[icwhatudo]

Within 5 days of his last unemployment check, my neighbor and his wife both “magically” found jobs. He was on unemployment for over 1 1/2 years.

[wbill]

The US is at 99 weeks of unemployment insurance, and counting When does it cease to be temporary help, and start being a permanent welfare program?

I think that, in general, unemployment insurance is an excellent idea. It addresses an immediate, temporary problem (got laid off) and can stop it from becoming a long-term drain on society (bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc).

However, if, after nearly 2 years (and I'd argue that one year is plenty long enough) .... you haven't come up with a solution to get out of your situation (new job, move, new career, marry into money, *something*) ... then the problem ceases being the taxpayer's (mine) and starts being *yours*.

IMHO.

[Labyrinthos]

Within 5 days of his last unemployment check, my neighbor and his wife both “magically” found jobs. He was on unemployment for over 1 1/2 years.

I have witnessed the same pattern many times. In my opinion a person should not be able to collect unemployment until they have been unemployed for at least a month.