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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs… No Jobs! Two Million To Lose Unemployment Benefits.

By: Skip MacLure (Diary)  |  June 30th, 2010 at 02:52 PM  | 

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It’s one of those worst-case nightmare scenarios that every worker from Maine to Hawaii has been experiencing for more than two years now, with one out of five Americans unable to find work in Barack Obama’s wonderland and unemployment benefits about to end for two million unemployed by Saturday.

Once again Congress has descended into partisan bickering, as Congressional DeMarxists attempt to add more spending to existent legislation and Republicans insisting that any additional jobless benefits be paid for by reductions in debt. It’s the classic Democrat-Republican impasse, with the American people trapped in between.

Republicans are correct in doing everything possible to reduce the DeMarxist money juggernaut which is threatening to impoverish the country for decades to come. However, the active principle should be the welfare of the people who have seen their jobs lost, due to the suicidally unwise monetary policies set in place by both Democrats and Republicans.

It cracks me up when I hear hear sage ‘economists’ pontificating that Americans are using unemployment as an ‘excuse’ for not finding jobs. Having spoken to many people over the last two years who have found themselves in the position of having lost their jobs, I can assure you that few, if any, were using unemployment as some sort of paid vacation. With rare exception, unemployment doesn’t pay enough to live or support a family on… much less make mortgage payments. The continuing waves of foreclosures are mute testimony to this.

Any Conservative will tell you that the very idea of dependence on government is repugnant indeed. But these are not normal times… with the actual unemployment figures much closer to seventeen per cent, as opposed to the meek 9.6% the government claims it to be. Job losses are much closer to great depression levels than in any recession we’ve had.
Congress should set aside their differences on this.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

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COMMENTS

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  • Scope

    The more people who are unemployed, and many not being able to get extended unemployment benefits now beyond 99 weeks, the more will see just what damage O and his socialists are doing to the economy, and this country. What happened to that biggest stimulus in American history that was supposed to create jobs? Where is any effort to expand the private sector jobs. We don’t need more than 600,000 public sector jobs.

    I am one of those that lost my job because of the housing bust more than 2 years ago. I am not collecting any unemployment. My husband and I cut back drastically. It ain’t any fun I promise, but, all extended unemployment benefits will do is keep the crowds quiet long enough to keep the indians from going on the war path. Those indians need to go on the war path against the party that has put them there, and, wants to keep them all there.

    • lineholder

      I happen to agree with you, but a lot of those Indians you referred to don’t see it the same way we do.

      Those Indians don’t believe that the party that has put them there wants to keep them there. That’s part of the problem. They believe that evil insurance companies and evil bankers caused this economic crisis, with the help of the evil G.W. Bush, and that Democrats are their knights on white horses riding to their rescue while the despicable, stingy, power-hungry, greedy Republicans with their capitalistic loyalties are standing in the way.

      • Scope

        but I would be willing to bet that those that don’t see it that way are O voters, and those that don’t have the first minute of knowledge of politics no matter who is in power at any given time. Also, in some cases, unemployment monies are higher than some of those few jobs that are available. Why would someone risk the higher unemployment benefit payment and actually go out and work for less? The whole system is rigged to keep people on the benefit rather than to work. And, the O raised the benefit payment by $25 dollars, and, made the first $2,000, I think, tax exempt for federal tax purposes. Hey, that $25 dollars is a few more beers or a few more drugs.

        • cactusjack

          A 3 year sluggish economy with trough unemployment is a killer to whomever is holding office, R or D – “Americans vote their pocketbooks”. After months and months of 10% unemployment, the facade falls down, the MSM gets out of Dodge (as it appears they’re starting to do, now) . I have always believed we needed to be cold realists in evaluating how hard it is to throw out any President after only one term. The odds are against it. But history, specifically Carter in 1980. shows us what will make the American electorate do that. And Obama is getting perilously close to fulfilling the pattern. All it will take now in this awful brew,is inflation, or a national security reverse, and he’s done. But not in a landslide, mind you. If he goes out in 2012, he goes out 45-55 in popular vote and just under 200 votes in the electoral college. Nothing worth having comes easy.

        • eastbaylarry

          I don’t think more than 26 weeks is a good idea.
          Sure we lost the house and were frequent customers of the local food bank for awhile, but that’s all over now and things are ‘stable’ again, (at a *much* reduced standard of living).

          And NOW I’m paying attention to politics. And to quote Pink Floyd, “We won’t get fooled again”.

        • lineholder

          So many people are becoming entrenched in this kind of behavior, for lack of a better word. They aren’t going to hit that warpath. I wish they would, for the sake of their own self-respect if for no other reason. But they won’t.

  • Vegas_Rick

    You’re asking Republicans to fold AGAIN, “for the kids.” No damn it! There are billions in unspent stimulus money that can be used to pay for the unemployment benefit extension. What we DO need is someone, anyone, from the Repub;ican leadership to get out in the media and explain this choice to the folks.

    They’d understand.

    • Scope

      do you think the D’s will even consider using those unspent Stimulus dollars for anything other than their future elections. It is still there for that reason. In fact it was passed for that purpose.

      What really needs to happen is that some of the pet Democrat funded programs need to be cut, and the still unused Stimulus funds need to go back against the borrowed funds from the Stimulus. In other words, cut the debt.

  • http://www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com SoFiMil

    That vacancy can be filled tonight. Reid needs to stop blaming Republicans and fill the late Sen. Byrd’s seat if he wants this bill passed.

    http://www.examiner.com/x-27052-Rochester-Unemployment-Examiner~y2010m6d30-Extended-unemployment-benefits-Senate-still-one-vote-short-of-passing-unemployment-extension

  • Flagstaff

    They look to be very good. I’ll be watching for more of them. You are prolific, too.

    I do have a few differences with you on this one, though.

    Republicans are correct in doing everything possible to reduce the DeMarxist money juggernaut which is threatening to impoverish the country for decades to come. However, the active principle should be the welfare of the people who have seen their jobs lost, due to the suicidally unwise monetary policies set in place by both Democrats and Republicans.

    You hit it right with “the DeMarxist money juggernaut which is threatening to impoverish the country for decades to come.” But that has to be Job 1. Not only Job 1, but the only Job. It can’t be pushed aside because of the false idea that extending unemployment benefits indefinitely (after all, when should we stop?) doesn’t add to the problem. Unemployment benefits should be seen as a stopgap measure to give someone who’s lost his job a chance to get back on his feet, get another job, or figure out some way to take care of business until he can. No, not many people are loafing because of them, but the fact is they have to stop sometime, sooner or later. The longer they are extended, the more we have to borrow. And each three-month extension adds three months of benefits for everybody, including those who will be laid off next month.

    Also, IMHO, monetary policies have not been the real problem. Fiscal profligacy has, though, and much of that has to be laid at the feet of the Democrats, not so much the Republicans.

    A good thing about unemployment benefits that is rarely mentioned is that it’s ‘stimulus’ money that actually does some good. It goes directly into the private economy.

    It