The Unemployed Held Hostage [NY Times]

Originally posted by kupoliveson
Extend it as long as needed! If people are not hiring they are not going to go out and find jobs! This is just typical

There are always going to be jobs out there the question is are you willing to do them?

2nd line.

[edit on 16-6-2010 by Procession101]

There's an old saying: "Beggars can't be choosers." I realize that this kinder gentler modern America has attempted to squash this concept, but it is a time tested, valid sentiment which should be embraced always. Any individual who is on unemployment and turns their nose up at a potential job regardless of whether they believe the job is "beneath" them or the working conditions aren't sunshine and farts, should immediately lose their unemployment payouts. This used to be ingrained in us as an issue of pride and an issue of responsibility... the welfare state formed during the 70's and 80's followed by the lavishness of the last 20 years has apparently damaged that pride and responsibility and the "no end in sight" unemployment "benefits" extensions are doing nothing to rebuild those qualities we used to respect and adhere to.

No offense intended to the OP, but right now you are being overpaid by the taxpayers to do nothing. Do you see the hypocrisy in complaining about taking your old job back because you would be paid by your boss to actually be doing work, however many hours it may take to complete? This is going to be a huge problem going forward in AMerica. We've got millions who have become accustomed to getting paid to do nothing whatsoever... think many of those folks are going to easily readjust to actually being productive and break the cycle of doing nothing all day (or even adjust from the daily routine of being on your own schedule to being on your employer's schedule?) The longer this drags out, the more difficult it will be to defeat this cycle. It needs to end.

Originally posted by kupoliveson
Extend it as long as needed! If people are not hiring they are not going to go out and find jobs! This is just typical

There are jobs out there for everybody. They just have to look in the right places. Might have to move to where the jobs are for a while, but they are out there.

No offense intended to the OP, but right now you are being overpaid by the taxpayers to do nothing.

You mean I'm not and shouldn't be entitled to benefits from a system that I've paid into my entire working life. Seems like you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

You also clearly didn't read my post or understand the situation with my old job. I would get paid 250$/wk, if i worked 30 hours, and if i worked 40 hours.. and if i worked 50 hours... do you not see the problem with that?

Jobs out there for everyone? Clearly thats why 30 million+ americans are unemployed. More like 36+ million when you count the black hole figures of the people no longer eligible to even claim benefits.


[edit on 17-6-2010 by djzombie]

To all the people riding their high horse that still have a job. Remember what happens when people loose everything. How long will your job last?



They need to keep it going for one simple reason and that is the very health of this country. And they also need to create jobs to get the people off of it. It is that simple they can not stop it when things are this bad or it could cause this country to spin out of control.



It is truly is that important. And people need to see this for what it is a band-aid holding the very fabric of this country together.

[edit on 17-6-2010 by Subjective Truth]

reply to post by djzombie


Maybe it is the return of the slavetrade 2.0?

That seems to be the way things are going, the majority made wage slaves taxed to oblivion while the richest 1% sit in the lap of luxury manipulating the money supply and the markets in their favor and if by some chance they make a terrible decision with their ludicrous amount of money, they are deemed "too big to fail" and get bailed out courtesy of the american taxpayer.

We should have let those banks fail, go bankrupt, rather than giving them all the funds they lost back just so they could do the same # again.

[edit on 17-6-2010 by djzombie]

Originally posted by djzombie
You also clearly didn't read my post or understand the situation with my old job. I would get paid 250$/wk, if i worked 30 hours, and if i worked 40 hours.. and if i worked 50 hours... do you not see the problem with that?

The problem I see is that you are getting paid X-number of dollars a week by the taxpayers to work zero hours while turning your nose up at the paying job requiring effort. YES, I see a very large problem with that. Don't feel like I'm singling you out over this, because I see it becoming more and more frequent. It is the product of this entitlement era we seem to be entering.

I do not know your work history, but using the $250 a week figure and generously assuming that you have worked for 20 years at 6.2%, you have "earned" $16,380. I think it is safe to assume that if you have used up all of the federal unemployment insurance and extensions Congress has already passed, you long, long ago surpassed your contribution amount to unemployment and are now living off the dollars other working Americans have paid into the system. Worse the extensions don't just screw the currently working Americans, they screw our kids by adding vast amounts to an already obscene debt which will fall largely on their shoulders to hump up a hill someday.

It's wrong and, in some cases such as those in which the person drawing the UI not only can work but has opportunities they are passing on, it's morally reprehensible and could easily be viewed as theft.



[edit on 17-6-2010 by burdman30ott6]

We'll see if you change your tune when it happens to you.

PS. I have not exhausted all my unemployment benefits - but I am still being held hostage along with anyone else at the end of a tier of unemployment benefits. This legislation must pass for anyone at the end of any tier, even if you're only at the end of your first tier and have only claimed 26 weeks, you're still at the mercy of these crooked bastards.

[edit on 17-6-2010 by djzombie]

...and the money is crucial to supporting consumer demand in a weak economy...

weird way to put this. worry about feeding the economy and not people. oh well. typical gobbledygook.

as to there being jobs out there? hogwash. overqualified, not qualified, too old, too young, whatever the excuse, the jobs are just not there for everyone, whether "beneath" them or not. where does this rhetoric even come from? (funny though, i have noticed that ALL the road work crews here in our state working on the federal dime are primarily hispanic...nary another race to be found out there or getting hired at ALL. i'd love to see an explanation for this one...and their work visas or citizenship papers....i'm sure it's all on the up and up.)

a good chunk, in fact the VAST majority, of people on unemployment would gladly take just about any job, and it is simply insulting not to mention untrue to say they're enjoying their "free money," which for your information is not enough to live on.

move to where the jobs are? where would that be? would YOU leave your home and friends and family and incur more expense than the job will probably pay? when homes won't even sell? right. maybe as a temporary thing, but as a way of life?

i think i need to stay out of topics on this subject that are full of ignorance and judgment...probably mostly by people who actually HAVE jobs or once traveled to another place to work or got lucky at one time.

[edit on 17-6-2010 by ~Lucidity]

I can see both sides of the unemployment issue. On one hand, I'm unemployed and have been unemployed/underemployed for a year and a half now. I have taken the grunt jobs, the low-paying jobs, the temp jobs. And in between (and sometimes during ) I have drawn both unemployment and food stamps. I don't like it, but my present family circumstances prevent me from being gone for long periods of time (truck driver) and I haven't been able to even get an interview in my old field (drafting/design).

So yes, I am on the government dole. It's that or starve. There are no jobs around here for which I am qualified. They either require training which I do not have, or are manual labor jobs that I am, simply put, too old to do now. I'm not exactly 21 and in my prime. And my earned income last year was on the order of $10,500... to raise a family of four with one child in college and another getting ready.

Incidentally, those part-time part-pay grunt jobs have kept my unemployment running for much much longer than it would had I not taken them. I am not even to my first extension yet, and at present time there are four extensions available. And I have cut back my standard of living so I can survive on what is available, even if barely.

On the other hand, I do not expect the taxpayers to rescue me indefinitely. After all, I was one for most of my life. I just applied for a program which will let me re-train for a better field. As a matter fact, I applied to the college today, pending approval from the State. It will take two years, but after that I will (hopefully) be able to get a job (just in time for the end of the world, actually... hmmm...).

So I agree that unemployment/welfare/food stamps are necessary tools to keep people from going hungry, especially in these tough times. But I also agree that anyone who is sitting at home, enjoying a paid retirement at the taxpayers expense with no plans to get back on their feet should be dropped from the role like a hot potato. That is laziness, and should never be rewarded.

TheRedneck