GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post

GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job
First Posted: 03- 1-10 06:15 PM | Updated: 03- 1-10 06:59 PM

A debate on the Senate floor Monday over unemployment compensation crystallized, at least for a moment, the divide between the two parties in Washington.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican whip, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

"I'm sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here," said Kyl.



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/01/gop-sen-kyl-unemployment_n_481526.html

[DebbieCDC]

1. What frigging planet do these people live on?

I'm serious, WTF???? There ARE NO JOBS you effing idiot. What about that statement don't you understand? I'd like to see Kyl and Bunning and all their ilk try to live on unemployment for a month while at the same time tryinig to find a job in this economy. They'd be begging for mercy after two weeks. It's easy to throw mud on those that need help when you're a multimillionaire. Goddamn effing cowards. I have no words for how much I despise these people -- and how much I despise our weak-willed spineless democrats (small "d" intentionally used) for enabling this bullshit.

on edit: sp.

[tonysam]

7. Yeah 400 a week--taxable income--sure as hell doesn't

begin to buy a luxurious lifestyle.

By the way, $393 is the maximum a person can get on UI in Nevada, and that is based on what one made in wages and salaries.

[totodeinhere]

22. And many people get a lot less than that.

If you were a low wage worker who got laid off, in Nevada you get in the low 200's. Try living on that senator Kyle.

[Lochloosa]

50. 275 is the MAX in Florida.

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

91. AZ is maxed out at 240/week plus 25 from fed government

yah !! that would keep me from looking for a job.

[True_Blue]

103. Max $240 here in AZ (Kyl's state) - nt

[fasttense]

138. Wow, $400 a week? Here in TN maximum benefits are $275 a week. n/t

[bitchkitty]

150. I made 28K in Oregon and when I was laid off, got $130 and change.

I would have killed for $400 a week!

[mlevans]

189. Pennsylvania is somewhat better in that respect.

Weekly maximum benefits are listed between $539 and $547, although the actual average benefit is $325 and change. Even assuming the max though, it's not enough to actually feed, house and clothe a family on. Kyl and his ilk surely cannot be stupid enough to believe it is. This crap is a deliberate attack on the people.

[superconnected]

216. Washington is just under $600 a week, but that's the highest assuming the

person made over $20 an hour at their job before they were laid off so most people make far less.

[thecrow]

21. Maybe you should extend that to a year or more....

like many of us have had to do.
A month is too short.

[JDPriestly]

67. It's time for Kyle to experience unemployment for himself.

What nonsense. In California, I believe that you have to declare that you are actively seeking work in order to be eligible for unemployment.

And unemployment does not pay enough to be a disincentive to work.

Senator Kyle needs to get out an mix with ordinary people more often.

[howmad1]

80. Here's a better idea:

Every single unemployed progressive should call Kyl's office and ask him for a job. Tie up the son-of-a-bitch's' line for as long as possible. Even better, every unemployed dem should be picketing Kyl's office. What pisses me off is not a peep out of the democratic party here in Arizona complaining about Kyl. Furthermore, we don't have a viable senate candidate to run against McCain. What a fucked up democratic party in this state. Maybe the dems should convince Arpio to run as a democrat.

[bergie321]

187. We have a Democratic Party?

In Arizona?

[601Liberal]

203. Right

When I lived in California and had unemployment, I had to fill out a piece of paper every week detailing what jobs I filled out applications or sent resumes in for.

[butterfly77]

208. Let them keep talking...

and maybe then these stupid people who still vote for republicons will finally get the message. THE DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT US!! The media should follow all republicons and ask them where they stand.

[Plucketeer]

235. That's a good point. Furhtermore,

video clips of these ass hats making these ASSertions should be front and foremost in ads during the campaigns. Can't you just SEE an ad that starts: "Out of work? Vote GOP to help yourself!" Then bring on the clips of Kyle and Bunning showing just what Compassionate Conservatism looks like!

:evilgrin: :grr: :evilgrin: :grr:

[rury]

92. What an unfeeling, inhuman

shameless pile of hot stinking shit John Kyl is.
I hope "Independent" voters who are considering handing Congress back to the Greedy Old Party in November take a cold hard look at these fuckwads who are Kyl and his ilk before they cast their precious ballots.

[SusanaMontana41]

134. Well said.

n/t

[olegramps]

154. You have looked into the face of evil vindictiveness. Its called the Republican Party.

The Working Class just doesn't get it yet. The wealthy robber barons are determined to totally destroy the Middle Class by dismantling FDR's New Deal and the dumb ass workers continue to happily assist in their own destruction.

[butterfly77]

209. Hillary told them years ago..

and Grover Norquist.

[Hersheygirl]

178. Sounds to me like he's saying

that those who file for unemployment are to lazy to look for work.

[Still Sensible]

220. And thats the underlying sentiment standing in the

way of health care as well. Republicons have an edge because a significant segment of voting Americans loathe the idea that 'lazy people are going to get something at your expense.' Because they have been so successful over the years in using the anecdotal evidence of admittedly bad actors (welfare fraudsters, etc), they generally haven't had to say it so explicitly very often... but here comes Kyle to remind anyone that has forgotten. Overwhelmingly when I talk to any of my even moderately conservative acquaintances about health care the top of their list when I ask why universal health care--as practiced by virtually every non-third-world country--isn't the right thing to do... is the idea that "freeloaders" will get something for nothing. They have been so successful in spreading that belief that real progress is hard to come by... and so successful that even folks on Medicare--who argue vehemently "don't touch my Medicare"--will tel you that their main objection is something along the lines of "why should we pay for the freeloaders."

[wordpix]

210. +1 and one thing he should know

I was unemployed due to a bad economy and I started a small business. But that turned out to be no panacea b/c in a bad economy, people tighten their belts and try to get by without the services I provide. So then what?

Example: A man was referred to me last fall for my services and when I looked him up on the net, I discovered he was in financial services making over $1 million/year between salary and benefits. However, that was in previous years. I could not find anything about his job or salary this year.

Anyhow, he hired me and all went well for a month but then he told me he could not pay for my services because his business was suffering. From the dots I connected, he lost his $1 million/yr. job and had started his own business before he hired me, but his business was not doing well. So he stopped hiring me and now my business is down, as well as his.

Kyl, get with the facts of this economy, you stupid imbecile.

[nxylas]

232. Funnily enough there's a reality show about that starting on British TV next week

A bunch of smug rich slebs who think that "there's always something out there" jobwise are forced to live on benefits and try to find real work. Wonder if the format will be sold to US television? My guess is none of the networks over there would touch it with a 10-foot pole, at least not unless it could be rigged so that they all end up getting McJobs, which somehow miraculously take care of all their material needs, thus fitting a Republican-approved 'uplifting' narrative ("Golly gee whillikins, I guess anyone really can make it in America if they just work hard enough").

[Jax]

251. On Planet Misogynist Racist Bigots

Here and now.

RACISTS are rearing THEIR upfront heads HERE and NOW big time.


21st Century RACISTS.



Sick fucks.

[hedgehog]

2. How soon can we "unemploy" Senator Kyl?

[pundaint]

61. Arizonans like him so much they renewed him for 6 years in 08

[pundaint]

63. KYL is right, I could go to India and get my job back at $4/hour.

In truth I haven't looked into India's guest worker program, but that's where my job went, and that's what it pay's there.

[CLANG]

114. On an upbeat note, the cost of living is probably less in India

:sarcasm:

[Hoopla Phil]

77. SNAP! Excellent post!

[mifdsam]

234. Unemploy Senator Kyl

He ran for reelection in 2006 last time, so the next time he will have to rerun again will be in 2012

[earthboundmisfit]

3. Selfish, mean-spirited motherfuckers.

People who get kicked out of their homes because of this delay in benefits should pitch tents on Kyl and Bunning's lawns.

[rury]

93. Actually they should shit on Kyl's

and Bunning's lawns and carpets.

[olegramps]

156. Actually the should shit on Kyl and Bunning. Why take it out on innocent lawns?

[TheDebbieDee]

4. Good God! Republicans are PIGS!

[CLANG]

43. Even I am shocked!

I read a freeper comment to this same effect, but a US Senator thinking that the people who've lost their jobs in this depression are somehow on paid vacation? :wtf: :mad:

[DesertDiamond]

198. Ronald Reagan said the same thing back in the 1980s

[roguevalley]

87. This is bunning's addie. just take out bunning and put in Kyl:

http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactSubmit&CFID=38872770&CFTOKEN=16211927

[Faygo Kid]

5. Showing their True Colors.

Everything for the very wealthy. Nothing for folks down on their luck.

Is anyone surprised by this?

