[vbmoneyspender]

Some period between 26 weeks and 99 weeks is sufficient.

Obama is talking about extending unemployment benefits beyond 99 weeks.

[tdscpa]

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.

[flamberge]

Pick a number (any number) where you think that unemployment benefits should end, and get back to us. The point at which you set a cutoff always has a certain arbitrary quality to it.

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."