[BLEW911]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Jeff, I'm surprised that you're suddenly so P.C. I'm also surprised that you now seem to support ever-increasing handouts over personal responsibility.

I'm sorry if I offended those who have recently lost their jobs. I sincerely hope your stressful times are short-lived. Those of you who bristled at my original post seem to have lost your jobs fairly recently, and have been trying to find employment. I think that's what umemployment is for: to help bridge the temporary gap between job loss and re-employment, while you're actively trying to find another job. I apologize if I suggested that all unemployed are lazy or unmotivated.

What I'm quite against is the attitude of "Oh, I'll worry about finding a job when my unemployment runs out." I've seen it in the past, and even now. Maybe not on this thread, but it's certainly prevalent in society.

I'm also against extending unemployment benefits for long periods of time. I suppose that's where we differ in our opinions. Unemployment used to be for about half a year (twenty-some weeks) in California. It was then extended to a little over a year (fifty-some weeks) a few years ago. Recently, using federal bailout money, it has been extended to cover something like 79 weeks of unemployment. That's ridiculous. Perhaps I'll offend everyone in the PSUP, but if you can't find a job in a year, you're not trying hard enough.

No BS about there not being adequate jobs to pay a decent living wage. That's cr@p. I agree there are many jobs that pay didly. That's why you take 2 or 3 of those jobs at the same time. It's not ideal. It sucks. But if the options are being homeless/hungry versus working multiple menial jobs to keep a roof over my family's heads, I certainly know what I'll be doing. What kind of sense of entitlement is going on that people won't work because they can't find high paying jobs? If you're unemployed for a year and can't find work in your usual and customary occupation, go find work doing something else.

Oh, and your analogy to a disabled kid is quite poor. A disabled kid has a tough time in life because he simply can't do certain things for himself. People who are unemployed are (in general) fairly able-bodied and functional. They can do a lot of things for themselves. Big difference, IMO.

Apologize for the threadjack.