Law in the United States: When you are let go from your job you receive what is known as Unemployment Benefits. These are benefits that you are given by the government for a certain amount of time in order to help you get you back up on your feet. Benefits include: healthcare, job searching assistance, and a bimonthly paycheck which usually is about 75% of your original pay check. Usually you would get unemployment for about 8-12 weeks. Last year they increased it to 30 weeks and then they announced an extension of an additional 20 weeks if you still need it. Today they have increased unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks!!!
This is costing our government and tax payers $10 billion PER MONTH! This is costing more money than financing the war in Iraq!
Read hear for further info and then make your comment below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/08/AR2010030804927_pf.html
This is costing that much money to the government because of the high level of unemployment that is going around the U.S. I believe this is a great innitiative taken by the government and this amount that they are taking out of the budget for unemplyment will decrease in the next year.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States theres a lot of people with need of employment because the population is very high over there but i think the US government is wasting tons of money and its to much for the US government, but in my other side i think is a good thing what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Fernandez
I disagree with Jose about this being a great innitiative taken by the government because 99 weeks is exagerated actually the longest in the US history. I think that increasing it for so long will make some people to relaxed and they wont look for a job as bad as if they only had 30 or 50 weeks. I couldnt say exactly how long would be the correct number but 99 weeks is = to 693 days which is almost two years. I dont think you need this long to look for a job. I think they should keep it at a decent reasonable amount of months and invest the rest of the money on different businesses that will create new job opportunities.Also, I havent really been watching the news but you said (mrs.verwys) ¨This is costing more money than financing the war in Iraq!¨. If this war is still going on..troops should be sent home to their families and the money being spent overthere should also be invested in businesses that will create new job opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't money in the budget for this type of unemployment benefits to comment on Jose's post. And Alejandro- of course the war in Iraq is still going on.... It's more of a peace keeping effort in Iraq though. But many soldiers are still over seas.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! 99 weeks is too much for an unemployed benefit.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I don’t agree on unemployed benefit... I believe that 30 days should be more than what is expected to get a job. Also, the government should instead of increasing the time and spending on unemployed people; they should try and help the poor people without education or shelter to live.
Second, 99 weeks as Alejandra said “will make some people to relaxed and they won’t look for a job”.
For last, unemployed people have the power and experience to know where else to work… not in the case for a person without education or knowledge at all…
Improving the economy is a good cause. The US should stop messing with Iraq and save the money they are investing on that.
ReplyDeleteFYI: Michelle- poor people in the US have free education, just like rich people... it is free to everyone, and the schools are decent depending on where you live. :)
ReplyDeleteWOW...WOW! I mean, providing unemployed people with so many services, I understand it must be horrible to loose you job, and it is honestly really hard to take a side since from the unemployed it must be really frustrating, though for the US government must be really hard too..I disagree with Jose A., we can't take them from war just like that! Then all the progress will reduce to crums! Thats why I always told Bush to start using those Atomic bombs in Iraq! I mean, who would miss them? (joke)
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it will be hard to achieve the balance, but this payment might get reduced in a certain period of time, the only solution i can think right now is time and increase of job need :)
LETS HOPE GOOD FOR EVERYONE IN US!!!!
Mara
In all honesty i know that it is difficult to look at the amount of money spent a month because of unemployment rates but how can one not be of assistance when there people trying to survive another day without a stable paycheck. Wanting to be able to provide for their families, they strive to do the best that they can by spending all their time searching for at least a good and stable job to provide a roof over their head.
ReplyDeleteI would rather spend all the money on helping the families on my country than spend it on weapons to use it against a country which to me has no meaning being at war with. Since all the country really needs is a leader and not another enemy against innocent people.
