Posted on 08/02/2010 3:18:07 PM PDT by reaganaut1
...
Ms. Jarrin is part of a hard-luck tribe of jobless whose members have taken to calling themselves “99ers,” because they have exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they can claim.
For them, the resolution recently of the lengthy Senate scrum over extending jobless benefits was no balm. The measure renewed two federal programs that extended jobless benefits in this recession beyond the traditional 26 weeks to anywhere from 60 to 99 weeks, depending on the state’s unemployment rate. But many jobless have now exceeded those limits. They are adjusting to a new, harsh reality with no income.
With long-term unemployment at record levels, about 1.4 million people were out of work for 99 weeks or more in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not all of them received unemployment benefits, but for many of those who did, the modest payments were a lifeline that enabled them to maintain at least a veneer of normalcy, keeping a roof over their heads, putting gas in their cars, paying electric and phone bills.
Without the checks, many like Ms. Jarrin, who lost her job as director of client services at a small technology company in March 2008, are beginning to tumble over the economic cliff. For them, the last vestiges of their former working class or middle-class lives are gone; it is inescapable now that they are indigent.
Ms. Jarrin said she wept as she drove away from her old life last month, wondering if she would ever be able to reclaim it.
...
Nevertheless, the political appetite to help people like Ms. Jarrin appears limited.
...
She says none of her three adult sons are in a position to help her.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
99 weeks of unemployment is bs. I was on it for about 5 months last summer and got tired of looking for a job at my old salary and got something thats paying about half of what i was making. Its tough as hell living paycheck to paycheck but Im getting by. In my town alone theres lots of businesses looking for work.. fast food, diners and such so people need to learn humility and take what they can get, I know I did.
Mama told me how my daddy and her daddy would hop rails and ride to cities and towns looking for work and would often be gone for weeks at a time while sending back what little money they made on the road to support the core family unit.
People of today have no (real) idea what it is like to have NOTHING and make do with even less. Cornbread and beans once or twice a day (no three times a day) were the main staples during those hard times back during and after the great depression according to mama and grandma. At least obesity wasn't something Americans had to worry about. Mom and dad did what had to be done to provide for their family.
I guess you’re just itching to see everyone picking up trash on the roads and hoping someone tosses em a dime once in awhile for their ‘work’. Sounds like you really can’t stand anyone that has a ‘job’ and have to make little of them. Most people don’t want to live a nomadic odd job lifestyle or else we’d never have built cities. btw, what kind of ‘work’ is there that the average person can do that pays decent that isn’t a ‘job’ now? Side show geek at fairs?
Ir’s like that monty python sketch, ‘I used to have to pay the mine owner twice my salary to go down 2 miles a day with no safety equipment, and we were glad to have it!’.
If that’s what we’re heading for, might as well check out early.
McCain was the Commerce Committee Chairman 8 years under the Clinton administration.This man had the power to have hearings on our jobs being shipped over seas. Not one hearing did this man have while the world trade organization were taking our jobs away.Listen to these men, they were telling you the truth.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1590858026591557284#
She has three adult sons who are "not in positions to help her." My guess is that she doesn't make great choices in the man department.
That a minimum wage job for an illegal alien is a tax-free job. So a $10 an hour job for an illegal is actually a $7 an hour job for an American citizen.
You would probley be wasting yor money. In our current depression , homeowners are doing their own yard work and housecleaning. The few jobs left are being fought over by a large number of yard and cleaning companies. A large number of illegals in these trades making it diffucult for most Americans to complete. I know of Mexicans working for 3-4 dollars to get the jobs. Are you willing to work for 3-4 dollars per hour. Could you pay your bills and put food on the table for your family?
I'm not sure where we as a nation are headed but these may well be the good ol' days in a few years......
And what he is telling you is that he is willing to pay someone more who is not illegal and that he feels is more trustworthy inside his home than someone who is already breaking the law by being here illegally. I would say that is smart. Why is that so difficult to understand, "perfessor?"
My comment beandog responded to:
The illegals had that sewn up long ago...You're not going to beat their low, illegal pay...If you do, you'll be living in the streets without money for little things like cars, rent, and auto insurance etc....
Good luck with that.
The woman who cleans my house is not an illegal. Not even hispanic. (She charges me $20.00 per hour)....
He commented to my post, regarding illegals taking over entire industries....He seemed to deny this...He's wrong....He is one of the few that would pay someone other than an illegal to clean his home, let alone pay $20. per hour to clean his house.