[SammyWinstonJack]

179. Not surprised in the least. Greedy selfish rat bastard who hasn't a clue what he's spewing.

x(

[superconnected]

218. The thing is, the unemployed aren't down on their luck, they're suffering from policy's made on the

floor of congress. It's congress that allowed all that outsourcing with little tarrifs as well as h1b and L visas. It's congress that allowed the mortgage, creditcard, and insurance industry to be able to run wild and unchecked - people are thrown off insurance if they get sick - the reason they bought insurance in the first place. Really, America is suffering from congress passing laws that are completely for corporations and not America(not for the American people or the American Economy.)

[shraby]

6. Are the Republicans so stupid or dishonest..it's got to

be one or the other to not see that without unemployment benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, social security benefits, medicare/medicaid that this would not be a Great Recession, but Great Depression II.

[droidamus2]

65. Actually they are psychopaths

They have no empathy, no awareness of other, just self-centered greed.

[fasttense]

139. It's commonly called the 2nd RepubliCON Great Depression. n/t

[mwooldri]

185. Senator Kyl doesn't get it - period.

To get UB40, you got to prove you're actively seeking work.

Not job seeking? No UB40 for you.

While it is called an "unemployment benefit" (I hate that word unemployment, everyone the age of 5 has a job, it's just whether they are compensated enough monetarily or not) most states require you to certify WEEKLY that you are seeking jobs, that you've put in applications, that you have possibly been called to interview, that you've been to a local employment career center to get help in your job hunt, etc.

I'd rather see unemployment benefit be renamed Jobseekers Allowance as it is in the UK to reflect the fact that the individual is not "unemployed" but is instead embarking on a new (hopefully temporary) career of professional job seeker. Because that is what most people on unemployment are - job seekers.

[Cleita]

8. Heard that about welfare recipients too.

What a moron. Every time I was on unemployment I was expected to do three job interviews a week to get my check. Doesn't he know that it's tied to job searches? Gawd these billionaire senators are clueless. As far as the welfare "queens", every one I knew, single mothers who had small children, could hardly wait until junior was in school so they could think about getting a job and dealing with the child care issues that were more manageable.

[tonysam]

10. Nowadays you can't expect to get three job interviews in a week

or even in a month--it's that bad out here.

[dencol]

66. I am happy to get 1 interview a month.

And even have one of those fancy degrees I will be paying off for the rest of my life =).

[fasttense]

140. And if you do get a job interview, 6 other people are lined up behind you for the same job.

Even people with engineering and masters degrees are working at fast food restaurants.

[DollyM]

205. I am one of those people with a Master's degree that can't find a job!

I finally got on at a nursing home last fall for 20 hours a week and was glad off it. Then in January I got cut to 10 hours a week. It is hardly worth starting the car every morning for the 2 hours a day I get of paid work. But I know there is another girl there who is volunteering her time and is breathing down the back of my neck because she would kill for the 10 hours I am getting. It's just sickening out there what we are putting up with for a few crumbs of a job.

[Dulcinea]

169. In GA, 10.3% unemployment at last count.

I have had THREE interviews in the past YEAR that I have been out of work. And I have 20 years of experience in my field. Does Senator Kyl REALLY think I, as well as millions of other people, would rather not be WORKING??!! WTF?! The mind reels.

And, I have even been told to stop calling potential employers to try to set up interviews! "Don't call us, we'll call you." What will that get you? Bupkis! Zero! Nothing! Zip! Zilch!

[prolesunited]

9. What planet do these people live on?

Economists say on average that there are at least 6 people applying for every 1 job opening. And depending upon what area of the country your are, what race you are and how old you are, it's probably far more grim.

There are no freaking jobs!!! What part of this don't they get?

Extending unemployment just buys people and the country time in hopes that the economy picks up. Want to see the foreclosure rate and homelessness skyrocket? Don't extend unemployment. The recession will turn into a full-blown depression quite quickly.(And, yes, I realize we're probably already there but insulating ourselves from the reality of it.)

If you kick millions of people off of unemployment, it's not like millions of jobs will suddenly appear.

I guess we could all become entrepreneurs and sell apples and matches on street corners.

[jmowreader]

18. Or if you're in Fayettenam...

I talked to a manager at Walmart the other day who said she had 300 to 400 applicants for every open position in her store. These are literally minimum wage positions, and they've got 300 people who want each one of them.

[raccoon]

149. Jeez louise......nt

[Enthusiast]

125. They live in the right wing universe.

Everything is nice there except for the 'liberals', they have to do something about the liberals.

[corpseratemedia]

11. you have to be looking for a job while you're getting regular unemployment

you disgusting ethically reprehensible and ignorant gop pos

HOW COULD PEOPLE VOTE FOR SUCH AN IDIOT?

[NJmaverick]

12. This should be the story of the year

if the MSM wasn't owned by the right, it would be

[O is 44]

17. +10000

If the media did their job, the Republicans would never be able to get away with their constant lies and obstruction. I am beginning to think this is all hopeless, we have the WH both the senate and the house and we cannot get our message out. The corporate media and the Republicans are one in the same.

[butterfly77]

212. K&R!

[change_notfinetuning]

13. Words escape me to respond to such a stupid, heartless, untrue statement. n/t

[qazplm]

14. sure and if the kids

have to go hungry to incentivize mommy or daddy, well, them's the breaks.

problem is, this argument works for a lot of people.

[fasttense]

141. If the kids are going hungry that incentive for Mommy and Daddy to turn to crime. n/t

[Terra Alta]

15. Kyl is a dumbass.

Doesn't he know that one of the conditions of receiving unemployment benefits is that you have to actively be seeking work? :shrug: What the hell is wrong with people? When is Kyl up for re-election; I'd love to see his ass join those who are unemployed...

[northofdenali]

16. I'd LOOOVE to see this asshole live on the MAXIMUM weekly benefits

available here - $320.00. That won't even fill my oil heat tank 1/3 full. And it gets a little cold here in the winter. And the repuke government in the Borough are going to ban wood stoves in the area.

Our gasoline is at $3.29/gallon still. Groceries are sky high, the Food Bank is dry, and try going homeless in March in Interior Alaska.

Fuckwad.

[Dappleganger]

19. Why don't we put that to the test and kick Kyl out of his job.

Let's see him run to claim his unemployment bennies, too.

[Skip Intro]

20. Please put these goons in front of every camera and microphone and let them rattle on

Let's remind America what slimy bastards make up the repuke party

[classysassy]

23. The Kyl clown

hello john,you and your buddies let your support group(big business)move the jobs out of the country.One of these days the american people are going to wake up and realize that you republicans have been screwing them,then all of you crooks will have to find real jobs.

[True_Blue]

24. We get a whopping $240 per wk here in AZ

Why would I want a job? Stressing about being behind on my mortgage and eating Ramen everyday is such a great life!

Throughout the 90s Motorola was named as Arizona's number one employer. This last decade Walmart has been named as AZ's number one employer. This might give you some idea of how much the standard of living has sank here since the 90s. We lost 75k jobs just from Motorola alone leaving for China. That's not even counting the other MFG jobs that left AZ. Is Kyl not aware of what's been going on in his own state?

[onehandle]

25. Yes. I would enjoy a take home check that is a tiny fraction of my regular income.

What a crazy fuck.

[deacon]

26. The GOP is about complete abandonment. They've abandoned the country in a time of crisis- across the

board. Keep a list of what they vote no on and remind everybody right before elections.

[midnight]

224. They have helped out the AIG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Chase, and Wall Street.

[liberation]

228. Don't forget military contractors...

money to help our fellow citizens, no fucking way from the GOP! Money for super useful stuff like bombs, no problem!

Gotta love them compassionate conservatives following the footsteps of that supposedly prince of peace...

[apnu]

27. Try living on Unemployment for two months and see if you sing the same tune. Kyl is a dumbass (nt)

[dave29]

28. WE PAY FOR OUR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

It is owed to us in case we get.... unemployed.

ASSHOLES.

[Papa Boule]

191. +1

nt.

[nbcouch]

29. Kyl = flaming asshole

Yeah, having my income cut by 80% when I collected unemployment INSURANCE BENEFITS really made me want to stay home and watch Jerry Springer. So did paying triple for health insurance when I had to go on COBRA. I would SO much rather have way less money coming in and/or way more going out than the reverse.

Kyl, like so many others in Congress, on both sides of the aisle, has no earthly idea of the kind of pain and suffering your run of the mill wage slave endures these days. No fucking idea.

[Fridays Child]

30. What will it take for Arizonans to vote him out? Will it be this comment?

Will this one finally do it? We are in real pain, here in Arizona. Do this state's Republicans like having salt rubbed in their wounds? Wake up, people! You're keeping a shit stain in the Senate!

[Jennicut]

31. Yeah, because finding a job with 9.7% unemployment (actually that is not even the real #'s) is so

easy to find. What an asshole. THIS is why Rethugs getting into power in a 3 branches of power is so devastating. They truly believe in welfare for corps and crap for the average person. "Let them eat cake".