I completely understand the feelings of tax payers..i mean i have an idea of how hard the government is hitting them with how much they deduct...since my mother is a tax payer...but what if my mother was in that situation where she also needed help she would need help from the people she has shared a country with for almost 20 years. All that one needs to remember is how hard our leader and his workers are working for a better future for everyone, to remember that this hard work doesn't just take a few weeks or even a few months...but that it takes years for a situation so difficult to have some type of handle on it...and BARACK OBAMA is doing an impeccable job no matter how many people say differently. Its obvious that who ever thinks otherwise about the USA's president can't even compare to do a job just as he is doing!
jose's comment makes a good point i mean the point of spending so much money on this is so that people can progress...so in the future whether it's for next year or a couple years after spending the amount will be a benefit for everyone in the united states working and helping others who don't have that advantage. All will come together sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteWell...99 weeks sure are a lot while being payed and do nothing in exchange, i know that it is hard to find jobs and more when you lost a job from one day to another because you havent done anything wrong but being "unnecessary." It is true the government must help its citizens but come on...99 weeks? The ones who lost the job are not babies, all are adults, the time of being pampered passed 30 years ago, if they keep on receiving help and more help and more help and again more help you know what will happen to their brain? It stops. They stop thinking, analyzing, and if they get back to work "one day" it will take them weeks or even months to get back in the railings because they were used to have everything given easy to them. The govnt should help but not an exaggerated help, instead of giving money away so easily, take an hour more and search for new jobs for the people, but of course, it is easier to give money away, which doesnt require that much time, then think in a better solution. I agree with Alejandro that the money and time given is DEFINITELY exaggerated. This is ironic, and im not talking about the U.S. in specific because all the world has this kind of problems but: or the government does not help in concrete or it helps in excess.
ReplyDeletefirst of all i should say that the U.S are thinking for their citizens but they might get so relied to that money that their will come a time when people who are unemplyed wont look for works and they will be sitting in their house receiving money from the gpverment. money that can be used for other thing to help the U.S prosper. 99 week its to much i will say that if you are really desiering for a job and u really need it and you work towards to find the job you will find it in less than 3 or 4 weeks.
ReplyDeleteI think this is terrible for the US government since they're wasting tons and tons of money each month. Moreover, 99 weeks being unemployed?! this is unbelievable...it's even more unbelievabe that while the person is unemployed he/she is recieving money! this kind of stuff makes people hold on to their laziness, because if they're gaining enough money at least to survive why would they seek for new ways to obtain extra money? What should be done is that if the person is being unemployed that is it! he/she is unemployed and bye bye! this way people would we seen in a situation where it is necessary for them to seek for a new job.
ReplyDeleteehh I disagree with everyone. I do recognize that 99 weeks is a large amount of time and at the same time, the US government is investing an excessive amount of money for unemployment but think about the crisis.. Companies are cutting loose employees, because there's no money to pay them.. so if companies are doing this, why would they hire ? Am saying that it is not easy to get a job these days, so despite the fact that the government is "wasting money on unemployment", I think they are helping them too.
ReplyDeleteehh..ooh i forgot to mention, that i do agree with those that said that 99 weeks is a lot because people would get lazy ( just wanted to let them know that :p) but i still support my earlier idea.
ReplyDeleteAs of 10:18 here are the people that are getting the bonus points:
ReplyDeleteAngela
Jessica
Rosa
Mara
Alejandro
Everyone else you still have until midnight.
=]
ReplyDeleteWow 99 weeks!!!!!!! Its better to be unemployed than than working... Although it seems absurd I am sure that the U.S has a reason for this, they wouldn't increase to so much if they didn't have a reason for it. With the economical difficulties that the U.S has been going through many businesses have had the need to let go of many employees, increasing the unemployment rate to 11% 2010. And even though they are trying to make more jobs the country needs to help those unemployed because it isn't the unemployed's fault that the country's economy is going through this crisis. I do agree with jose a., but I don't think they should just abandon by completely the war because then it will have really been a waste of time and money and soldiers. So I guess I agree with Angela it is not a total waste of money and it isn't only that it is hard to get a job like jessica said, the problem is there are no jobs to be filled. For example the Enron scandal, for those of you who don't know enron was an energy company in texas that bankrupted in 2001, the biggest bankruptcy recorded in the U.S. When Enron bankrupted it left a lot of people unemployed, people who were receiving a lot of money monthly high executives, were left to work anywhere that would take them. It is true that the employees later received a payback after the trail but it was after 3 years! so if this 99 week unemployment benefit would have existed many people would have had the right time to maintain their living situation and would have had the right amount of time to find the job that best suits them.
