Posted on 12/10/2013 10:20:51 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
THE tentative budget deal being worked out by Paul Ryan and Patty Murray will probably not include an extension of long-term unemployment benefits, reports Greg Sargent. And while much of the brewing tea-party anger over the deal is driven by opposition to government spending tout court, the specific opposition to long-term unemployment insurance has a theory behind it. That theory conforms to Albert Hirschman's classic "perversity, futility, jeopardy" model of conservative rhetoric: as Rand Paul (pictured) put it on Fox News on Sunday, conservatives think that offering unemployment insurance for longer raises the unemployment rate.
“ I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they're paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers. There was a study that came out a few months ago, and it said, if you have a worker that's been unemployed for four weeks and on unemployment insurance and one that's on 99 weeks, which would you hire? Every employer, nearly 100 percent, said they will always hire the person who's been out of work four weeks.
When you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. And it really—while it seems good, it actually does a disservice to the people you're trying to help.”
Mr Paul's statement makes it sound as though he imagines that the choice, for the long-term unemployed, is between receiving unemployment insurance or finding a job. Obviously employers will prefer to hire workers who have been unemployed for a shorter period of time; that does not mean that if you take away workers' unemployment insurance at four weeks, jobs will suddenly materialise for them....
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
As soon as unemployment “benefits” are stopped, I am sure 95% of “unemployed yuts” will be getting jobs.
Anyone in a free market society claims to be unemployed is either an unfit idiot, a lazy bum, or both.
I am unemployed and I’m on my 3rd Tier, however there may not be a 4th Tier. When I had a job it was easy to believe in that motto “get off that couch”. I have been submitting resumes everyday since I got laid off last October of 2012. I has not been easy. I use to say that “get off your couch”. Now that I’m on the other side, it is not easy. Since being laid off I only had 1 interview. There is no doubt there are people who abuse it but I myself do not. I am totally on my own and these little extension help me stay under a roof. I’m surprised I have not been evicted. However, I am happy today I got a call to arrange for a job interview this January 9. So please don’t be harsh on those who are unemployed.
Conversely, as an employer, I can almost assure you that as the 26th week of employment of the chronic unemployed, they will find a reason to be injured, harassed, or mistreated by their 26th week.. You could set a calendar by that fact..
We have cemented a class of chronic entitlement citizens, that are wedded to the government largest, and only the literal threat of starvation will change the trend..
Well said. All unemployed are not the same.
That would be true somewhat in normal times, but Obama and his socialized health plan and other shenanigans have disrupted the job market significantly. There are far fewer jobs than even as recently as 2004.
Instead of doing anything to work together and help create jobs over the last 5 years congress hasn’t done squat. Hang in there FRiend. I went way past 99 weeks (2 1/2 years) without a job. The middle men of employment (temp agencies and such) have been given a directive not to submit resumes of anyone unemployed. This has been happening since well before 2008. The companies are using these agencies to do their discrimination for them. I even had several come right out and ask me how old I was. Most freepers don’t get this, never happened to them so everyone is lazy, BS. I had hundreds of resumes out, right from the get-go of getting a layoff. 90% of the layoffs were my fellow “older” employees. Lie like a dog is my advice for you. I put down that I had been doing some freelance photography work. I took some pictures of some guys dog ONE time, haha, but I got a highly technical job out of it and actually taught myself statistics and analysis. I am sure if I had been a migrant worker I could have found a job sooner, but lived here all my life in one of the most industrial states in the union. The true unemployment numbers are probably 25% or more.
“90% of the layoffs were my fellow “older” employees.”
There you are. This is truth.
I know this is just a forum, so grammar, spelling and punctuation don't much matter.
However, if your resume and job applications feature the same level of English writing skills, it's doubtful you will be hired.
Sorry you’re unemployed but 26 weeks is the max unemployment should be. America can’t continue to hand out money they don’t have and extending benefits is nothing more than more stimulus that stimulates nothing.
I wish you luck but it’s a common theme I see where people are against something unless it affects them and then exceptions should be made. No exceptions will get this country going again.
I have been out of work since November last year, and while I am getting occasional interviews, I am still waiting on job offers. This is also in what is supposed to be one of the best places to find a job right now, Austin, TX. So many companies are just waiting or even pulling back because they are waiting to see what the gov’t does next. There is too much uncertainty for them to make the commitment to grow or expand.
Why would they want to lose their jobs at 26 weeks of employment?
What part of Austin and what line of work? I know there are a lot of openings in the Cedar Park and Leander areas.
It sounds complicated, but those who know the system, and there are literally thousands that you would never expect, by looking at them, can quote the rules and are expert at how to game it.. If you know the system, and you had better, if you are large enough, you can look, and check for accuracy, to catch the professionals..
There is an accumulated amount of work, usually 1 year, in the recent past employment, that qualify an individual for unemployment benefits.. Then he becomes injured, or laid off, etc.. If he reenters the workforce for 6 months, he re-qualifies for the new 6 months of benefits..
Now, they can do this over, and over for as long as it works, until they get caught, or they get injured, wing..wink, and hit the payload, from a lawsuit..
People think we owners are greedy, they should only know what we are faced with, and how the regs and frauds are working behind the firewalls..
The “unemployment figures” will drop if unemployment is not extended because of a drop off in those filing with the workforce commission knowing there is no check.
Fewer filings, fewer people “looking for work” even if they are still looking and in need of a job.
Even in the absence of an unemployment check, we need better reporting of the number of able bodied adults below retirement age who are not working. PERIOD.
NW Austin, right by Cedar Park. Part of the problem is that I am evidently ‘overqualified’ for a lot of the jobs out there (at least that is the opinion of the people doing the hiring). Plus, as a disabled vet, I am somewhat limited as to the physical activities I can do (like standing for long periods of time). I have dumbed down my resume, but the truth always seems to come out in the interviews. Most of my recent experience has been in the Program/Process Management field.
I have been out of work since November last year, and while “I am getting occasional interviews, I am still waiting on job offers. This is also in what is supposed to be one of the best places to find a job right now, Austin, TX. So many companies are just waiting or even pulling back because they are waiting to see what the gov’t does next. There is too much uncertainty for them to make the commitment to grow or expand.”
I will get flamed for not sugar-coating it, but I don’t buy this “times are tough” argument — only around 10 out of 100 of people are unemployed, so it must take a real loser to be unemployed for long.
If you are of average intelligence, skills, and drive, you should have no problem getting an employment, based on just statistics. Basically, you have to be at the BOTTOM quartile to have a chance at unemployment. If you are at the bottom quartile, unemployment is really the last of your worries.
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.