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View Full Version : No work, and now no safety net.



XxKrebsxX
6th July 2010, 06:16
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/30/2055914/no-work-and-now-no-safety-net.html

Article about the end of unemployment benefits to millions of workers in the U.S. and the amount of those whose benefits will run out in the near future. Also, I bolded some interesting points as well as one of the most asinine quotes from a moron republican.


....about 6.8 million of the nations 15 million unemployed have been out of work for six months or more (the official definition of long-term unemployment), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the highest proportion of long-term unemployment on record, according to the data series that dates to 1948.

...

there are about five job hunters for every posted opening.

...

Therein lies one effect of ending unemployment insurance programs: Sooner or later, many of the unemployed end up relying on public assistance in some way, whether its for subsidized health care, food or, in limited cases, welfare aid to families with dependent children.

Advocates for continuing unemployment benefits note that the Congressional Budget Office has ranked unemployment insurance as the most effective form of economic stimulus.

It gets money into the hands of the people who are most likely to spend it, Shierholz said. It goes straight into their local economies when they use it to pay for their food and housing.

One study indicates that $10 billion of unemployment insurance spending creates or saves 100,000 jobs.

Do the math, Shierholz said. Failure to approve the $35.5 billion unemployment program translates into 350,000 jobs that arent happening. Whatever your feelings about unemployment insurance, you cant ignore that theres a drain on public assistance in other ways.

...

[On extending unemployment in Congress]

The American people know it isnt right to simply add the cost of this spending to our already-overdrawn national credit card, said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, after the House rejection on Tuesday.

Emphasis on the part that he believes Americans think it is wrong. Condescending jackass. :mad:

bcbm
6th July 2010, 06:47
there are about five job hunters for every posted opening.

i think it is interesting how often statistics like this appear. while this sounds rough, i think it actually makes the current situation sound less severe than it is because it ignores who is looking for jobs vs. what kind of jobs are being posted.

Adi Shankara
6th July 2010, 09:40
We should cut unemployment benefits...and then Give these people jobs! Instead, in capitalism, our government waits around for the private sector to create jobs after we gave them free money and cut their taxes, expecting them to want to hire more people...yeah right. am I the only one who doesn't notice that the phrases "giving away money" and "capitalist economic system" never seem to go together?

If we actually had a dedicated state employment sector (NOT privately owned, the minute you factor profit motivation into this is the minute the project starts cutting corners and turns to crap) that focuses strictly on public improvement, we could provide many jobs to people. there are still projects we could do to improve this country--how many people need affordable housing right now? so why don't we put people to work building more housing?

How many people will need raw materials to build said housing? so why don't we create a state agency to procure those materials and put more people to work?

There you go, killed two birds with one stone just now.