[Jennicut]

33. One more thing. John Kyl's net worth was between $608,842 and $701,838

in 2007, according to Kyl’s mandated financial disclosure statements. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300062

[Blue_Tires]

176. That's probably a huge understatement for tax/ethics purposes

even ignorant congresscritters know the ins and outs of hiding money...

[wisteria]

32. Wow, just wow. I challenge Kyl to produce good jobs for a majority of the unemployed receiving

benefits. He is so cruel to suggest this at a time when jobs are scarce and millions are out of work-unable to find employment and make ends meet.
This comment clearly shows for all Americans, the difference between the Republicans and Democrats.

[truthisfreedom]

34. These ass-clowns are doing our work for us. Our candidates won't even have to campaign.

The repugnant party shows its colors every friggin' day now. Spend trillions on war, but not billions on national crisis. Ri-ight.

[O is 44]

36. That would be true if the Dems

had an affective messaging machine.

[ezmerelda39]

35. Dissolutioned

Senator Kyl, (is that pronounced Kill?) is completely out of touch, living in the DC Bubble that sucks in money, but is void of understanding of what goes on in the Real World. What a sorry assed excuse to rationalize not voting for an extension on unemployment. The amount of money that a person receives in unemployment is only a fraction of wages and is desperately needed just to survive. Perhaps Senator Kyl would care to spend some time thinking about how to build new factories to produce goods needed here at home, not Green manufacturing but basics like towels and bedding and canning jars and hoes and rakes and other essential goods, in other words a concrete way to create jobs, replace the jobs that are shipped overseas to make more money for the corporations. (I would love to see Senator Kyl's portfolio just to see how many of his investments are with transnational corporations that have created the unemployment.) Unemployment benefits is not money dropped down a hole, it is an essential part of local economies and keeps localized businesses stable and money flowing. Senator Kyl is falling back on an old stigma that people would rather have the government pay them,(the lady on welfare driving a new Cadillac,) than work. It is a discrimination against the working poor of this country and should be outlawed. But, as the government itself does not adhere to the Rule of Law there is little recourse for retribution except at the polls and even that is in question now that the Supreme Court has made it possible for corporations to have the same legal rights as We the People. When these Congressional persons go home to their own districts what do they tell their constituents that they are calling 'Persons happy to be not working?' I wonder how they will spin this nonsense so that the people back home will suck it up with a smile and promise to vote for the S.O.Bs again.

[JNelson6563]

171. Hi Ezmerelda 39! Welcome to DU!

Good post! :hi:

Julie

[Grassy Knoll]

37. ****Hey Teabaggers******

How's that Hate'n on Obama workin out fer ya.
where is the REAL protests in this country not made up by FAUK Noise ?

[CLANG]

38. Keep exposing yourselves, white trash

Long live the RepubliKKKan Party!:wtf:

[mbperrin]

39. Ah, now I see. So health insurance makes people want to stay sick!

The scales just fell from my eyes! I was blind, but now I see! Hallelujah, brother, poverty builds character! Right?













If there WAS a gawd, surely, he'd smite some of these assholes by now!

[raouldukelives]

40. At least they aren't working against America

Unlike one Sen. Kyl who we handsomely reward to do so.

[DallasNE]

41. Why Does Kyl Hate The American People So Much

He also shows a real ignorance about how one qualifies for unemployment insurance and the very purpose of COBRA, which is not even funded by taxpayers.

Unemployment compensation requires that you demonstrate a certain number of good faith efforts to find employment each week. Stop looking for a job and the benefit ends. It actually provides an incentive for the unemployed to find work rather than the other way around. Kyl simply doesn't understand how it works.

When someone loses their job that has health insurance they face three choices. Go without insurance. Purchase it on the open market. Use COBRA to purchase it at full price for a few months thru their former employer. COBRA came about because people with pre-existing conditions could not purchase insurance on the open market and this was one way to bridge the gap until they could find new employment. Again, Kyl just seems ignorant on what the plan is or even what the purpose is.

[muntrv]

42. Hey Kyl! Maybe they'd be working if you and your fellow republickers didn't

run the economy into the ground and send jobs overseas!

[Chef Eric]

44. If anybody knows about getting paid without working, it's Sen. Kyl. nt

[Raschel]

109. I demand Kyl give up his socialist benefits.

[groundloop]

45. Yeah, in '88 as an unemployed chemical engineer, I sure the hell wanted to stay on unemployment

Yup Senator Kyl, you hit the nail on the head. When the company I worked for went out of business I just couldn't wait to stick my tail between my legs and head to the unemployment office. I just so looked forward to standing in those lines, and trying to make do on less than 1/3 of what I had earned before.

OK CNN, why aren't you all over this?

[TK421]

94. "OK CNN, why aren't you all over this?"

I've been asking myself that very same question....this should be on every network now, but I've heard little of it. I found out about it here, actually

[butterfly77]

213. Let's email them everybody...

[liberal N proud]

46. Being Republican makes people not care for people.

So much for that compassionate conservative they used to tout.

[ElboRuum]

57. Actually, I believe their sociopathy is a preexisting condition for their Republicanism.

Just saying that it appears the the Republican party is a place where an unfeeling, out-of-touch, emotionally stunted ignoramus can feel in good company.

[CLANG]

117. So true

Not every republican is an uncaring greedy fuckwad, but every uncaring greedy fuckwad will naturally side with the republican party.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

188. "Not caring" would be an improvement. What we have here is negative caring. -nt

[ScottLand]

47. I must say that for myself, unemployment has been GREAT

and I'm living so high on the hog off of a quarter of what I was making after my salary got cut by 10k a year!

Actually, I recommend unemployment for Mr. Kyl. I'm sure we'd have no trouble finding someone that could his job better.

[SusanaMontana41]

199. Unemployment is WONDERFUL!

Glad you're enjoying yours as much as I'm enjoying mine! Not having health insurance is icing on the cake!

[Omaha Steve]

48. I wish HE didn't have a job!

[Juche]

49. The only reason we qualify for UI is because jobs we wanted to work at were taken away from us

You can't qualify for UI if you voluntarily quit a job or get fired.

I would love to be back at my old job making $16/hr full time. That was nice. Plus with the economy in the toilet and state/federal budgets deep in the red, I'd rather be paying taxes than collecting tax revenue via UI.

I'd love to go back to being employed and paying $700/month in taxes. But 29 million people are unemployed or underemployed right now. There are no jobs.

[tonysam]

51. You can if you are fired

It just depends on the circumstance. State agencies generally side with the employees.

I should know because it happened to me (retaliatory discharge, FMLA).

[Juche]

53. My mistake

[prolesunited]

81. Very rare for that to be the case

and very dependent on the state as to how employee friendly they are. I think you are the exception.

[tonysam]

200. No, I am the rule

Many, many fired employees get UI. State agencies tend to side with employees, and not that many employers challenge a termination, though it is getting more common. You have to be fired for "gross misconduct" to be denied UI.

The state employment agency said they get cases like mine "all the time." So approving UI for fired employees is commonplace. You better have a good reason, though. I had my attorney's opening brief to describe what happened to send them. I was approved in six weeks.

In my case, the district brazenly violated federal law. They had nothing to challenge when their principal violated the Family Medical Leave Act.

If you quit, though, it is extremely rare to get UI.

[raccoon]

151. I don't think you can get it if you're part-time, either. Which half of the employees

at my workplace are.

[Yavin4]

52. Today Is My One Year Anniversary of Being Unemployed

Over the course of the last year, I have applied to well over 300 jobs, the vast majority of which I've never heard a thing back from.

My industry, the legal field in NYC, has seen its biggest contraction of staff in this generation.

I've been re-training for another profession, but without practical experience, getting a new job in a new field is an up hill climb.

Currently, I have interviewed at two possible employers, and I am patiently awaiting hearing about a possible contract job which should start at the end of the week. However, nothing is guaranteed, and it can all be for not, which has happened several times in the last year.

Without UE benefits, my savings would have been wiped out, and I would have cut back even further on my spending which would have meant even more unemployment for the few businesses that I frequent.

Finally, when I was employed, even as a temp, this wonderful government took 35% of my income in taxes. Thirty-five percent. Even when I didn't have health insurance, it still took 35%. In fact, if the contract job starts this week and continues into April, I will have repaid ALL of my UE benefits by my fourth check.


In sum, Fuck You Mr. Kyl and Fuck your Fucking Republican colleagues. People like you make me want to stop following politics because you egender a rage in me that I have a hard time to control at times, and I don't like being in a constant state of rage. It's simply not good for one's mental health.

