Meant to say:
I will gladly trade my UB check for anyone’s paycheck.
Unfortunately, people tend to paint with a ‘broad brush’, in assuming that everyone on unemployment is lazy. I wouldn’t call anyone a leech (as spiltmilk stated) unless I knew the entire situation or story. Some are actively looking for work, looking to acquire a new skill set, willing to relocate etc...but not everyone, as simple human nature would predict.
I know two near ‘99ers’ here in town, and they almost wear that badge with honor. Neither has done anything other than look for similar job at similar pay to the one they lost, and continue to look in the same labor market/area they live in. Both complain about the lack of funds provided by unemployment payments, but I guess they’re not that uncomfortable that they have looked to change fields or move to where a job might be or even to take a lesser paying job (or two).
I don’t know what to think at this point...but continually extending the jobless benefits past two years doesn’t seem like a good answer. Not to sound cruel, but at a certain point certain people need to be placed in a more ‘uncomfortable’ situation just so they do something else, anything else, to be productive.
How long is ‘too long’ for unemployment benefits??
Are you starving, losing weight, moving to a new location to find work? If not, you are still in a comfortable position.
I don’t know your own specific position, but I am really referring to people who, for example, lost their jobs because the industry that kept the town going has collapsed - and the town folk seem to be paralyzed into a dependency on government for far too long. The leftists who have been in charge of our Congress for the past three years are happy to have as many people as possible dependent forever.