Unemployment Benefit Extension. Really?

[vz71]

Actually, most State unemployment is payed by both employeer and employee contributions; the extensions come from fedaral funds, so we’re all paying for that.

Right, the burden is also shared by taxpayers.

I guess the correct thought here is…who pays the majority of the taxes?

 

[kage_ar]

Actually, most State unemployment is payed by both employeer and employee contributions; the extensions come from fedaral funds, so we’re all paying for that.

There was a chunk out of my check, every check, for decades. I finally needed that insurance that I’d paid for.

 

[Darkbloom]

There was a chunk out of my check, every check, for decades. I finally needed that insurance that I’d paid for.

If you were allowed to keep that money, don’t you think you would be at least as good a steward of it as the state?

 

[aspawloski4th]

Basic economics teaches us that you get more of what you subsidize.

Harsh as it may seem, subsidizing more unemployment is simply going to give us more unemployment.

The real answer here is not to extend unemployment further, but to extend the job market further.

Hmm somebody who doesn’t live the real world.

 

[kage_ar]

If you were allowed to keep that money, don’t you think you would be at least as good a steward of it as the state?

Last I checked, that ain’t an option.

 

[mark_a]

I own a small business. I pay for my unemployment insurance for the benefit of my employees. They pay nothing.

Really now?

You pay for unemployment with profits you make from their labor.

 

[aspawloski4th]

Bingo! You get a star!

Government shoud be about creating an environment for opportunity, not a subsidy that is a veiled form of transfer of wealth.

All of you that described your hardships being unemployed, my heart goes out to you. Honestly, I’ve never been unemployed.

But I got my bill for the cost of unemployment insurance this morning and practically fell over. It might be a nice feature, but remember, someone is paying for it. Maybe, if I didn’t have burdens like this I could hire more people.

Hey Government, are you listening???

Seeing that you are Catholic, the thing to do that will get you to Heaven is take less of a profit so to hire more people. Remember also the extened benefits are not billed to business anyway. If you heart really went out to us unemployed you’d be for unemployemt benefits to last till a job is found.

 

[aspawloski4th]

It is much more difficult to look for work when you are homeless. That unemployment check keeps families off the streets - where I live there are NO shelters for poor families.

What do you propose when a person loses a job, has the suggested “6 months income in savings” and stretches that for a year and a half.

The max unemployment in my state is less than $1500 per month. Our medical insurance on Cobra is $1000 (I was unemployed back when you had to pay your cobra) per month. You do the math .

Not to nag at you, but it looks like you and I do agree on something

 

[aspawloski4th]

Hardship builds character.

Sounds like some hardship would be good for you.

 

[vz71]

Basic economics teaches us that you get more of what you subsidize.

Harsh as it may seem, subsidizing more unemployment is simply going to give us more unemployment.

The real answer here is not to extend unemployment further, but to extend the job market further.

Hmm somebody who doesn’t live the real world.

A basic understanding of economics is not the real world?
Perhaps the knowledge that the fix for unemployment is employment?

I can assure you the world I live in is real. The principles of economics are real, and the extending the job market will result in less unemployment.

 

[cargau]

Actually, most State unemployment is payed by both employeer and employee contributions; the extensions come from fedaral funds, so we’re all paying for that.

Not true, Ignatius. I live in NY State. The employee pays for disability, not unemployment…Maybe its different in your state.

 

[cargau]

Really now?

You pay for unemployment with profits you make from their labor.

What’s the implication here, Mark? If I profit from the efforts of my workers , I have acheived inappropriate gains that I must be ashamed of. After all, I didn’t earn it, they did?

That’s an incredulous position. I am the one who took and continues to take the risks and make the investments to ensure that my workers get a paycheck, healthcare, vacations, paid holidays and yes, even unemployment insurance. I will not apologize because my income statement shows a profit at the end of the month.

Having said that, my objection is over the length of the extensions. I believe that some (many) workers take their foot off of the accelerator because they have a parachute in the form of unemployment insurance that lasts 2.5 years. Sorry, but it seems to me that most people ought to be able to find employment in a lot less time. I realize that there are exceptions. But paying the freeloaders out of my profits irritates me. I have seen first hand people in this situation doing exactly what I am talking about.

So, before any of you presume to tell me what I need to do to acheive heaven through some economic equilibrium with someone who is too lazy to get up off their duffs to work, walk a mile in my shoes. No one is paying for my parachute but me…

 

[sharmin]

Perhaps the remedy is to utilize the funds put out to extend these benefits into directly assisting these individuals with their job search…retraining, education, workforce development programs, etc.
Those that will not participate can be readily cut off of the government tit.
Those that will can stay on as long as they need to.
.