[Stuart G]

56. I feel the exact same thing..

That rage that borders on irrational anger and hate.
People that talk and think like Kyl are as bad as they come. They provoke that anger in people against the unemployed and inside people like us to divide us for their own political gains. They hope that they can unite others in hating us. It is the worst kind of politics, the politics of Hitler and hate.

[Yavin4]

58. One of the Biggest Life Lessons That I've Learned Is...

to not let my emotions keep me enraged. Nothing is more self-destructive than to be in a constant state of rage.

[Faygo Kid]

59. All the best to you. I've been there.

Unemployed for nearly three years (2001 to 2004, thank you W). I have been employed since then, and gratefully so, as I will be 59 this year. I will cling to this job ferociously until retirement, of course. My SO, though, lost her job at the end of December (same age). Hoping she can make it; she's tough and looking to start her own business.

Anyway, please take care of yourself.

[Jello Biafra]

54. Hey, didn't someone forget that...

Workers pay for that insurance when they are employed? It's taken out of their paycheck. God, what an asswipe.

[AllyCat]

55. This idiot has not one iota of a clue how people are living right now

What an unmitgated a$$ he is.

[Lorien]

60. Just saw this on Elayne Boosler's FB status. She added

"Only a guy like that could be so out of touch with the world beyond his block of lobbyists and top health care professionals provided for him. Hey, I bet guys don't want to get out of jail either, free food!"

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

62. This isn't the first time the GOP's pulled that one out.

And if Ronald Reagan couldn't sell it, Senator, what chance do you think you have?

[Mind_your_head]

64. The "HAVES" are entirely clueless to how most of THEIR CONSTITUENTS think/what they want & need

But these "HAVES" don't give a care about their 'constituents'. Corporations 'pay Congress (wo)man's freight ~ and then some'. The people (generally) don't want to address/know what's happening in THEIR government.

Well, it's not going to be the "people's" government for very much longer....if the PEOPLE don't care/refuse to stand up and get involved/make an EARNEST effort to know the FACTS (which has nothing to do with Faux/Fox news).....

*collapsing from the craziness of this all ~ there are no more "adults" in charge....

Methinks that the corporations have one.

[proud patriot]

68. This says more about Kyl than it does the Unemployed

[unabelladonna]

69. i just don't understand how someone could be so heartless....

and this is the difference between the dems and pukes. and this is the reason we vote for democrats. what a vile piece of excrement...where does he expect people to find jobs?

[Historic NY]

70. We need to make him unemployed.

[defendandprotect]

71. I really think we need to reduce Congress' salaries and cut all their benefits!!!

Nothing like the GOP to make you nauseous --

It would be well worth our time to try to unseat Kyle -- he's a Vicious P----

[Guilded Lilly]

85. In essence, Sen Kyl isn't really working either

being an obstructionist and all. Let's cut refuse to pay his salary until he decides to actually work.

[malletgirl02]

247. +1

Also I think if the Government shuts down through obstruction like in 1995, or has problems passing a budget like what happen in California I think the politicians should be denied their salary until the government starts back up. This is want happens to the workers when that happens, so it is only fair.

[Raschel]

111. +500 Time for him to give up his taxpayer handouts.

[LarryNM]

128. +++ All Around

Congressional salaries reduced to minimum wage, and no overtime, no health benefits and no pensions.

[unkachuck]

72. during....

....the 2005-2010 cycle this fascist prick raised about 3 times as much as your typical senatorial scumbag, (from poor people, no doubt):

$11,194,581 from individual contributors
$3,021,828 from PACs
$675,468 from 'other'

and put in $0 of his own money....and what is his personal income/worth?

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?type=C&cid=N00006406&newMem=N&cycle=2010

"I'm sure most of them would like work..." Yes, most of 'them', I mean us, would like a job but if you remember correctly, it was you and your Republican corporate organized-economic-crime family that crashed our economy with sub-prime CDS ponzi schemes and then looted our treasury....

"because people are being paid even though they're not working."....no, people are being paid in order to help them survive your massive Republican economic fuck-over....

....what are you being paid for?

[Guilded Lilly]

73. And therein lies the difference b/w Republicans and Democrats

Republicans see dollar signs.
Democrats see people.

[Golden Raisin]

74. And it's a very short jump to

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses". Or that golden oldie: "Let them eat cake."

[Ozymanithrax]

75. People like Kyle believe that the unemployed are unemployed because they want to be...

He believes that the poor are poor by choice because they are lazy and stupid.

He believes that if you want ot be rich you will get rich.

This is what Kyl and his ilk really believe in their rich little hearts.

[prolesunited]

82. or if you are favored by God

and he blesses you.

[Ozymanithrax]

84. I'm sure I read "Shit on the poor" in the red letter bible.

But I have no call to say that.

Religion can be used to justify anything.

[WarhammerTwo]

116. If you want to be rich, you will get rich...

...as long as you are willing to step on anyone or anything to get there.

Y'know, I took a leadership course a few years ago offered by my county. It was free, my tax dollars paid for it, all I had to do was apply to take advantage, but the people there ...the people who see themselves as "leaders"... have such hubris, such maniacal egos, that it scared me. I did this because I feel the only way to really implement effective change so that a decent standard of living can be brought to the least among us is through politics -- legislation. So I thought this class, which was meant to teach us how county government works and the programs they offer and the things they are responsible for as well as networking with individuals in local government, would be a great first step.

But the people, the attitudes, the demeanor... good grief. They are ambitious, they are driven and they would step on anyone to get where they need to go. A lot of them were very, very wealthy. Heck, the one guy was quite proud to tell me how he had to undermine and sell out friends and coworkers to obtain his success. But he'd justify it by saying, now that I've made mine, I can help others. They all act charitable and speak of charity and, yes, they are somewhat charitable, but it all came off so fake. It's like they felt they needed to do it to motivate their political ambitions, not because they believed in it. They were all looking for accolades to all the great service they provided for the community. "Humble" seems to be a word not in their vernacular. And when you talk with them, you could hear it in their voice and they way they carried themselves like they were royalty and the unwashed masses should be grateful for the few crumbs they occasional throw at them...

And y'know what? I can't do it. I can't step on other people to advance my position. I can't twist facts or tell half-truths to suit my argument. I don't have that cut-throat mentality you apparently need to be a politician. And I don't know what we can do to help good, honest, altruistic folks in to office that will put societal interests before corporate ones...

[Ozymanithrax]

123. Not even if you willing to step on anybody...

cut throat behavior abounds at the bottom of the heap. To become rich requires a lot of things, including luck.

Part of the Consumerism lie is that anyone can be rich.

[raccoon]

152. +1000. nt

[dencol]

76. Take away unemployment benefits.

I'd think it would cause extreme cases of civil unrest as people lose everything, and finally get to the point where there isn't anything else to be lost. I'd be homeless in a matter of months, and very little would be stopping me from engaging in civil disobedience - at that point, I'd love to spend time in jail for a warm place to sleep and a meal.

[TomCADem]

78. This Reminds Me Of The Welfare Queen Myth Of The 1980s

[keroro gunsou]

79. two words:

bitch please.

[No Elephants]

157. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winnah. Those two words say it all.

[scottsoperson]

83. lots of folks are working part time

when they really want a full time job. a lot of people are underemployed, meaning they are working for peanuts.

when senator kyl becames unemployed he may have more empathy for the unemployed.

[craigmatic]

86. A friend of mine is on unemployment he said that it's just enough money not to be able to do

anything with.

[Tansy_Gold]

88. Kyl just displayed his total and complete IGNORANCE of how UC is paid

First, one must be employed for a certain number of weeks ("base period") to establish eligibility. This is generally a minimum of four consecutive quarters.

Second, one must become UNemployed through no fault of one's own, such as lay-off. Quitting without a damn good reason (and you'd better have proof of that reason) or being fired for cause disqualify one for benefits.

Third, one must be able and available to work. Thus, if one is unable to work due to illness or injury, one is NOT eligible for unemployment benefits.

Fourth, one must be actively seeking employment and submit evidence of the job search.


JON KYL, YOU ARE A MASSIVELY STUPID AND UNINFORMED ASSHOLE.



Tansy Gold, Arizonan

[Tansy_Gold]

100. My email to Mr. Kyl

Dear Mr. Kyl:

I read today that you have stated you believe Unemployment Compensation is a disincentive for people to work. While I have never believed that members of your party have much understanding of the realities of working people, this expression of abject ignorance frankly astounds me.

In the state of Arizona, which you purport to represent, Unemployment Compensation is ONLY available to people who have been working, who are now unemployed through no fault of their own, who are willing and available to work, AND WHO PROVIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC SECURITY WITH EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT.

If anything, Mr. Kyl, in this state unemployment compensation is an INcentive to seek work. Once again, you've merely proven in public that you really don't know what you're talking about. But I'm sure you have plenty of equally ignorant supporters to keep you from ever having to consider what it must be like to be unemployed and NEEDING unemployment compensation to stay alive.