The glaring fact remains, regardless of what he pays people to clean his house, low wage illegal aliens have taken over entire industries, like home cleaning, hotel cleaning etc, etc, etc, and driven wages down for all.
This is not even debatable.
Next time, try reading all of the exchanges...
>> I guess... yadda yadda yadda... Sounds like... yadda yadda yadda
Well, “I guess” from your posts on the forum that you’re not only unemployed but that you’re one of those who think society owes you a job because you’re drawing breath.
“Sounds like” maybe you might be more successful if you change your attitude. “Sounds like” if you’re just an “average person” maybe you should turn off “The Simpsons” for a few hours and invest a little time in improving your attitude and skills to “above average”.
Maybe that would help?
Nah, probably not. It’s all the fault of The Man, isn’t it? Keeping you down? NOTHING AT ALL to do with you. It’s that fortunate 10% that are standing on your head.
20 million Americans went from hard working folks that paid their bills, to millions of lazy couch hounds in just 4 years....
Now, they're all living the life of luxury on unemployment...
lol...
Good thinking Tick!
hmmmmm
You don’t know my ecucational or work background, chances are they’re as good as anyone’s on here. You don’t know how many of the last 13 years I’ve worked or how much. I’ll tell you though, it’s been nearly of all them full time.
Right now it’s not a matter of ‘skills’ or anything, we’ve been sold out by both government and the private sector. Do I feel I’m owed anything? At least the opportunity to suceed if you work at it. That’s supposed to be the American Dream, or is even hoping for a standard of living when you work for it considered ‘you think you’re so great’ now?
If so, get me out of this country and/or planet cause screw that.
I once joked to a freeper that I knew someone who got a yacht off their unemployment benefits windfall.
They took me seriously.
Scary mentality out there. Some are so clueless now about reality.
I know it's not debatable that illegals have taken over entire industries. But people like you, who think it is "stupid" to hire someone LEGAL to clean their homes for a higher price are just perpetuating the problem. If fewer people bought into the "cheaper is better" nonsense, then fewer people would be breaking the law by hiring illegals to do things like house cleaning or lawn maintenance. If you are one of those people who are cruising the parking lot at Home Depot for your handyworkers, THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
You can be the hardest damn worker within 500 miles, and still get dropped like a bad habit...All this cock'nbull about cleaning boats, pulling weeds and cleaning store windows to survive, and "That's what they did during the depression" is just bull sh*t....
Ya just try that in today's America, when one or both wage earners lose their steady pay checks for 3 weeks in a row....You're done....Ya can't pay your insurance, car payments, credit card payments, rent, ya can't pay your mortgage, you sky high utilities go unpaid, repair bills, and all the other typical expenses go unpaid...After 6 weeks of loss of income, their unemployment check covers none of this...
And some of these people pop off by telling them to go mow lawns and clean boats? lol....
What they don't get is once that steady income is turned off, most private sector working people are done...Taking some job cleaning store windows 2 or 3 days a week will not pay their bills, and like unemployment, will still die a fast financial death.
They also completely forgot....The store they want to clean the windows at for a few bucks, has laid off half it's freaking staff, and they sure in hell have no money to give someone to clean their windows...
Whoops....They forgot about that!!
In today America, ya better have a steady income, otherwise, ya better have somewhere to live for free, or be prepared to live in your car, if it hasn't' been repossessed.
All this crap about people just partying and having a good ol time while collecting a fraction of their previous income, is for the most part, utter bullsh*t.
Wasn't my point...And yes, paying someone $20.00 per hour to clean your home is stupid....
If fewer people bought into the "cheaper is better"
Pie in the sky, not going to happen, until ya get tough with the thousands of businesses that hire them...Hello...Look around...Gezzzz
You're clearly not paying attention.
Also, if you go to work making nothing to clean windows, you really can’t put that on a resume for any ‘decent’ job that might pay over $25k a year after that. Might as well lie or leave it blank. If they’ve seen you turn into a transient that’s as bad as being a felon to most places.
Not really that many boats to scrape barnacles off near me. I see a lot of lawn service fliers in my area, but really only see people doing it themselves and I’m in a fairly decent middle class zone. 4-5 years ago, sure they’d be using these services. Not now.
People are barely hanging on. There is *NO* market for transient odd job laborers. You have a better chance with at least enough skill to get on the internet to find some tech job that’ll pay a bit more and won’t have you dead from heat stroke or getting arrested for vagrancy.
There’s always drug dealing or being a hitman though I guess.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.