How would the unemployed afford shelter, food, and clothing under that plan?

 

[sharmin]

It is much more difficult to look for work when you are homeless. That unemployment check keeps families off the streets - where I live there are NO shelters for poor families.

What do you propose when a person loses a job, has the suggested “6 months income in savings” and stretches that for a year and a half.

The max unemployment in my state is less than $1500 per month. Our medical insurance on Cobra is $1000 (I was unemployed back when you had to pay your cobra) per month. You do the math .

Excellent point, Kage!

 

[vz71]

How would the unemployed afford shelter, food, and clothing under that plan?

The plan has the virtue of supporting independence from the government tit.

 

[aspawloski4th]

A basic understanding of economics is not the real world?
Perhaps the knowledge that the fix for unemployment is employment?

I can assure you the world I live in is real. The principles of economics are real, and the extending the job market will result in less unemployment.

In a vacuum with no outside influences that is true, in the real world there are many outside influences to throw plenty of monkey wrenches in that theory. You have to get out of your vacuum of a staic world and into the dynamic real world.

 

[tvdxer]

Congress is scheduled to consider adding another 43 weeks to the 99 they have already approved.

I own a small business. I pay for my unemployment insurance for the benefit of my employees. They pay nothing. When the bill comes due to pay for the expected increases to cover 2.5 years of sitting home all day, guess who pays? And, in reality, we all pay because I have less money to provide other benefits and or raises.

Look, I understand that there are needs. But, Unemployment insurance is supposed to be a bridge, not a way of life. And, extending the benefits perpetuates the unemployment rate because many are comfortable collecting the check that the business owner and the working stiff is providing.

Our country is too soft. Hardship builds character. I heard one politician comment that extending benefits will keep families together. Really? What happened during the depression? Families buckled down and came together and they survived. Then they prospered. I know the social justice proponents will be aghast reading this post. While I acknowledge that as Catholics, we need to be sensitive to the needs of our brothers and sisters, at the same time too many entitlements allow folks to drift into a sort of productive coma. Is that good?

Actually, I am 100% behind the idea that we have to look out for the sufferings of others. I just don’t think that the government taking money from the producers and giving it to the leaches is real social justice. Again, I realize that there are exceptions. But, the way this government thinks scares me. We are creating a whole social group of dependents.

OK, fire away…

Although other social programs may create “dependents”, I am not so sure if unemployment insurance does. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s something like 1/2 or 1/3 of one’s working income. That’s not enough to live off for most people, and only sufficient to tide one over to their next job.

Be happy you’re still in business. A lot of small businesses (and some not-so-small corporations) have shuttered since the recession. Others, like our own, are faring very poorly.

 

[mark_a]

What’s the implication here, Mark? If I profit from the efforts of my workers , I have acheived inappropriate gains that I must be ashamed of. After all, I didn’t earn it, they did?

Not at all.

That’s an incredulous position. I am the one who took and continues to take the risks and make the investments to ensure that my workers get a paycheck, healthcare, vacations, paid holidays and yes, even unemployment insurance.

That’s all part of the deal.

I will not apologize because my income statement shows a profit at the end of the month.

And you shouldn’t.

Having said that, my objection is over the length of the extensions. I believe that some (many) workers take their foot off of the accelerator because they have a parachute in the form of unemployment insurance that lasts 2.5 years. Sorry, but it seems to me that most people ought to be able to find employment in a lot less time. I realize that there are exceptions. But paying the freeloaders out of my profits irritates me. I have seen first hand people in this situation doing exactly what I am talking about.

It’s all part of the deal. It’s the old 85/15 rule.

So, before any of you presume to tell me what I need to do to acheive heaven through some economic equilibrium

Works based salvation is heretical.

No one is paying for my parachute but me…

Are you envious?

 

[Darkbloom]

In a vacuum with no outside influences that is true, in the real world there are many outside influences to throw plenty of monkey wrenches in that theory. You have to get out of your vacuum of a staic world and into the dynamic real world.

You’re advocating paying people not to work as a tool to fix unemployment, and yet you claim to be a realist?

 

[Black_Rose]

You’re advocating paying people not to work as a tool to fix unemployment, and yet you claim to be a realist?

Isn’t reducing the supply of labor by paying people not to work a good thing? Wouldn’t a massive reductive in the supply of labor reduce unemployment since the surplus workers are mopped up by a policy that pays them to stay out of the labor market? Too many laborers are a bad thing since they lower wages which reduces the quality of life for the workers.