********


I actually have an acquaintance who works in Kyl's Phoenix office. She once offered to get me a job there. I politely said thanks, but no thanks.

[True_Blue]

89. He should not be permitted to get away with insulting hard working Americans like this

Americans who have been unsuccessfully seeking work for an extended period of time, suffering depression, financial loss, loss of everything they have worked for, strained marriages, and worthlessness. Sadly, he is going to get away with this insult because it's typical GOP mantra.

[CLANG]

104. I'd rec your post if I could - sums it up pretty well

[Raschel]

113. My gosh, they all sound like Mr. Potter.

[Beacool]

90. What a callous SOB!!!!!

Unemployment benefits are the difference between having a place to live, putting food on the table or being homeless.

What does he think that people should do? Most people who collect unemployment are barely making it since the benefits are not equivalent to the salary they were receiving when employed.

Many of these jerks in Congress have no clue what it's like for the average person in these tough times. Millions are unemployed, underemployed or plain scared to death that they may lose their job at any minute.

Kyl should try to live a few months on unemployment benefits and see how he fares. Damn bastard!!!!

:mad:

[scottsoperson]

95. some repubs use the jobless for their propaganda

...

[Beacool]

102. He and his filibustering buddy should resign in shame.

What a couple of creeps!!!

x(

[Thor_MN]

96. Sounds like Sen. Kyl needs some first hand experience.

What a f#cking tool.

[Blue_Tires]

97. this is one of the many (and most obvious) drawbacks of a congress

that is packed with millionaires and multimillionaires who have never done an honest day's work in their lives...

Does he really think $350-something per week for a max of 10-12 weeks is putting someone in the lap of luxury?? Shit; even at that pittance, they make you feel like a freeloading hustler for even applying for it...

Has Kyl ever known what it is to be drowning in bills and have to live on that??

[scottsoperson]

99. rich and middle class people

tend to have more empathy for the poor when they become poor.

[Neecy]

177. They sure do make you feel like crap

I was living in Orlando some years back when the airline I worked for went out of business.

My co-workers and I spent the day at our local unemployment office. There we were grilled like criminals, and then taken to a room to watch a film about our benefits and how the state would prosecute us for unemployment fraud. The movie was shown on a tacked-up bed sheet. No real screens for us loafers!

It was a horrible experience. I moved back to California and the unemployment office there was terrific. They treated us like human beings.

If Kyl thinks that the experience is something we enjoy or an excuse to freeload he's never been in a situation where the benefit is the only thing standing between you and the streets. Our overlords are getting really bold, aren't they? They've destroyed the employment base in this country and then bitch about unemployment benefits. I honestly think they wouldn't care if we starve.

[GinaMaria]

98. Senator Kyl's comments make me want to get him out of his job!

what an ass

[tinrobot]

101. Keep talking like that, Kyl and you'll be out of a job.

[KamaAina]

105. Oh yeah? Well, ugly rugs make people not want to get hair transplants, so there!

[DesertFlower]

106. Jesus H. Christ. what

the hell does he know about unemployment?

[harun]

107. How do these pigs constituents not see how disconnected they are?

[tinkerbell41]

108. I've been out 18 mos.

Tradeswoman, homeowner, child in college. COBRA payments use 1 week of benefits. I filed for BK did a mortgage modification, and I'm hanging on for dear life. I can't go back to work until my number is called from the out of work list at my Union Hall. We have 2500 "guys" on that book and there are NO jobs. I'm waiting tables part-time(thank god) to keep food on the table. FUCK YOU SENATOR!!!!!!

[Raschel]

110. Phil Gramm ran our country into the ground and called us whiners. Is Kyl his replacement?

Now that Phil's in hiding?

[lonestarnot]

112. That pile of bile needs to pick shit with the chickens for about the rest of his life.

[Mike K]

115. This might be true -

- for a small percentage of recipients but certainly not for the majority who are looking for a permanent source of income and something to build on.

[VPStoltz]

118. He aught to know.

He's done everything he can to keep his lazy ass in Congress to live off the dole for how many years now?

[dem mba]

119. studies show that Kyl has a point

and I realize this is unpopular to say here, but the facts simply back him up.

If you give unemployed benefits to a group of laid-off job-seeking workers for 30 weeks, and the same benefits to a similar group for 20 weeks, guess what? Statistically, the 20-week group finds work faster. This is common sense and there are lots of factors involved here (like fundamental shifts in the labor market, outsourcing, loss of manufacturing jobs, etc), but everything I've ever read or heard about unemployment backs this up.

Unemployment compensation that keeps money pumping in the system does help the economy, this is very true, but it's a pretty weak argument. It's certainly less preferable to having more people hired, even at less desirable, lower-paying jobs.

I'll need to apply for unemployment compensation and benefits myself when I finish school in May, assuming I can't find a job (which is likely), so please, spare me the ad hom attacks. I know COBRA is a joke. Hell, I'll be on it in a few weeks. The fact that unemployment benefits in this country are a pittance does not change centuries of economic theory and studies.



http://web.mit.edu/annakot/MacData/afs/sipb/contrib/wikileaks-crs/wikileaks-crs-reports/RL32111.pdf

Unemployment Compensation Benefit Exhaustion
Disincentive effects. The job-search behavior of the unemployed can be
influenced by changing the timing, generosity, and duration of UC compensation.7
Economic theory suggests that unemployment compensation will have a negative
effect on the recipients’ willingness to search for and accept a new job. Higher
benefit levels and easier program requirements for benefits will cause recipients to
be less willing to accept jobs and may induce some of the employed to quit and
become unemployed.8 Thus, the availability of compensation (UC benefits) may
create a disincentive9 to search for and accept reemployment. Research in this area
examines how these disincentives are alleviated by decreasing the generosity of the
UC benefits and increasing the cost of benefit receipt through additional program
requirements.10

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2003/200301/200301pap.pdf

Important work on the disincentive effects of UI benefits in the United States includes Feldstein (1974), Meyer (1990), and Card and Levine (2000).

http://www.nber.org/papers/w6714

Overall, we find that the NJEB program raised the fraction of UI claimants who exhausted their regular benefits by 1-3 percentage points. More importantly, however, we find that the short-term nature of the benefit extension substantially moderated its effect. For individuals who were receiving UI when the benefit extension was passed, we estimate that the rate of leaving UI fell by about 15 percent. Simulations suggest that if the program had run long enough to affect UI claimants from the first day of their spell, the fraction of recipients exhausting regular benefits would have risen by 7 percentage points, and the average recipient would have collected about one extra week or regular benefits.

[dem mba]

120. here's another

http://www.econ.upenn.edu/~hfang/teaching/socialinsurance/readings/fudan_hsbc/Meyer95(4.13).pdf

[Name removed]

122. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RainDog]

127. he has no point when jobs are not available

I'm a librarian. I've applied for 100s of jobs. Librarians are being laid off, libraries are closing and there is a FREEZE on jobs because libraries are funded by tax dollars, whether at the level of university or public library.

THERE ARE NO JOBS.

In addition to the job for which I acquired a masters degree, I've applied for jobs far below my level of training and experience and NO ONE, NOT ONE, responds.

NOT ONE OF THEM.

I have a pretty decent resume. I can show, through my previous work, that I am good at what I do. I can show, through my current underemployed job, that I have made money for my current employer. My current employer, in fact, asked me if I would continue to work for her in some capacity when I get another job - because I'm good at what I do (which involves aspects of librarianship.) but...

THERE ARE NO JOBS.

I realize you are merely spouting studies with your post, but honestly, what does it matter what some study says about unemployment when jobs are frozen because THERE IS NO TAX BASE TO PAY FOR BASIC EDUCATIONAL NEEDS.

There is no tax base to pay for educational needs because THERE ARE NO JOBS.

[NickB79]

136. The economic conditions those studies were done in were FAR better than what we have now

1974, 1990, 2000, all of those recessions pale in comparison to the current one.

Also, do any of these studies look at the QUALITY of jobs the applicants accepted? If people in the group with shorter unemployment benefits had higher employment rates, but those jobs were flipping burgers for minimum wage, they are still below a living wage and will still fall short on their bills despite being employed.

[prolesunited]

181. Newsflash

Why in the world do you think you can claim unemployment and COBRA "when you finish school in May"?

Unless you've pretty much been working full-time and had employer-based health insurance coverage, you are not eligible for either program. Hope mommy and daddy's basement is open for you.

Contrary to what RWers spew, those are NOT entitlement programs. Those benefits were EARNED by working adults who have been supporting the system through taxes taken from their paychecks -- in many cases for years.

And your statistics do not speak to the quality of jobs. Unemployment is based on what you previously earned. Tell me how someone making $40,000 a year will be able to keep their house on a minimum wage job? They are lucky and had to have amassed some personal savings to do it on UI.