ReplyDelete-Maria Adams
Hey.. sorry im writing so late, but here goes my comment!!
ReplyDeleteI believe that those 99 weeks are a perfect example of why the government is in so much debt and it is wrong to give so many days for a person to find a new job because, as angela said, the people would think "Oh i have 99 weeks to get a new job so whatever!!" and people would get lazy.... i dont see any good reason for the president to give so much time... i believe that if the people were given less time they would focus more on getting a job and the wouldn't get lazy.. but well what can we do :S
maria is right.... they must have a reason for this increment in weeks of unemployment... I mean we are talking about the US.. they wouldn't just throw away 10 billion dollars for nothing... they definitely know better!! We must understand that this is a delicate situation because we must have in mind that many companies are cutting off employees and for this reason finding jobs is extremely hard!! so as angela said this might be helpful... i really dont know if im in favor or against of this because im not the one going through the unemployment... maybe we might be saing that we are against but once we live in the situation we might realize we were wrong... or right.
ReplyDeletei believe that they are spending way to much money on unemployment benefit. do Americans need this money? yes. do they need for 99 weeks? Definitely NOT! i belevie the government should be focusing on finding them jobs so they can maintain themselves rather than just giving it to them the easy way. As someone once said "Give a man a fish; he;ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish; he'll eat for life." these quote was giving to us in one of our economic classes to analyze it and i believe this relates to the present problem. going on without employment for 99 weeks will eventually become a habit for someone whereas you help them find a job so they can maintain themselves they would be helping both the us economy and them. personally both the increase in unemployment benefit and the amount of money spend on the Iraq war are downs for the us economy.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with Alejandro's view. Unemployment will become a habit for such citizens. overall our comments pretty much go down to the same idea but after reading Maria's blog its true "Although it seems absurd I am sure that the U.S has a reason for this, they wouldn't increase to so much if they didn't have a reason for it." I admire the us government to the point where i think like Maria, if they didn't have a good reason for it they wouldn't have taking that decision.
ReplyDeleteGaby you say this because you are not unemployed, i do believe it is a lot of time but who are we to judge, we haven't been in their position, we have a home, food, and security of having these things everyday. some of these people that are unemployed, some of which because of the economic crisis so they aren't at fault, don't know how are they going to eat tomorrow, or how they are going to keep on paying the mortgage to the house,and you haven't been on the search for a job that will be able to maintain you and your family, i don't know if you've ever searched for a job but i'm sure you've never searched for a job because you need it, because if you don't have that job you might not eat tomorrow, and there is a incredible lack of jobs in the United states right now that it is incredible if you can keep on to your job. so honestly who are we to judge how much time the other needs to find a job if we ourselves haven't been in that position not even close to that position.
ReplyDelete-maria adams
ouh my bad i didn't read your other comment gaby i was commenting on yours when you commented the second time... im glad ive made people try to look at the other side to the story. :) ;)
ReplyDeleteehh. first of all yoyis..ok.. an employee is fired. He/she knows that they have 99 weeks to get a job. A responsible person would Not get lazy, he/she would be concerned for his/her future, because that person knows that once those 99 weeks are over, the government will NOT pay them unemployment benefits.. so it's up to that person to get lazy or not, each person faces their own consequences.
ReplyDeleteGaby.. you mentioned the phrase, "Give a man a fish; he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish; he'll eat for life." The problem here is not the lack of education to do his or her job. the problem is.. that there are no rivers to fish on..Like Maria said, this isn't the unemployed's fault that the US is going through a crisis. In my opinion, the government is giving them the money because they know there is a crisis going on, and American's don't have jobs to maintain themselves.
Angela i love that, "the problem is.. that there are no rivers to fish on" real nice way to look at it lol
ReplyDeleteMaria i also love your previous comment, about who are we to judge, totally true, because we've never been in that position.. wow :) nicee
ReplyDeletewhy am i not on the list? ....
ReplyDeleteM&L Verwys said...
As of 10:18 here are the people that are getting the bonus points:
Angela
Jessica
Rosa
Mara
Alejandro
Everyone else you still have until midnight.
i was the 4th person to comment
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletepost posting guys!
ReplyDeleteno rivers to fish in... good one!
=) gracias
ReplyDelete