage caused to their vehicles.

This just makes us ask, where is the tax money going?

Damage to vehicles across the UK costs an approximate 2.5 billion pounds every year.. for which the public pays out of their own pocket...on top of road tax and other taxes.

taxes from motorist amounted to at least £40 billion last year. £6 billion was spent on the roads. Hence the profit to the exchequer was £34 billion. 37% of vehicle miles are driven on the Motorway and Trunk Road Network. The lane length is in the range 52,000 to 61,000 km. Hence, if net taxes are proportional to vehicle-km, the contribution per lane-km has the range £206,000 to £242,000. (E.g. £34 billion times 0.37 divided by 52,000 = £242,000)

www.transport-watch.co.uk...

So, there you are, stuck out in the middle of nowhere...you got your wife and kids and a car to go get supplies and other daily needs, but you dont have a job.. You need to pay your taxes, keep your car maintained and road legal.. and you need your car to look for work.

But you can't because some fool has stopped your benefit in order to prop up an economy.

Surely it makes more sense to reduce the costs of EVERYTHING in order to get people out and about to get or create work for themselves and /or others.. Surely that would be far better than this current insanity.

You (the government) want to make a saving? Reduce the costs, especially taxes. Let people pick themselves up off the floor that you have knocked them down onto.

Allow some spirit of free enterprise rise a little.. Where is the community? Where is the spirit of humanity?

Obviously it's 'gone with the wind'.... Because someone, somewhere doesn't give a damn!





[edit on 2-3-2010 by Extralien]

The unemployment expense is not just for insurance when out of work.

Some might be inclined to stay on and milk every dime and if the Congress keeps extending the payments, well,
That's a lot of money that could be given to banks in need of bailing out.

Why, if someone was to loan say even a mere thirteen billion to me and expect a ten percent return, well I would have to work that money hard and pay myself handsomely for the hard work and then take a bonus because it is the status quo.

Then, if things go well, I can repay the loan and still have made a profit.
Or...
The money could be lost due to bad investment or buying triple A packages full of small clumps of high risks.

But fortunately, I would be wise to short the sales and collect big time whether the companywith the loan is defunk or not. Win Win.

Now isn't that a bit more sensible than extending unemployment?

If the unemployment stops it will fall apart in short order it is the only thing holding this fragile nation together. Is 10 billion worth the collapse of the entire nation? If we do not see them extend this it is the beginning of the end. And you had better get your backyard in order before it is to late.

reply to post by Extralien


Nicely researched reply.

You asked the question "where does the tax money go?" Without going into related topics like the BailOut and Corruption, I do believe most of the US Tax payer money goes towards the Defence Industry and the so-called "War on Terrorism".
I thlnk 700 billion a year is conservative.

Global Spending

Here is a nice breakdown of the US Budget :

Military: 36%
Human Resource: 30%
Past Military: 18%
General Government: 11%
Physical Resources: 5%

Plus 200 Billion (estimated) for the Iran and Afghanistan conflict.
Link

Add it up for youself. Actually shocked me a bit - if our government spent 66% of the budget on the military there would be a huge outcry in the MSM.

I believe that Senator Bunning is supporting President Obama in this situation.

The President promised 'Paygo', his term for pay as you go.

Senator Bunning is just helping him keep his word.

Given that unemployment is a drip in the bucket to the budget and so many people are hurting I think not extending benefits by a month or two may have a devasting effect on the poverty level in the US. I do not think there should be an unreasonable extension, maybe make it a month to month basis to those eligible.

I do realize that we simply don't have the resources to go after those who abuse their benefits, but I think an effort needs to made to find those who are. I am sure there are many who collect unemployment and supplement that with cash income.

I do feel like an extra month could mean the difference between scraping by, or loosing everything.

I find myself fearing that this is inevitable. If the FED refuses to create new money for the nation, and the government has already spent all they have (I won't debate on what), then there is no money to give to the unemployed, despite the investment millions of Americans make to fund it.

The problem is one of grander scale. I don't appreciate losing nearly 30 years of unemployment insurance investments because the political machinery has companies and 'special' people to keep happy.

But I can say I fully expect them to turn this argument around and make it a 'problem' whose source lies with the unemployed... instead of the jokers who take our money - no matter what its for - and use it as they feel is politically expedient.

By the way - I can't speak for other nations, but in the US, its the STATE that pays for all the infrastructure upkeep NOT the Federal government.