Sure, when all else fails, someone might take a minimum wage job, but that means their family will likely lose their home and the taxpayers will still have to pay for the family's food stamps and health care for the kids. I guess we could cut these programs, too, so they have even more incentive to work.

Also, the ratio of jobs to unemployed is 6 to 1. Even if you kick people off, where are all of these millions of jobs going to appear even if you pay minimum wage.

I think you are in for a rude awakening when you graduate from school and start working for a living in the real world with the rest of us.

[dem mba]

183. I've been working full time for the past 10 years

the past 3 of which I've been in school part time. This past semester I went full time, and through my former employer I am indeed eligible for COBRA. Thanks.

[prolesunited]

184. Well, as long as you're set

Now, how about addressing any of the points I made or the issues others have raised?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

190. Dude, if I were unemployed I could probably go out --

and get a "job" tomorrow --- I am sure there is a Burger King or McDonald's that is hiring around here somewhere.

Viola! "Unemployment" solved!

Would I be able to afford a place to live? No.
Would I be getting any form of health benefits? Dunno.
Would I be able to support my family? Hell no.

But hey, it's all good because I am no longer depending on those government benefits I earned all those years I did have a real job, right? :eyes:

[sakabatou]

121. Where's my clue-by-four?

:grr:

[SlingBlade]

124. Keep Talk'in Fuck Tards....Please.

[Enthusiast]

126. You are being too hard on Senator Kyl.

He is just explaining the party position on unemployment insurance. His party was against it from the start. And even Saint Ronnie expressed his exasperation about able bodied workers collecting UI. So lighten up on Senator Kyl, he is just doing his job.

[Kumbricia]

129. Hello Senator Kyl,

I am unemployed. I look for a job every day. I've applied to dozens since before I was unemployed, when employment opportunities are posted - and there are MUCH fewer advertisements posted than there used to be. Very few employers are hiring, Mr. Kyl, and there's immense competition for the positions that open up. Are you aware of that? Are you aware that the OFFICIAL unemployment nationwide is 10% - while the UNofficial rate is much higher. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find paying work in this sort of environment? Or do facts once again get in the way of a sound byte?

You've obviously never lived on unemployment insurance and you've never had to try to pay rent and bills on $237/week. Unemployment is a destabilizing and demoralizing condition. I am 29 years old and I would rather have a JOB and the ability to move up a career ladder and have enough money to fix my car and pay off my student loan debt and my credit card debt. Unemployment insurance means that if you're lucky you're treading water...what it means for most people is that they're constantly struggling and sinking slowly. Without unemployment insurance, people are out on the street - they can't pay rent, pay for groceries, pay application fees to apply to further their education in the downturn. Not only are the unemployed plunged from crisis to catastrophe, but their local economy suffers along with them.

The problem in this economy is not the actions of the unemployed - who are the victims of the recession. WE did not cause the recession. Making our lives even harder will not solve anything. It will not create jobs out of thin air. Why don't you work on revitalizing industry in Arizona and preventing outsourcing of jobs to other countries?

After all, is that what you're paid for?


Your constituent,

[Blue_Tires]

180. welcome to the site!

[CHelms]

130. So now the unemployed are bums too?

Other than Wall Street, Big Oil and the Insurance Racket, is there anybody in this country the Republicans AREN'T publicly flipping off?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

131. Even worse are vile, bigoted idiots who have no suitability for the job for which they are employed

But who keep getting elected for some reason that completely eludes me

Enter Senator Kyl and most of the GOP congressional caucus

[Newest Reality]

132. Some people ....

speculate about what the final "bubble" will be to burst in this endgame economic scheme we are witnessing.

Well, there may be one or two to come. Max Kaiser is talking about an entertainment-based speculation that many, even us commoners, will join in on, only to ride it into a 21st-Century-style collapse of untold proportions as we follow the bait of the Elite and mimic the stock madness of the pre-Depression where even maids and shoe-shine boys were "invested" in the Market.

Personally, from what I have seen, experienced, and tend to know, the final bubble that will burst most rapidly and cataclysmically before our very eyes will be the one that comprises and encapsulates the optimistic, hope-based denial that is propping-up what is left of what we thought we once had, or as we were told.

I see the smaller soap bubbles popping amongst you. We are not totally lost in a land of hypocritical denial, but their is a large mass at the center of this implosion that, seemingly by surface tension alone, is holding together the remaining semblance of what we thought it was and should be.

While it may seem frightening and like something to avoid, the bursting of that particular bubble mentality and lifestyle is what could very well be the most significant and important factor that leads to our potential salvation in many ways, shapes, and forms. It seems that the psychological neurosis that induces us to psychologically and spiritually expend so much energy and thought towards preserving and even resurrecting what is in crises and dying before our eyes reflects the medical medical paradigm of keeping someone alive regardless of the quality of life or the purpose of doing so, or the expense involved. I know, it is a difficult and profoundly philosophical dilemma, but here we are and the time is nigh.

If we can grapple with this, as we are being called to do, and grok the predicament we are in without question, we just might find ourselves both appropriately adopting what we have to, (no thanks to the PTB and politicians who want to maintain what they can despite our quality of life) and adapting to what we are capable of because that is one of our uncelebrated capacities in this age of stubborn, pseudo-individualistic rhetoric divorced from actual experience.

Don't be afraid of the bursting bubble of what you thought you knew. The bubble was good, (for some) while it lasted, but it was always a barrier and restrictive in nature. You are about to join a much larger segment of your species who have never lived in the bubble, but may have been exploited by the tension it created on the surface of modern existence. Beyond the thin film maybe be death, poverty, disease, and more misery. Or, we might find the kind of freedom that kicks the complacency out of us all and calls to our attention the incredible potential of a nervous system that we, by hook or by crook, have not yet fully explored. That's the end of one dream and the beginning of a new reality, IMHO, if only by some form of informed speculation.

[sandyj999]

133. Well I just love living on less than half of what my income used to be.

Once again I will repeat: THERE ARE NO JOBS HERE YOU IDIOT1

[DisgustedInMN]

135. Hey Asshole Kyl...

.. I no longer get UI Benefits, so where is my fucking job? When the Revolution starts, I'll be looking for you.

[barbtries]

137. these fucking heartless assholes!

people need to eat. they need to pay their rent and their bills. geezus this just makes me sick.

[fasttense]

142. Well, that 30 million people who will not vote for the RepubliCONS. n/t

[JoePhilly]

143. Douche bag

[rasputin1952]

144. Idiot...

that's it, he's an idiot.

[Jax]

252. Misogynist Racist Homophobic Bigot Idiot.

see post 251.

I am SURE you agree.

Alyce

[hollowdweller]

145. In that case what about a 21st Century CCC?

They could repair state and local parks, remove garbage and demolish abandoned properties, and do other public works type stuff that has deteriorated over the years???

[Raster]

146. Kyl is a prime example of "compassionate conservative."

It's a safety net, you fucking idiot.

[Roland99]

147. Dumb. Fucking. ASSHOLE!!

Yeah, last year when I lost my job making $43/hr I was just fucking THRILLED to haul in about $400/week!

Man, I was living on EASY STREET!!!



Fucking PRICK!!!


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[shawn703]

148. How much does the for-profit prison lobby pay this guy?

What do you want to bet that this lobby is also against unemployment benefits? Pretty sure a good way to fill the prisons is to give people no option other than crime to survive.

[RedCloud]

153. That's it! Off with his head. It is of no use to him.

[patrice]

155. Projection from a person who apparently hates being a SERVANT of the People and hence hates himself

[abelenkpe]

158. Listen To What He Is Saying:

"You Lazy Bums, Get Back To Work!"

That is what the republican party is telling people in this economy with layoffs continuing and no driver for jobs. Yes the republican party wants to strip the unemployed of benefits and health care. If democrats do not remind the people of this loudly every single day between now and the elections they are fools.


------------------------------------------------

(Cap and trade might have helped create jobs and improve the economy but no no no....)

[No Elephants]

159. To everyone who is unemployed, I am so sorry about your situation. I hope will all my being that it

improves soon.

[Javaman]

160. Yeah, like being an entrenched repuke senator who spouts bullshit. nt

[olegramps]

161. The solution is very simple:

Income tax rates on the wealth at 90%.
Inheritance taxes that takes every thing over 2 million. This how you get the money back that they stole.
Luxury taxes that include multimillionaire dollar homes, jewelry, yachts, etc.
Tariffs on all products that have been outsourced.
Taxation of any transfer of off shore banking accounts to US banks.
Close most foreign bases. Its time for Japan, Korea, etc. to provide their own security along with the other free loaders.
Shut down the military industrial complex.

Eureka: Instant security for American Workers and Medicare for all.

