200,000 long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment checks this week

I know times are harder on the coasts..and we have a larger older population, and there is age discrimination..and a lot of decent paying jobs are gone...and we've heard about companies saying that if you are unemployed- you need not apply. So I do have sympathy for the jobless. Hell, I've been laid-off in the past, and I know the frustration of diligently looking for work and not getting any responses. There should be some compassion for those people that are unemployed - it's harder to find work than you think.

That being said - I also think that people need to accept the current job market for what it is. You may not be able to find work at the pay you used to have. You may have to have 2 -3 Part time jobs to bring home the bacon.
Your college degree may not mean $#!t right now. You may have to downsize your life right now.

I agree that within 79 - 99 weeks you probably have turned down work you could have had, but didnt take because you felt it was beneath you, or didnt pay enough, etc.That type of thinking has to end. Get something - anything going to get back in the workforce. That is the best way to network and perhaps start a-new in a field you didnt consider before.

If they truly wanted America to be number 1. All college for Americans would be free.

Why is college free for f'ing immigrants but for American citizens it's about 50k and up.

Originally posted by LightWarrior11
If they truly wanted America to be number 1. All college for Americans would be free.

Why is college free for f'ing immigrants but for American citizens it's about 50k and up.

Who would pay for this "free-ness"?

Salaries of teachers, support staff.
Books, school equipment.
Food, clothing shelter for students and teachers and support staff.

This idea of free makes me chuckle.

I have a conservative solution that I am sure no one will like or accept. That usually defines a viable idea, anyway.

Many point out that it's a real problem to toss 200,000 off the benefits like this, when the economy is in the dumps and they will likely remain as unemployed then as they were before.

On the other hand, the nation can't convert a SHORT term Unemployment insurance program into a long term welfare dole. This program isn't coming from some nameless general fund out there. We pay this and it's a part of withholding, if I'm not mistaken. Employers absolutely do pay their contribution by law.

So what to do..... Can't keep 'em and survive. Can't dump them without adding hunger to desperation and really inviting Mr. Murphy to pull up a chair.

How about we split the difference?? I look around and see growing neglect and run down conditions everywhere. Litter, Potholes, Public Parks, Plazas and the like. I see work to be done everywhere I look and no budgets left to hire anyone to do it. Yet... hey now.. We ARE paying a very large workforce right now, who aren't working while cashing the checks. Keep the benefits, add the work FOR the same rate of the benefits and they'll either thrive while giving us something for the money they get or they'll drop from the program by choice.

Either outcome represents a solution and the one getting the benefits has the ability to choose their own ending, just like the kids books.

I don't even believe in forced labor to begin with, and consider everyone speaking of their 3 jobs and their second homes to be bought off slaves while billions will never see anything like that.

We are all co-owners of this earht and have a right to our land and our homes and gardens and anything else we volunteer at.

Anything else is slavery, that is a huge violation of basic common laws, not to harm.

I renounce and denounce most of the comments I read on the first page and any mindset of the people to force slavery.

Awesome news for team Obama - the unemployment rate will drop again and continue to do so as these people fall off the roles.

I bet they spin it as a positive...



Forward! Watch me shoot rainbows from my hands as I ride this unicorn - are you not entertained?

Go team Obama forward to...well, four more years of promises of rainbows and unicorns.

Originally posted by LightWarrior11
If they truly wanted America to be number 1. All college for Americans would be free.

Why is college free for f'ing immigrants but for American citizens it's about 50k and up.

There needs to be differentiators in the world today, a college undergrad and MBA are exactly that... If everyone had a college degree they would pretty much be meaningless/pointless....Thats why college needs to cost the student money, they need to care enough to want to get one...

A lot of these people probably live in pockets of extreme poverty and high unemployment. I grew up in the Carolinas, and I can tell you that both states have been devastated economically by the shipping of textile mills overseas.

Most of Western NC (the mountains) is in shambles, and the majority of the lowlands in SC is even worse.

It also takes money and a fair bit of it to move in search of greener pastures, something that these people likely don't have because they don't have jobs.

Originally posted by Unity_99

We are all co-owners of this earht and have a right to our land and our homes and gardens and anything else we volunteer at.

Pro-tip...

You don't have any claim to my 140 acres. It's mine. All, mine - more than I need in fact but unless you have something to trade I consider valuable in either labor or goods it will remain so. No one was there as I saved for 20+ years to buy it outright... No one else gets up at 0400 every day to work the land... Mine, all mine...all while babies in Africa starve too. Screw African babies!

I guess if they want some of what I work for they can come take it - until then they (or anyone else) are entitled to any of the fruits of my labor. I suggest packing for a long fight.

It is my personal opinion that most of the individuals who spout the "we are all humans and no one can own the earth" "we all have a right to food, shelter and such" are people who don't have much to begin with. It's easy to spout that stuff when you have nothing to lose.

I wonder how their mantra would change if they worked hard to own anything then deadbeats came demanding things...be they deadbeats in government hats or individuals. It’s a crappy feeling to have to give up your hard won goods and wealth to give "free food and education" to the "children".

Screw the children - I only had one child for a reason. So I can give her everything...

To take money from me by force to give it to others is theft regardless if it's theft at the point of a gun or the result of a vote.

OH NO!!!!!! YOU MEAN THERE ARE 200,000 PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WILL HAVE TO STOP RELYING ON GOVERNMENT?


give me a break, i was unemployed all year just about in 2011, could have claimed unemployment too except that it goes against what i stand for. while life sucked, i eventually prevailed until this last job i had went out of business last week.

people need to cut the "omg this is awful! people aren't getting free money because they lost their job!" crap. this is why the country is where it's at and corporations now have all the power. before they were begging for workers, now workers are begging for corporations to employ them. why? because we have been led to rely on government and big corps.


*holds hand out* please sir can i have some more?

if a system, forces you to work for your very survival and health, it has a responsibility to keep you employed, and if fired or layed off, until you find a job of equal or greater value and worth.

or else what's the point of government.

if it can't do that, give me a rifle, a plot of land, some chickens and some pigs and leave me the #$%# alone.

Originally posted by randomname
if a system, forces you to work for your very survival and health, it has a responsibility to keep you employed, and if fired or layed off, until you find a job of equal or greater value and worth.

or else what's the point of government.

if it can't do that, give me a rifle, a plot of land, some chickens and some pigs and leave me the #$%# alone.

Name me one successful system that provdes security and health at no cost.

The responsibility is on you, not the system.

The point of government is to represent the people, not to care for them.

It amazes me how many people on this thread will do whatever job they can find.......but in practice WILL they actually do it? Most won't hence why the illegal immigrants are filling in to do it for you - and they work alot harder for minimal wage!

Originally posted by bluemirage5
It amazes me how many people on this thread will do whatever job they can find.......but in practice WILL they actually do it?

It amazes me that family's are sleeping in the streets,while our President Panders for votes !

It amazes me that there are millions who go to sleep,hungry in America,while politicians sleep comfortably in homes provided on the backs of taxpayers..


You would be surprised,what jobs a person will take,when all is lost.

The so-called U.S. "welfare system" is obviously not working properly, so they might aswell just abolish it.
It's obviously set up wrong and doesn't even deserve to be called "social security". It's an insult to the actual, working systems.

If you argue from the "responsibility and independence" angle, I agree with you, but that's an educational issue. There seems to be a problem with work ethics and appreciation / accessibility of education in the U.S.

To all who argue from the "financial" angle ("a social system costs to much, why should I pay for it?"), you will see that less aggregate demand and more criminality overall (resulting from high unemployment) will cost you more in the long run than a properly working social / educational system.

reply to post by jtma508


I've been reading this thread, and some of the posters are blind to the realities of the situation some people have fallen into. Some years back, I moved to another state, was a Computer Operator in a hospital. Figured getting a similar job wouldn't be too hard. Hah. Right after I moved, the computer jobs marked tanked quite a bit. No jobs available in the area. After almost 6 months looking, decided to settle for lower pay. So hit fast-food places, and even restaurants.
As soon as prospective-employer saw I was a skilled worker in a tech field, always ended the interview with ' Why are you wanting a job here? Sorry.' or 'We can't use you. You will quit as soon as a job in your field opens up. Sorry' and etc. Well, this carried on for almost a year. I then finally got jobs with a temp service doing warehouse work. But after 6 months, the temp jobs dried up. Finally after 2 years, got a job in a Office doing clerical/data entry only because a relative knew of an opening, told the manager about me, and even then the Mgr was leery of me til I promised I wouldn't quit for at least a year. Stayed there 9 years.
So, its not as easy as some posters think, especially with the economy as it is now.

I would expect not many Americans realize this is coming, the ones with jobs anyway, which is quite a lot of people. I had to start working at night when jobs are quite plentiful in many parts of the country actually, when I couldn't find an alternative day job and I hope these one fifth of a million people realize that there are twenty four hours in a day, not eight

reply to post by AlchemistSwami


Right, with the Temp jobs, I took whatever shifts they had. You get to the point where you have to take whatever shift and jobs they have. Most people don't want to be out of work, not only your family wants you to work, but society frowns on lazy people. Yes, some people abuse the system, always have. I feel sorry for people desperately looking for work now, with all the outsourcing, cut backs, and company lay-offs.

In my country - Romania - if you're over 40, you're already dead from the employment point of view. I am a computer expert, with more than 20 years of experience and I have been refused on countless interviews because of my age: the employers wanted a younger person, despite of the fact that my professional experience was way higher. The reason is a simple one: a younger person have less needs - financially speaking - than me. At least that's the idea here, everybody knows that. And let me tell you this: there are countless here in the same situation.
After the last company I worked with was going bankrupt, I spent 2 (TWO!) years looking for work, not necessary in the IT field; I was ready to do anything in order to earn some money. No luck. Nada. Zilch. Zip.
So what I did was this: I changed my age in the resume, made myself 10 years younger. And guess what, in no more than 2 months I found a job.

Indeed, Romania isn't a "Western developed economy", far from it, but the fact that you are thrown away after 40 unless "you know someone" is absolutely insane. I don't know how this works in the US but let me tell you this: on the big picture, the situation is desperate. More and more people are jobless, too many of them being just victims of a system. Telling them to go screw themselves is one of the worst thing one can do to them.
We're blaming them without thinking that one day we can be in the same situation and that's what frightens me; instead of sticking to each other, trying to help each other, many of us are throwing rocks on them without even know them, without knowing the reasons for they're jobless now.
And this, in my opinion, shows how limited thinking humans can have sometime.
Pity.

reply to post by bluemirage5


no, they get these jobs and do them because it is mostly their only option. if the farmer had to pay legals to do the work for minimum wage, the quantity of production would be reduced. so it's a win for an illegal and a win for the farmer. if i was paid a fair wage you better believe i would be out there busting my ass.

it's no different than corporations outsourcing, opportunity is being taken away from the united states citizens and hence why (as i said earlier) the corps have us by the you-know-whats. not enough oprtunity to go around and we are all now begging for that opportunity to work for minimum wages