Extending
unemployment benefits again? Really?
Honestly, Obama and the Democrats must be joking.
There’s no other explanation. Faced with the coming fiscal cliff – caused
in large part by profligate spending without counterbalancing tax revenues, the
Democrats want to extend unemployment benefits again. Plus they are talking about some kind of
additional payroll tax deduction. And
yes, expanded public works programs.
In short, they want to drive us even deeper into the fiscal
hole. And reward people for not working
for up to two years.
In some kind of demented logic, they think that spending
more on people not working, reducing tax revenues more, and squandering money
on projects that won’t happen will help the economy bounce back.
Umm, folks … we tried all that already. Didn’t work then. Won’t work now.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting a different result. Well
folks, then Obama and the Democrats are clearly insane.
Not that I ever thought otherwise. This is simply more proof.
The holiday special of course is extending unemployment
benefits – after all, only Scrooge could be opposed. As one Democrat said, the unemployed need
that money to buy gifts for their families and friends and celebrate the
holidays.
Nice thought, but really?
What’s next? Special holiday
bonus checks to the unemployed for being such good non-workers for the past two
years?
This is getting crazy.
Extending unemployment benefits AGAIN makes no economic sense, whether
it’s Christmas or not. People knew they
were facing the cut-off months in advance; what did they think – that Santa was
going to bring an extension?
I’m not trying to be a heartless bastard here, but there are
way too many studies that show that a lot of people don’t really start to look
for a job until their UC runs out. The
longer you extend their benefits, the longer they’ll wait.
Then there are the anecdotal stories we all know – not
“friend-of-a-friend” stuff, or some Internet chain e-mail, but real experience
with people you know first-hand who used two years of UC as a way of taking a
paid time out. Or how they are making
more now than ever before by working off the books AND collecting UC as
well. What’s surprising is how open they
are about it.
Maybe they used that time to take care of a sick relative,
spend more quality time with their loved ones, or start a new business, which
is all fine and good on your own dime.
But that’s NOT what UC is for. UC is to tide you over between
jobs. Not instead of a job, or to finance a
two-year sabbatical, or your startup.
We all have unemployed friends aggressively looking for a
job. They are decent, honest, talented
people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. And my heart goes out to them. I try to do whatever I can to help, because
they want to work again. My guess is
they won’t be out of work that long, not because they worry about when their UC
runs out, but because they’d much rather have a job than collect UC.
They want another job not just for the money, but for their
own self-respect.
Clearly, that’s not the case for all the long-term
unemployed.
I’m sorry, but if you’re able-bodied and been collecting UC
for two years already, there’s something else wrong. You need to get off your ass and do something
different. Maybe it won’t be your dream
job – or like the one you had before – but you need to get some kind of real
job.
And get off the public teat.
I mean, after two freaking years don’t you have even the teensiest bit
of self-respect left?
Do you not see anything wrong with sitting on your butt
waiting for something better than UC and food stamps to magically appear? Do you really think –after two years – that people
feel sorry for you anymore, when they are going to their jobs and you’re going
to your couch? Do you not think that
maybe, just maybe, you need to re-examine your career goals?
How long are you going to blame Bush, the bad economy, evil
bankers and big corporations for the simple fact that you really haven’t tried
to get a regular job of any kind? Or
that your degree in 16th Century French Poetry doesn’t mean much to
employers? Or that you’re still out of
work because you’re not willing to “compromise” and accept something less than
ideal?
Yes, it’s not a great economy. Yes, some employers will take advantage of
that to keep wages down as much as they can.
Yes, a lot of businesses are on shaky ground. So it may not be the best time to change
jobs.
But if your current “job” is watching daytime TV and
collecting UC until things get a lot better you’re fooling yourself. It is time for you to change jobs. Things may not get much better anytime
soon. Meanwhile, there are jobs out
there. Maybe not the perfect job, maybe
not with as many benefits as you had before, or at a salary level you’re
accustomed to, but jobs do exist.
And here’s another tip for you:
The longer you stay unemployed the
less attractive you are to an employer.
That’s politically incorrect to say, but it’s true.
If you’ve done essentially nothing in two years – like trying
to upgrade your skills, getting more education, taking courses, or working part
time – they have a right to question your work ethic.
It may be unfair, but it’s reality.
Extending unemployment benefits only postpones the
inevitable. It acts as a disincentive to
looking for a job for a significant number of recipients. And frankly we can’t afford it financially or
as a society.
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