I say to people not to cast judgment on anyone on unemployment or food stamps for that matter unless one has been in the situation. Losing a job, unemployment (here, the most one can receive is $240 per week!) and having a family and trying to make ends meet is almost impossible.
That unemployment money has gone to pay the utilities and a house payment.
A typical day for myself and many others I know is look for a job during the day, up in the middle of the night looking at job postings, sending resumes, completing applications online, etc. This is a non-stop job and consumes much of anyone’s time. It is exhausting.
If there were jobs, so many would be happy to accept one but it appears as though there are not many.
I got my ass handed to me by freepers that live well and say that this is some burdon on them to pay. Frankly, they’ll never see it as it’s a tiny blip on the budget.
This ruthlessness is bad form in this economy. I’ve said many times when it’s a normal situation and unemployment is under 7% that these extensions aren’t probably needed very much. To cut them now though, that’s just nasty business after the bailouts, TARP, and so on.