I won’t argue with you. As I said, I worked there 15 years, and unless everything has changed, it’s paid for out of employer taxes and employees don’t pay into it.
Practically speaking, if you work, you pay it. You may pay it or your employer may pay it, but it is paid to both state and federal governments based on the individual's earnings.
So you pay it whether it comes directly out of your salary or not, since it's part of the calculation the employer makes when he decides to hire you. Same with health insurance, FICA, etc. When he offers you the job at $30.00 an hour, he's actually paying much more than that once you figure in the taxes and benefits he offers.
Here's the State Unemployment Tax Rates for 2008 (^) from the Tax Policy Center. That is money the employer could give directly to the employee or grow his business if he wasn't obligated to send it to the government.
Without getting too much into how I feel about mandatory unemployment tax in general (I'm against them), I do feel slightly better knowing that at least the people getting benefits have paid into the system because they've been employees.
Everything an employer has to shell out because you work for him is your pay. Much of it is just pulled out of your paycheck before you get it, this is to fool the morons so they won’t get mad as hell and revolt at the ballot box.
social security
unemployment
workmans comp insurance
etc..etc
Every cent of it is yours!
Dems hid 1/2 the social sec payment by the myth that your employer pays it...bs, you pay it all...same with the unemployment plan costs, you pay that as well.