@Radi0logy: All right then, let's leave that one. I'll tell you where a large part of these people go. They buy a plane ticket to China in the hopes of cashing in on the economy that just won't stop growing (and you hit the nail on the head about why the jobs are here now). Plenty of US companies that are firing in the US are hiring here. I've seen the recruitment drives.

Blockbuster will be the next big company to fold, and when they do, where do those 300,000 employees go? It ain't to Netflix buddy.

I graduated as the recession was just getting into full swing. All my work had been temporary, part time, student work; and Seasonal work.

I have never qualified for Unemployment, based upon my wor history.

I'm torn, because on the one hand I know that some people really depend upon unemployment to stay afloat. I'm lucky to be young and have no children to support.

But I'd really rather see money put to ~creating~ jobs, I don't want a handout (whether I qualify or not), I want a job.

I'm worried I'm going to have to suck it up and go on Disability. I don't want to, I am willing to work, I want to work, there are jobs I can do. I feel that given that there's work I can do, there's no excuse not to work. But the jobs I am medically capable of doing are not available here right now and I can't afford to move. ...And I can't even get a job flipping burgers because I'm a farking liability (such a job would be unreasonably hazardous), that and the college degree which is impossible to leave off my application because I'm 26 and leaving off work related to my education leaves me with no work history!

Well that and, hilariously, the only way to get a job somewhere like McDonald's at this point is to be friends with someone there.

Your arguments' complete logical inconsistencies amaze me.

If you are a conservative, freer-market proponent (a perfectly legitimate viewpoint), as might be gathered from your statement that welfare is detrimental to the workforce, you would be expected to understand that the economic gains from netflix operating at a comparative advantage to blockbuster more than outweigh the cost of the jobs "lost", and is a win both for consumers and the economy.

If you are more liberal and feel that economic success should not come at the expense of everyday workers (a perfectly legitimate viewpoint), as might be gathered from your implying that consumer choices are taking jobs away from workers, you would understand that welfare is an important piece of protection for the lower and middle-class worker that fits directly into this line of thinking.

You can have one point of view. You can have another. But you cannot, in any sane way, have both.

Jamar0303 is exactly right. My brother and sister-in-law have been out of work for more than a year now since the business they worked for went under. They have tried to get many of these "beneath you" jobs. Not only are they taken by those from south of the border, but they're also often excluded from consideration because it's perceived that they'll up and leave for something better as soon as it comes along. Which is true. Believe me, my boyfriend and many others out here will take anything at this point, but they can't get it. Don't assume that people who've been out of work this long are somehow being snobby, because I know for a fact that isn't the case.

@craptastico: he did, both before leaving and once here. They're not satisfied that we're actually in a relationship, despite all the evidence we've provided, so they don't feel he qualifies.

Here are some important additional details:

1- The first week covered by this extension is week ending Saturday, November 14, 2009. It is expected that all states will agree to use this same date.

2- On average, most states took about three weeks to implement the previous federal extension. Each state DOL must identify and contact the TENS of THOUSANDS who will meet the eligibility criteria for this extension (exponentially more than last time). It will likely take one month, at minimum, before any actual payments are issued! Payments will be retroactive to week ending November 15, 2009, thankfully!

3- To fund this latest extension, a federal unemployment tax (paid by employers) that was set to expire at the end of this year will now be extended thru 2011. Estimates calculate the cost per current employee to be $14 per year for the next two years.

4- The extension provides "UP TO" 14 weeks additional benefits for all states. States averaging jobless rates of 8.5% for the past three months get an additional six weeks (20 weeks total). The actual benefit extension period varies based on the original eligibility determination. If you qualified for the maximum benefit period (26 weeks in most states), you will qualify for the full 14 (or 20) week extension. If your original determination was less, 18 weeks for example, then the extension will be pro-rated accordingly. For example, 18 weeks is 64% of 26 weeks, so you'd qualify for 64% of the 14 or 20 week extension, depending on your state. In a 20-week state, that would translate to 13 weeks of additional benefits.

not giving you a fish but teaching you
how to fish

In a word, and at the risk of being disemvowled - fuck off. I've been looking solid for six months now since 25% of my company was laid off, and I haven't even gotten ONE bloody call back. Hell, I'm applying for minimum wage janitors and ditch diggers and fast food - stuff that's WAY below my skill set - and I'm getting nothing. Not one. single. call.