[KansDem]

162. This is an old, right-wing canard

I'm sick and tired of hearing the same old stupid arguments for moving the country to the right. I can still remember the move to "make consumers more aware of health-care costs by making them participate more in managing their health care." Translation: Make all patients responsible for working out the fuckups between among doctor's office, lab, hospital, and insurance company (remember that "contract" you sign before any health-care procedure?).

Two years ago, my doctor ordered some lab tests. I showed up at the lab and had the tests done--$750 worth. Well, someone had me down as a "female," so my insurance company wouldn't pay for the tests. Here we are two years later and the mistake still hasn't been corrected! I even had them all on the phone last year to work this out! Meanwhile, my credit score has taken a hit and I get calls from a collection agency to pay the bill.

Fuck you, GOP!!!

[unblock]

163. in most states, you have to be actively seeking work AND you have to accept any reasonable offer

otherwise it's fraud and you can go to prison.
yes, you can to some extent define your own job requirements so it's easier to turn something down, but there still needs to be a reasonable basis (e.g., you can't lose a job as a hamburger-flipper and say you won't take a new job unless it pays over $500,000/yr)

so it's a heavy incentive to get a job.

kyl's argument might have some cynical truth to them without in states that just hand the money out willy-nilly, but i don't think many states do that any more.

[Wapsie B]

164. Aside from this selfish conservative mindset of Kyl's what gets me is

that people like this will spout this inner rage and anger their entire lives. They'll do anything they can to destroy the social fabric of this country. Then on their deathbeds they'll expect the rest of us to cry over their sorry asses, expecting the pity of others when they themselves showed no pity nor mercy in their lives, only anger and greed. A pox on all their houses for the next 10,000 generations I say.

[Larkspur]

Replacing American workers with cheap foreign labor increases unemployment, bonehead Bunning!!!

The Democrats better turn Bunnings callous comment into and ad and drive into the GOP's heart.

[rhett o rick]

165. He is saying that people are out of work because they dont want jobs. nt

[DisgustedInMN]

166. Has any Democrat Congresscritter besides Sen Al Franken...

.. stood up to denounce this?

Any of them?

Has Barack Obama?

Harry Reid?

Nancy Pelosi?

Rahm Emanuel?

Tim Geithner?

Larry Summers?

Robert Gibbs?



I'd sure like to see which of them have a spine on this one.

[INdemo]

175. You can forget about Geithner and Summers having any comments about this

this would please their Wall St. cronies...And even Emanuel might be in this group.. Higher unemployment taxes for employers mean less stock dividends from his blue chips

[DisgustedInMN]

182. Thanks, but..

... that was exactly my point. A bit too subtle perhaps?

But I was dead serious about Barack Obama failing to address this and pushback. I can't even put into words how much of a bitter disappointment this pretender has been.

[INdemo]

243. I cant figure out who or how they got to this guy..

He is owned by the corporations,insurance companies, banks, and investment firms on Wall St.He pretends to be a Democrat fighting for the people on main street but he knows where the money really is.
I dont believe he could do anything in the remainder of his term that could re-earn my trust. He is a phony. He is a typical Chicago politician and ran as a Democrat even as a state Senator because that was the only way he would get elected.
And now as President he is way out of his league.He is anything but a Democrat,especially a progressive Democrat.

[closeupready]

167. Would he prefer people rob grocery stores?

F***ing idiot. :mad:

[Hubert Flottz]

168. Republicans are against anything that helps working class

Americans. They always have been and they always will as long as idiots elect them.

[BigD_95]

170. I just dont understand

why every Dem that can get in front of a reporter or camera isnt bashing the Republican party over this. This should be 2 or 3 straight days of pinning the Republicans for this idiot.

Thats what the Republicans would do to Democratic party.

There should be all this talk about how Republicans are out of touch. This was a gift and were not taking advantage of it.

I was listening to the Bill Press show on the way to work and they were talking about firing teachers? Are you serious? This should be the talking point for days.

The Democratic party is so unorganized. They can never get a message out. Even if the message is true. Republicans can tell lies over and over and the public believes it. Because they stay on message. They get talking points and they all stick together from Fox news to Rush to every Senator and Congressmen. It just makes me sick how they control the media.

How we have the White House and majorities in the houses yet they control the media so they still run the show.

It gets so old.

[DisgustedInMN]

186. Exactly.

That is precisely why the Dems will be getting their collective ass handed to them come November.

[liberation]

225. It is very easy to understand...

... the Dem party has been shifting so much to the right, that right now is mostly a center-right platform (with some great exceptions, but they are still that: exceptions).

The GOP is now the ultra right wing. We no longer have any major party which is mostly on the left, or even center-left. And that side of the spectrum is the one usually reserved for the representation of the middle and lower classes, i.e. the working stiffs.


Now here is a "revolutionary" concept, if we want the middle and lower classes to be represented, maybe we should start electing people who have no issue standing for and expressing their support for us? Rather than simply voting for the least bad of the conservatives....


Seriously, we should cut it out with the whole electing of center-right candidates from the Dem, and then wondering why on earth are they following a center-right course of action. Come on, we should be all grown up adults by now.

[DirkGently]

172. This is a favorite RW fallacy

Because, sure, if the state offered to pay people $80,0000 a year, put them up in a nice 3/2, and give them the keys to a new car as unemployment benefits, that would be a tempting option for some people, vs., say a job in retail. So as usual, the rw takes its cherished long slide down the slippery slope, and concludes that giving a hungry child a hot meal will make them lazy, or that subsistence funds for someone trying to keep their family off the streets will create a permanent depedency on "the dole."

My recent favorite was the S.C. lieutenant governor who wanted to cut school lunches because his 'nanna told him feeding 'stray animals' causes them to 'breed.' Word is he was on the free lunch program as a kid, by the way.

Nice.

In other words, the argument goes, every dollar or scrap of food or bit of medical attention you "give" someone, is one thing they won't work for.

Right.

Enough already. These things are not true. These ideas do not work. We are not in the spot we're in because of "big government" "throwing money" at the people. It's possible for those things to cause problems, but those problems are not the problems we have now. The way we got where we are now is that we've outsourced, privatized, de-regulated, and "pre-emptively defended" ourselves into a gigantic hole.

And from the bottom of this hole, all we hear from Republicans is, "Just a little deeper now ... how about a tax cut? Maybe a war with Iran? Eviscerate education in the public schools? Throw the middle class out of their homes and the poor in jail? Let the bankers be a little more "creative?" We're almost there ..."

[amb123]

173. There goes them LAZY LIBERAL POOR again!

Liberals don't understand what it's like to do an honest days work, to earn their daily bread, because they want the Government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave!

:sarcasm:

ESAD Fascist Jon!

[INdemo]

174. This is the exact same thing that former House Maj. leader

the idiot,the corrupt Congressman from Texas..Oh ya Tom Delay ..He said this.
Now this is why we cannot have a Republican majority because they will take everything away from the working class in favor of corporate
America.
No unemployment benefits the less unemployment insurance employers have to pay. A statement like this is not by accident . He is being prompted by other Republicans to bring this issue to the front for future discussion. So keep in mind if Republicans win back the majority, unemployment extensions is history for years to came.

[LiberalCatholic]

192. I called

I just called Sen. Kyl's office and went off on the young man who answered the phone. I told him that my husband and the sole support of our family has been out of work since June. He has applied to between 200 and 300 jobs. I said he would rather be working and would the Senator prefer to get my husband a job? I said that we hold those "Christian values" and that is why I am not working. I said that unemployment was the only thing keeping us off the street and that the masses may seem lazy and stupid to them but that is not the case. I said we were using unemployment to pay our bills, not shop or go on vacations. I told him that I understand that someone making six figures doesn't get it but that we needed that money since the Republican Party imploded the economy. I also said that if the Senator wanted to call me and hear from me himself I would be happy to talk to him. I doubt he will.

My husband is DYING to get back to work and that s^&* is saying that this is some kind of a vacation. I have been home raising our boys for 13 years. The plan was always that I would go back to school (I'm back at school working toward a Masters right now) when the boys were older. We have never taken a thing from the government. We've lived in a small house, never taken an expensive vacation, drive second hand cars and don't spend a lot on our clothes. We made our choice to live our life in the manner that we see fit. And then this happened...Thanks for letting me vent...again

PS if anyone is hiring a recruiter in the Greater Boston area...

[florida08]

193. to repeat what another poster stated here

what the hell does Kyl know about unemployment?

Arizona’s Unemployment Rate Rises 1/21/2010

The number of Arizonans without a job grew in December as the state’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.1 percent. Unemployment stood at 8.9 percent in November. The Arizona Department of Commerce reports today in its Arizona Workforce Employment Report that the state lost a net 1,700 jobs in December. In December 2008, Arizona lost 19,600 jobs. In addition, while the economy is still losing jobs, the rate of loss has slowed over the last four months from -7.7 percent in August to -4.8 percent in December.

