Posted on 08/14/2011 7:32:12 PM PDT by Libloather
Unemployment benefits are insurance payouts (at least for the first 26 weeks) which are ultimately paid for by workers - in the form of lower wages.
I have no problem with someone collecting their paid-for benefits, and moving somewhere else where the cost of living is cheaper. In fact many of the State UI systems encourage recipients to move out-of-state "where the jobs are". Presumably they become somebody else's problem.
I can match your story of a feckless 20-something with stories of over two dozen "40-somethings" who are still trying to support their families on what is left of their savings. A (very)few of them have managed to find jobs, and the UI payments are what allowed them to stretch out their savings long enough to do so.
The UI system is effective at keeping formerly middle-class workers away from destitution for long enough to find some kind of job.
If you are looking for something to cut, try the Ethanol subsidies and the "mandate" to include 10% ethanol at the pump. Lower fuel costs would help almost everybody and some business might even pick up enough to start hiring again.
How long do you think unemployment benefits should last? Forever?
Some period between 26 weeks and 99 weeks is sufficient.
Beyond that period, the UI programs fail to make any further difference in the outcome.
Obama is talking about extending unemployment benefits beyond 99 weeks.
He might as well sign up the whole population of the country on unemployment for the duration of his term as czar of the US.
Just about everything that Obama proposes or supports will lead to the further destruction of the American economy. It is what he was raised, trained, and educated to do. You may well be correct in opposing anything that Obama is supposedly advocating.
In any event, after two years or so of unemployment, the prospects of skilled trade or professional hiring are just about nil, and UI payments cannot sustain the formerly middle-class worker that long.
Triage is when you need to let go of the hopeless cases and put your efforts into saving the marginal ones.
You could strictly limit the payout to 26 weeks, or even dump the whole system altogether. That will increase the rate at which you dump middle-class people into the underclass.
Rates of change do matter. People may survive a slow decline, but will perish in a sharp fall. Of course this only matters if the economy comes back and there are chances to regain a prosperous income.
"When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose they lose it."
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