So take that "People on unemployment are lazy" attitude and shove it up your ass.

While no one wants to call it by that word, the present economic debacle is the worst since the Great Depression and could easily be called a depression. Like the first one, this was principally the result of excess in the financial industries and when the bill came due, the first thing cut was financing for business, especially small and medium business which employ the majority of US workers.

So while it is easy to blame the laid off worker, it's also bullshit. The CEOs of Lehman, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and B of A did more to destroy the economy than any person drawing an unemployment check.

Do you not understand that you PAY for unemployment insurance?

But I am partly on yourside. I was thinking this morning when I heard on NPR (what i consider liberal douchebag radio, even tho I am an avid fan) that they were extending the unemployment benefits was "gee... My grandfather had the CC camps. Why cant they just have something like that. I mean, the infrastructure is crumbling. Pay people to work fixing it. Or at least picking up trash."

I can understand the dignity thing, I realize that moving to a lower income job feels like going backwards, but a lower income job is sometimes better than no job as it keeps you occupied, helps build your resume and can lead you to a better paying job. A friend mine worked as a clerk at a hobby shop and then moved on to a much better paying job because one of the regulars at the store really liked him and had an opening available.

@HeatherLynn30:
My boyfriend (now husband) moved to FL from PA for the same reason as yours.

He found work with a temp agency (day labor) at least 3x a week making $40/day. Among others, he cleaned hotel rooms, dug trenches, and basic janitorial.

There is no such thing as a job being "beneath you": work is work.

@HeatherLynn30: your boyfriend should have tried to line up employment before leaving his old job. that's just common sense.

@bohemian:

Yes, because spending $1,200,000,000,000 we don't have to insure less than 1/3 of the "uninsured" is a bright idea.
It's also a good idea for the federal government to raise their debt ceiling above the current level of $12,000,000,000,000 so that the country doesn't go into loan default in by December as it's projected to.

@TheMonkeyKing: It aggravates me to see that I'm punished for my hardwork and budgeting, ensuring I never have to get a government entitlement.

WAKE UP: You are born into this world with nothing, you are entitled to nothing; everything must be earned.

@PencilSharp: That's funny. I too put myself through college working 3 part time jobs and attending school full time, and taking out loans from the federal government. I look forward to be buried with my student debt.

Yet, somehow, I manage not to begrudge our government extending help to people who need it. You know. Like they did when they loaned us money to go to school.

No, its not glamorous. No, it isn't something to be proud of. But I wonder how many people draining unemployment and losing their homes would be OK if they could get over their ridiculous pride and overblown sense of self worth.

I am very sorry, but if you are so ostentatious that you cannot live on $40k a year as a family of four for 1 year without having to go heavily in credit card debt then you are living too luxuriously. If you make/made enough to save up enough to pay your way through a tough time then good for you. But don't go sucking up unemployment to cover the dues at the racket club.

He doesn't qualify for benefits and hasn't been able to land a job interview or even a lousy HR screener since June. How were we supposed to know then that CA's unemployment would be among the highest in the nation?

But yeah. Yay for everyone else.

Take yer pick: nada, nil, nix, nein, nyet.

Oh, well. At least I get tons of student loan debt to keep me warm this winter...

@Radi0logy: No one is denying that some people went crazy with their money and lived way above their means. However, there are so many people out there without a job who are struggling, and oftentimes failing, to make ends meet. It's not fair to say everyone who is unemployed who had a great job lived above their means. It's simply untrue.