While the private sector gained jobs for the third month in a row in December, those additions were canceled out by losses in government employment. The private sector added 3,000 jobs, while government shed 4,700 positions.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

196. I was laid off in January of this year and am on unemployment. As many of you all know,

in order to receive unemployment benefits each week, you have to apply for work (at least two jobs (I'm in VA)). I am busting my ass trying to find two jobs each week to apply to (I'm in marketing/business development and have almost 20 years of experience). Much of what is being advertised -- and there is not a lot out there -- is part-time, entry-level or internships. I also see the same jobs advertised week after week.

[DesertDiamond]

194. Sure because the $230-450 a week provides such a plush living! Geeeeez!!!

[and-justice-for-all]

195. Economic ignorance!!!

A: That simply is a load of horse shit.
B: NOT EVERY ONE CAN HAVE A JOB, BECAUSE IT IS ECONOMICALLY IMPOSSIBLE!

[loveslife]

197. WHAT ASSHATS!!

What a friggin A$$Hole! I've been unemployed for almost two (yeah 2!!!!!) years! Do you know what I do every friggin #$@&! g@d@mn day?! I get up, make coffee and by no later than 7 a.m. start looking for and applying for an effing job!!!! I do this all effing day and stop somewhere between 4 and 7 p.m. because my BF pulls me off the computer. NOT JUST 5 DAYS A WEEK BUT EVERY EFFING DAY!!!!!! I'm surviving on unemployment because of our small savings which is dwindling every month and the very small amount of work my BF can occasionally find. My UI pays for our rent and COBRA which I have to keep because I have a couple of chronic illnesses that need medical attention. Yeah, that big fat UI check is such a disincentive for me to get a REAL job, cuz I just love seeing my miniscule savings dwindle, my stress level go through the roof, my nightmares of being homeless, my fear of being unable to afford medical care and prescriptions!!! So, Kyl and Bunning, YOU CAN KISS MY A$$!!, YOU PATHETIC A$$WIPES!!!!! God, I would love to get in their faces right now!

[WonderGrunion]

201. Fuck You Jon Kyl!

Does he have any clue the sense of hopelessness and worthlessness that accompanies not being able to get a job and provide basic necessities around the house. Unemployment BARELY covers basic necessities. After just over a year unemployed (due to the BUSH recession), I still lost nearly everything. I was lucky to have a family member that knew of an opening at his company and I was able to rejoin the workforce this last November.

That entire year was a continuous assault on my dignity as a human as I faced rejection after rejection in the worst job market our nation has seen in nearly a century.

HEY SENATOR FUCKWAD!!! LACK OF JOBS DISSUADES PEOPLE FROM JOB HUNTING!!

[maddogesq]

202. Dear Sen. Kyl: Kiss my arse!

As someone living in Michigan and on EUC Tier 2, I cannot believe how removed people like this are from WTF is going on in the world. I swear these people are high on crack sometimes.

[SemperEadem]

204. Wow... just wow.

And the majority of Arizonans really want this man to represent them. Stunning.

[geardaddy]

206. He should know about getting paid for not working.

He's doing that now.

[rocktivity]

207. It also makes people not want to go out and commit a crime for money.

As for HIRING disincentives, do corporate bailouts count?


rocktivity

[winyanstaz]

211. This dude is insane....

and what will these people and their families live on while looking for jobs that do not exist?
Too bad they cant live on hot air and bullshit because then Congress could keep us all fat.

[never cry wolf]

214. It's true, in a way

I have been on unemployment since April, $356/week after taxes.

I am a licensed architect, have been licensed since 1986, used to have my own firm. I have sent my resume for hundreds of positions worldwide. Ideally I would like a senior position cummesurate with my experience but am willing to take an intermediate position.

I probably could have a job by now if I was willing to flip burgers or deliver pizza but I would not make appreciably more than my unemployment benefits. These benefits allow me internet and cell phone in my search for a job in the field I have over 30 years experience in.

[superconnected]

215. What an ass, as if there were friggen jobs to get. This is like the welfare queen lie.

[JohnWxy]

217. time travel 50 years back to 1955. Republicans are havin a good ol' time.

[classysassy]

219. The loons in the senate

when will the american voters rid this country of the lunatics in Washington?

[liberation]

221. So I assume, Sen Kyl will be relinquishing the pension and free healthcare he gets for life, right?

I am tired of being lectured about work, by a group of assholes whose work year is in the single digits of days....

[Riverman]

222. The Result of Relying on the Private Sector to Provide Sustenance!

Unemployment Benefits puts a floor on wages dropping further and a base level of survival for the recently unemployed to keep them from storming the corporate fortresses. Yes, let's get rid of all human services and turn this country into just another third-world hell-hole! A Republican, tea-bagger paradise!

[Joe Chi Minh]

223. But billlion or million-dollar bonuses really motivate the bosses to toil extra hard,

when they might otherwise really enjoy their golf.

[liberation]

229. Conservative logic:

We should make sure rich people have access to a lot of easy money, else they would not have an incentive to "create*" and our system would collapse. However, we should make sure the poor do not have access to easy money, else they would not have an incentive to actually "work to implement" the stuff the rich people come up with and our system would collapse.

It makes perfect sense in their feeble little minds, especially if they say that on their way to their beloved churches....

*create in right wing speak means to "pull out of one's ass"

[Supersedeas]

226. how much more proof is needed: Repigs aren't interested in social safety nets

unless you operate in their social circles with bankers and insurance execs

[Deep13]

227. My not wanting to work is pretty consistent with me ...

...regardless of what else is going on in my life. Like most people, I work because I have to, not because I prefer it. Kyl should have thought about this while Bush was tanking the economy and his corporate owners where sending jobs overseas.

[newportdadde]

230. I guess they should just get some of those $50/hr lettuce picking jobs McCain talked about.

What is it with Republicans... I mean god fucking damn.

[bookworm65t]

231. Yeah, I enjoy trying to get by on $115 a month

what an asshole and an idiot

:mad: :dunce:

[Paper Roses]

233. Sure, I love trying to live on the pittance I get from Unemployment.

It is going to run out soon and then it will be even more fun. It is frustrating to try and find a job. The pages of the job search sites blur, the listings repeat themselves. I can find fewer and fewer that are of interest. Doesn't matter, no-one replies to you anyway.

I missed my calling, should have been a politician. Work hard to get elected and If I played my cards right, I'd have very little to worry about now.

I lack certain skills that are really necessary in today's bad job market. I wonder how many of the political powerhouses know Power-Point from pencil point, a spreadsheet from a bed sheet and think that Microsoft Office is a big building in Washington state.


This guy is in a time warp.

[cascadiance]

236. The fillibuster is a "disincentive" for f'head senator like him from doing THEIR WORK!

Get rid of it!

And they're being paid far more than those of us on unemployment! Perhaps while we're doing filibusters on things, they shouldn't be paid more than the maximum UI benefit.

[Raster]

237. Kyl has been sucking on the public tit for years. He wouldn't know a real job if it bit him.

[caseymoz]

238. Oh, with Bunning blocking unemployment benefits, this will make Repubs popular. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

239. And Boehner has never met a single soul outside of Congress that favors a public option

They are all delusional beyond belief.

[Joey Liberal]

240. Where do these people come from?

Planet Asshole?

[Abq_Sarah]

241. Who in the heck

Is going to pick a temporary benefit over full time employment?

[Ikonoklast]

242. Prove it. Those that assert, must prove.

Show your sources, and research on the subject.


He can't, as it is a lie and reality shows the opposite is true; no one wants to go on unemployment and slowly starve.

[Supersedeas]

244. *cough*

[KillCapitalism]

245. Wanna know how many jobs are out there asshole?

In my area, a casino opened and was hiring for 900 positions.

77,000 people applied.

[Raster]

249. Kyl has NEVER had to do an honest days work in his life. And like most "compassionate consevatives

...there isn't one compassionate bone in his body. Kyl is an insult to the good citizens of the Great State of Arizona.

[nodehopper]

246. he is like some Ayn Rand caricature!

only in America...

[Ken Burch]

250. Y'know, you never SEE those two in the SAME photograph...

And do we have PROOF that Ayn Rand actually died?

And even if she died and they tried to bury her, the Earth would have almost certainly vomited her back up due to her deep personal toxicity.

[Scruffy1]

248. This things father was my congressman when I was young.

The are both big pieces of corrupt shit. His father managed to lose,but sent his idiot son to Arizona so he could find some old geeezers to fuck over. Just like his dad, a pro-war draft dodger, a spiteful, hating intellectually lazy, greedy and totally corrupt. Seems like Arizona set the bar pretty low on this one.