Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Unemployment Insurance: Not An Entitlement, But Obama Acts As If It Is
RFFM.org ^ | July 25, 2010 | Daniel T. Zanoza

Posted on 07/26/2010 4:44:49 AM PDT by Daniel T. Zanoza

Obama Gets His Way Regarding Extension Of Unemployment Benefits // Sadly, Millions Of Americans Now Dependent Upon Government To Survive

Just a few days ago, President Barack Obama celebrated the passage of H.R. 4213, a $34 billion bill which will extend unemployment benefits for recipients in 2010. I feel terrible for the millions of hard-working people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. But the fact is unemployment insurance was never meant to be a federal entitlement.

Sadly, there are Americans who will have to collect unemployment insurance far past the time this program was designed to assist those who lost their jobs. Though most collecting unemployment would much rather be working, there are reports some are actually turning down jobs for a number of reasons. There are those who are asking potential employers if they can get paid "under the table", in order to continue receiving their bi-monthly unemployment checks. The reason for this may not seem as sinister as it appears because the few available jobs simply will not provide enough money to pay their bills.

And here is one more undeniable fact. The jobs of many of those who became unemployed after our nation's economy tanked will never return. For example, good manufacturing jobs and the companies which employed millions of Americans have permanently moved offshore. High taxation, government regulations and cheap foreign labor has driven many corporations out of the United States into the waiting arms of countries like Mexico, Japan and China. Businesses in the service industry, including telecommunications, find operating costs far less prohibitive in India, Taiwan and the Philippines. Much of this is a result of unions which feathered the beds of not only themselves, but politicians as well. Companies could no larger match union demands for ever-increasing employee benefits and salaries which essentially drove their own constituents out of the jobs market.

As usual, the Obama administration is using this tragic situation to expand government, put more Americans at the whim of federal largesse and ultimately control the lives of millions who are now dependent on the government in order to survive.

The Obama administration never misses an opportunity to use the suffering of the American people for political gain. Initially, Republicans tried to hold their ground against more unchecked spending by a government which is out of control regarding financial responsibility. However, since Obama has the bully pulpit and the ear of the liberal establishment media, Obama was painting those who were against the extension of unemployment benefits as cold-hearted and uncaring. Some members of the GOP rightfully believed the $34 billion should have been taken out of the $862 billion stimulus package or paid for through the elimination of wasteful government spending. Of course, Obama won the political argument and another $34 billion has been tacked on to the national debt which will be paid for by countless generations to come.

To add to the problem, states that find themselves in smothering debt will be even more hard-pressed to meet their financial obligations related to the extension of unemployment benefits. For example, California--which is near the brink of bankruptcy--provides a substantial percentage of the high benefits they pay to those on unemployment rolls. A state which was recently paying some of its bills with I.O.U.'s will find itself in a deeper financial hole from which recovery is nowhere in sight.

The reality of having so many Americans dependent on unemployment benefits is clear. They are like addicts who are at the mercy of a President whose policies have destroyed millions of jobs, contrary to the propaganda spewed forth from the White House every day. In fact, while hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil were spilling daily into the Gulf of Mexico for months, Obama was on a national tour touting the success of his stimulus scam which supposedly created and/or saved millions of jobs. Obama was so brazen that he recently had a photo-op with three Americans who were depending upon the extension of their unemployment benefits because they could not find jobs. As many conservative pundits pointed out, Obama looked foolish because on one hand the President was claiming his stimulus program was a huge success while on the other hand, he inferred unemployment benefits should be extended because so many Americans could not find jobs. You can't have it both ways, Mr. President, and most of us realize the latter is true.

I suppose the most insulting aspect of the entire situation related to the unemployment benefit extension legislation is the fact the bills were co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut). These are two individuals who should be in handcuffs and shackles while serving time in a federal prison because of their monitoring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which many economists believe plunged American into its current recession. Instead, these two legislators, who acted criminally, are doing their best to help Obama, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) destroy our nation's economy.

Unemployment insurance is not an entitlement. One day, these benefits will run out for those who depend on this money to buy groceries, clothe their children, pay their mortgages or rent, along with the other expenses that must be paid by every American family. These Americans must live on a budget. They cannot print their own money. They cannot borrow from foreign nations to meet their needs. They are not too big to fail. Yet, ultimately, this will be the case. I believe this is the ultimate goal of the Obama administration. Socialists, like those who are in the Congressional majority, contend the government knows best. The only question that remains to be asked is whether it's too late to do undo the damage that has been done by liberals who control every branch of government.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: hr4213; obama; stimulus; unemployment

1 posted on 07/26/2010 4:44:53 AM PDT by Daniel T. Zanoza
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Daniel T. Zanoza

2 posted on 07/26/2010 4:46:55 AM PDT by Oceander (The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance -- Thos. Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Daniel T. Zanoza

The democrats are desperate to make unemployment the new welfare. It leads to dependency on government which leads to control by government.

The democrats actually want high unemployment numbers.


