The Stimulus Hurts the Poorest Most

When this whole Covid deal started about a month ago, I was happy that my company was going to keep us all on WITH PAY for two weeks. That turned into three weeks after they "let" us use PTO time that we'd have to actually pay back. I was just happy to have a job and be working. I have since changed my feelings completely on the matter and am very upset at the current set of circumstances. I will explain where I'm coming from.

I'm low level management...say $16/hr. I was asked to return to work two weeks ago because donations were piling up outside my store and they need to be cleaned up daily. I work a full schedule and am around donated goods in a county that currently has over 1,000 cases of this virus. I put new donations into quarantine and then rotate older donations out to process them for when we reopen. I make $640 gross weekly and net about $480/week. I live alone and have rent, car payment, and all the general bills a household has. I'm expected to pay those bills like nothing is happening...and I have been.

My brother, a 24 year old waiter called me today and said that he got both his stimulus check AND his first unemployment check of $876 today. That is when I realized that millions of us still working are getting bent over the barrel with this whole thing. First, why in the hell does a 24 year old that still lives with his father get to have an $876/week paycheck for SITTING HOME when I get half that much working 40 hours every week!? Where the hell is my relief for the bills I have to pay???

Then, on the drive home from work today, I seen a line at the McDonalds and got mad all over again...for two reasons. First, WHY THE HELL IS THE DRIVE THRU AT THE LOCAL FAST FOOD JOINT CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL!? Second, the people working at fast food places, gas stations, grocery stores, wal-marts, etc are all AT WORK MAKING GARBAGE PAY during this. By and large, these are the poorest among us...and mostly part time to boot. Like myself, they are getting zero relief in the form of huge unemployment checks. What about all those single moms, college kids, elderly, and disadvantaged??

Those of us still working are subject to contracting this virus exponentially more than the average American sitting home collecting huge amounts of cash while mowing their lawns. As management, I feel that those employees running the cash registers somewhere should NEVER make more than me or any other person with that title. I get a little ticked off when the convicted felon cleaning toilets at the local YMCA is allowed to sit home and make more than TWICE what I do...and I still have to WORK!

I can't be the only one in this position that's upset at this whole absurdity. People don't need an EXTRA $600/week when they don't even make that in TWO weeks ffs. There are millions of employees currently working to make sure you rich folks on unemployment can get a gallon of milk, a cheeseburger, or dog food. Those employees, on average, make far less than almost all others....and after this...they'll be even poorer thanks to the lower dollar and higher taxes afterwards.

Strangely, I've seen no Democrat OR Republican even mention this. No news outlets, pundits, talking heads....not even Bernie, will touch it. Why? I thought that ALL of the above mentioned were so worried about the poorest Americans during this time? Sure, we MAY get a $1200 check to call our own and that is certainly good....but if we were allowed to collect unemployment like the majority of Americans...I'd be able to put a little money in the bank or pay that credit card off finally.

Can anyone explain to me how this is fair in any sense of the word? Should I be mad at the company I work for or for the stupid President for allowing this nonsense to move forward? This whole thing has only made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

a reply to: MrBuddy

Lots of unjust disparities all over the country. In Illinois the liquor stores are considered an essential business. The unemployment offices are all closed because they are not considered essential, even though over 500,000 unemployment claims have been filed the past 30 days.

a reply to: MrBuddy

I understand where you are coming from. I know people expecting a $1700 dollar check every 2 weeks for unemployment plus the huge chunk the get in link card(food stamps or whatever your state has. ) ends up almost 4k for the month. He was working for 10 bucks an hour before that.

I know it's only a temporary thing but if that pay was for a year it's close to 50k for a person that would have made less than 20k while working.

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: MrBuddy

Lots of unjust disparities all over the country. In Illinois the liquor stores are considered an essential business. The unemployment offices are all closed because they are not considered essential, even though over 500,000 unemployment claims have been filed the past 30 days.

Why isn't there an online system in place for that ?

There's no need for face to face contact to apply and then receive unemployment.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: MrBuddy

Lots of unjust disparities all over the country. In Illinois the liquor stores are considered an essential business. The unemployment offices are all closed because they are not considered essential, even though over 500,000 unemployment claims have been filed the past 30 days.

Why isn't there an online system in place for that ?

There's no need for face to face contact to apply and then receive unemployment.

The online claims need to be processed by a human.

The humans in this case have been sent home.

But you've got a Cornell. Get something better.

originally posted by: Lumenari

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: MrBuddy

Lots of unjust disparities all over the country. In Illinois the liquor stores are considered an essential business. The unemployment offices are all closed because they are not considered essential, even though over 500,000 unemployment claims have been filed the past 30 days.

Why isn't there an online system in place for that ?

There's no need for face to face contact to apply and then receive unemployment.

The online claims need to be processed by a human.

The humans in this case have been sent home.

That's pretty crap then, here in the hind end of the world as you put it have gone online, the system has been modified and no face to face contact is required, I guess those that push the buttons are doing so from home.

originally posted by: cognizant420
a reply to: MrBuddy

I understand where you are coming from. I know people expecting a $1700 dollar check every 2 weeks for unemployment plus the huge chunk the get in link card(food stamps or whatever your state has. ) ends up almost 4k for the month. He was working for 10 bucks an hour before that.

I know it's only a temporary thing but if that pay was for a year it's close to 50k for a person that would have made less than 20k while working.

Seriously? 4K a damn month?!!! That’s almost more than my household brings in a month for working our butts off!

its all essential and its BS that its all still closed. Oh I get it, but NOTHING is fair in life. Yeah, tell that to the people RUINED by this thing that will NEVER be made whole. This lockdown isnt a natural thing, it was put in place by people who think they know better than you, so when are they going to make those affected by this, whole again? Never, thats when. Tell them how life isnt fair, go ahead smart guys, I DARE YA.
Well, gee I guess those people might as well die too. RE-TARDED.

You can stick your BUT BUT BUT BUT these measures SAVED US ALL up your butt. Bootlickers. Kowtow for your masters some more teat suckers.

originally posted by: MagesticEsoteric

originally posted by: cognizant420
a reply to: MrBuddy

I understand where you are coming from. I know people expecting a $1700 dollar check every 2 weeks for unemployment plus the huge chunk the get in link card(food stamps or whatever your state has. ) ends up almost 4k for the month. He was working for 10 bucks an hour before that.

I know it's only a temporary thing but if that pay was for a year it's close to 50k for a person that would have made less than 20k while working.

Seriously? 4K a damn month?!!! That’s almost more than my household brings in a month for working our butts off!

The most you can get for unemployment is $450 per week. If you make over a certain amount per year. They are adding $600 to that. So you could possibly make $1050 per week. All of this is taxable.

It isn't their fault that this happened. They have house payments and other bills to pay. If they can't make their payments and get kicked out of their house. The economy will be 10 times worse.

I would be pissed off too if I was at some job I hated not making as much as someone sitting at home relaxing.

originally posted by: BoscoMoney
its all essential and its BS that its all still closed. Oh I get it, but NOTHING is fair in life. Yeah, tell that to the people RUINED by this thing that will NEVER be made whole. This lockdown isnt a natural thing, it was put in place by people who think they know better than you, so when are they going to make those affected by this, whole again? Never, thats when. Tell them how life isnt fair, go ahead smart guys, I DARE YA.
Well, gee I guess those people might as well die too. RE-TARDED.

You can stick your BUT BUT BUT BUT these measures SAVED US ALL up your butt. Bootlickers. Kowtow for your masters some more teat suckers.

Don't worry Bosco. Just apply on line and it may be late but within a certain time. It will go through and you will get all the money at once that you have been waiting for.

a reply to: Doctor Smith

Add the extra money for that link card, it all adds up. The extra money for unemployment is like 14 weeks or 16 weeks, something like that I for get exactly. So its not really gonna push them near 50k like I said earlier, only of it lasted a year.

I'm not really to upset about it honestly. I'm happy to still be able to work every morning. And before to long if they dont get back to work its gonna really suck. Especially if your job never comes back after this.

I understand EXACTLY what OP is saying. We're an essential business and I'm in the same boat. If we're not working, I get $962 in unemployment. Per week! So some days I work, some I don't. State deposited in the past 2 weeks, 320, 512 and an additional 512. My normal pay is 360 gross because....I retired, working part time on 1 April. Now I'm getting far, far more income I'm allowed under social security so next year, I'll lose 70% of my income for 3 months. Meanwhile, there are poor saps making 11 bucks an hour and are sitting there watching their buddies rake in 700 to 900 a week. A week! The only good this about this is that it's (maybe) temporary.

a reply to: billxam

I have a couple friends volunteer to work less or stay home. Idiots.

If your jobs is there this is the worst time to give it up for better pay on a temporary basis with unemployment. Especially if they decide they get along fine without you.

I remember back in 2008 a lot of people having hard time finding work in my area. Its gonna be worse this year if this shutdown continues much longer.

a reply to: MagesticEsoteric

They have to keep people comfortable or they will lose control.

a reply to: MrBuddy

Should be mad that these employers are not compensating their workers.

Not even a little bump.

Wait until you figure out this entire event is hyped hysteria. Then let’s see how fed up you are that they’ve shut the country down over a virus that was already here for at least two months prior.

We have been duped.

a reply to: MrBuddy

It rarely works out fair. I could not afford health insurance a few years back, and wiped out ky entire life savigs as a result. Had I not been working, or earning less money, not only would I NOT have paid a bunch of money in taxes, I would have had free health coverage for the family.

Making $60k too much ended up costing me ~$80k, and losing my house in the process (which continues to cost me, in lower credit score.) Its the price I have to pay for choosing to get by on my own, and to attempt to feed and house my family post-2008 crash by risking re-directing $12k/year in health insurance to other needs.

In the United States, you're only in decent shape if you're retired with a good pension, earning a SUBSTANTIAL income, or unemployed / near-unemployed.

The "other 90% of us" are living on a razor's edge.

I'm waiting for my unemployment check for a week my job closed due the virus. Nobody in my job received it yet.

I didn't get the stimulus check neither, seems like I'll get it in another 2 or 3 weeks more.

Today I went back to work, 12 hours shift started at 4 am.

See, it's not just you.

a reply to: MrBuddy
Wow! Such entitlement here...

Boo hoo! poor me! I deserve more!!! You are responsible for having the job you have. Not everyone has an actual job right now and that money isn't coming in for long. Worry about your own business instead of other peoples. Maybe go back to school and pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find more gainful employment.

Seriously, get over yourself.