@SkokieGuy: Here in NY, it's $405 per week for the 26 weeks. Granted, right now we're getting extensions and what not, so by the end of the year, I will have received $21,060 plus that extra Federal $25 per week that started for us folks earlier this year. And as you pointed out, I am so unmotivated to find work, well, I just read Consumerist all day. ;-)

Seriously, my fear is losing the house. I'm burning through my savings and it's been 10+ months so far.

Thank you for saying what I have been telling people.

the only problem with this is that unemployment insurance is run by the states, and while it's a noble idea, i don't know that the federal gov't should be able to mandate states to spend money they don't have. as it is the premiums are meant to cover payouts, and i imagine this will make them run in the red.

@Radi0logy: It's not half million dollar homes. If you have children, working at McDonald's or Walmart alone is not going to cut it.

[start.cortera.com]

Netflix - Number of employees as of 2008 - somewhere between 150 and 1500, depending on who says it

[74.125.113.132]

[start.cortera.com]

No, but.. yeah you're right. Its exactly the same. Trading 300 thousand jobs for 1500. What a great way to create jobs. Keep talking, you're making excellent points everyone!

I want Congress to get health care reform passed so they can focus on dealing with the financial sector mess. Without reform and lots of key players ending up behind bars there will be no recovery.

It isn't like unemployment is even desirable. Unless your already a poverty stricken deadbeat unemployment comes nowhere near replacing enough income to make basic expenses.

@SkokieGuy:

Let's not forget that a lot of people refuse to find work that's below their expectations of income.

What's to get over? None of us are complaining here, you are.

Here is my not-so-humble opinion:
Until there is some sort of punishment or regulation put on banks and investment houses, currently seated Democrat or Republican is not safe. It is the expectation that greed caused this and the easiest mark is to point to those with money.

I am frugal with my money but it does peeve me something serious to see others who got themselves in over their head in investments, property, or business that really had unrealistic expectations get a bail out.

Unemployment will not adjust to a lower rate until everyone is willing to make a little less and do quite a bit more.

No, my point was that the people who are unemployed right now don't really seem to be the ones being replaced by machines and impersonal processes (as you implied). People that I know who have been laid off are architects, accountants, custom furniture makers, and nurses. Tiny, every day choices are not causing these people to lose their jobs.

Oh ok. My fault I lost my job even though they told me it was a money problem and they'd take me back when they could. Ok.

It isn't *free* money. Corporations pay into this fund. YOU pay into this fund with your paycheck. If you lost your job, wouldn't' you be happy to get some of that money back?

You can also replace that last line with something about armed insurrection. I'm pretty sure if that many people were absolutely destitute there may be some civil troubles ahead that would involve violence. People will go to any lengths to feed themselves and their family.

@Radi0logy: I can't help but wonder if the people who most scream at the benefit of helping our fellow citizens are the ones who least feel like they would ever need that assistance themselves.

It seems obvious to me that -outliers aside- assisting our fellow citizens to get /back/ on their feet is the best thing for our economy.

@yellowlight: Yup, a person making $75K a year who loses his job and get just over $15K a year in unemployement benefits (ational average $293 a week) will be totally unmotivated to find work.

The problem is choice.

Meaning, companies will not choose to hire additonal workers unless there is a financial incentive.Hiring workers drains the profit margins, and profit margins are the reason companies exist.Why hire anyone when one can still squeeze the current workers' productivity to equal the people who've been canned?

Rather than throwing money at unemployment, perhaps let us initiate a tax-credit to any corporation that add X percentage of workers over Y period of time?

Also, this is more pragmatic than an optimal solution in my opinion. Since we can not expand the money supply anymore and additional stimulus will either we a.) wasted on none stimulus stuff or b.) be politically possible to implement.

FAIL. When there aren't enough jobs to go around, all the motivation in the world isn't going to get everyone a job.