3 posted on 07/26/2010 4:47:35 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Daniel T. Zanoza
I am very scared, my job ends the last day of August. I am 49 years old and it looks like my only choice is use my GI Bill and go back to school. I will have a little money left over and will still have to work somewhere,but I think I might make it. I drew unemployment once in my life about 30 years ago for 2 months and don't want to have do it again.
4 posted on 07/26/2010 4:56:59 AM PDT by Hotmetal (Support the castle, defend the flag. 858TH Engineering Battalion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hotmetal

The problem isn’t unemployment. The problem is overegulation and overtaxation leading to a severe shortage of jobs.


5 posted on 07/26/2010 4:59:48 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Daniel T. Zanoza

Meanwhile, just this past Feb and March, the commies running the country cooked the numbers to bring the unemployment number down .2% or so.

How?

Those whose unemployment compensation was running out went out and started looking for jobs. The commies counted those additional seekers as good enough to bring the unemployment number down.

This tells us three important facts:

1. The commies using the U-3 KNOW that the U-6 is the REAL unemployment number, as the U-6 counts those who have been unemployed so long they are no longer eligible for unemployment compensation.

2. When unemployment compensation ends, people will look for AND FIND work. It may not be work they want to do, but they will do it.

3. Setting a time table enables the abusers of that time table to plan and prepare. This is no less different than setting a “deadline” in the war on terror. If Obammie the Commie sets a pull-out date for Afghanistan and Iraq, the Islamofascists will sit on their hands until that day. The day after, they will begin to act (murder and oppress).


6 posted on 07/26/2010 5:00:08 AM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

You and the post are both correct, it is nothing but welfare with a new name.

BTW my wife is unemployed and looking for a job in the Winter Garden area of Fl. Can I have welfare too?


7 posted on 07/26/2010 5:03:19 AM PDT by fuzzybutt (Democrat Lawyers are the root of all evil.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

How does this make fiscal sense?
__________________________________________________________

The Obama administration says the government will grow to 2.15 million employees this year, topping 2 million for the first time since President Clinton declared that “the era of big government is over” and joined forces with a Republican-led Congress in the 1990s to pare back the federal work force.

Most of the increases are on the civilian side, which will grow by 153,000 workers, to 1.43 million people, in fiscal 2010.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/02/burgeoning-federal-payroll-signals-return-of-big-g/


8 posted on 07/26/2010 5:03:35 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Despair - Man's surrender. Laughter - God's redemption)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: sodpoodle
How does this make fiscal sense?

It doesn't. Every last paycheck paid by the taxpayers is an economic loss.

I have that argument with the liberal leeches in Ann Arbor on a regular basis and they always claim that they pay taxes so my argument doesn't stand up but they don't pay 101% in taxes so its a loss, period.
9 posted on 07/26/2010 5:19:28 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Hotmetal
...it looks like my only choice is use my GI Bill and go back to school. I will have a little money left over and will still have to work somewhere, but I think I might make it.

If you had more time to work on it, and the numbers were in your favor, you might have considered buying a two or three family home as a new primary residence (GI Bill, no downpayment), and converting your current home to a rental at a minimum of break even. That reduces your housing cost considerably.

Of course since I sell houses, I do tend to think of problem solutions involving them...

8^)

10 posted on 07/26/2010 6:12:03 AM PDT by JimRed (To water the Tree of Liberty is to excise a cancer before it kills us. TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Daniel T. Zanoza

People want to blame the banks and Wall Street for the tanking of the economy. In reality, the fault entirely belongs to DEADBEATS who won’t pay their mortgages and can’t keep a job. If people would just STAY EMPLOYED and then MAKE THEIR PAYMENTS, things would be fine.

Here is my advice: Be among the 80% (mostly conservative Republcans, as it turns out) who are not seen as expendable to the boss when the economy goes soft. That means SHOWING UP for work, not calling in sick on every sunny Friday and PULLING YOUR WEIGHT. Better yet, BE the boss.

I have zero sympahthy for people who are playing the victim these days. The hard workers, non-whiners and non-crazy people are getting by just fine.

Here is what everyone needs to remember: WHATEVER HAPPENS TO YOU IS YOUR FAULT. You get what you deserve. God sees to that.


11 posted on 07/26/2010 6:18:55 AM PDT by USALiberty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JimRed

I’m almost out of debt, I don’t want to add fuel to the fire. I only have three years left on my house.


12 posted on 07/26/2010 6:29:25 AM PDT by Hotmetal (Support the castle, defend the flag. 858TH Engineering Battalion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Hotmetal

Unemployment payments are benefits you and your employer pay for, not freebie handouts.

Of course you’d prefer to be employed but don’t mistakenly refuse money you’ve paid for and earned by working.

Get started on your GI Bill paperwork NOW! It takes a while to kick in but some universities will accept you if they know your GI Bill check is ‘in the mail’. In fact, they’ll file the paperwork for you or help you do it. But get started ASAP.


13 posted on 07/26/2010 7:52:51 AM PDT by Eagle Eye (A blind clock finds a nut at least twice a day.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Eagle Eye

Thanks for the info. I did the paperwork last week for the GI Bill hope to hear something soon.


14 posted on 07/26/2010 12:06:31 PM PDT by Hotmetal (Support the castle, defend the flag. 858TH Engineering Battalion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson