GeeSussFreeKsays...

Unemployment taxes mean we all get payed less. More over, some of us get laid off and don't qualify for unemployed because of our employment status. So, I worked at a place for years, maked about 10% less (in my state) and never get any of the benefits. Thanks horrible government programs for sticking it to the little guy.

Stormsingersays...

10% is a pretty awful rate, I have to admit, it's definitely single-digits here.

Having paid into unemployment for 35 years before collecting any, I don't claim that it's a well-run, well-organized, or even well-planned system. But it's what we have, and Bunning should be tarred and feathered for this. I've now had to drain my 401K (at a loss of about 50% because I can't count on any help from unemployment to pay the rent or insurance.

Now of course, we can't peer into that little head of his and learn precisely what his motives are, but he sure comes across as driven by a combination of ideology and pique. I don't fault the man for wanting Paygo to be followed...but his comments, attitude, and personal history seem to suggest it's as much because he's just ticked at the personal inconvenience, like missing his basketball game, and he's making sure we're -all- going to pay for that.

GeeSussFreeKsays...

Get rid of unemployment entirely please. I would of rather had more money saved up over the time I was employed then to lose XXk dollars to pay into a system that I didn't get crap from. Don't put "extensions" on a shitty system that doesn't work. It is like putting 10k dollar rims on a shit car.

The majority of Americans out of work do not qualify for unemployment insurance, but we all pay for the privileged few who do to get them. Once again a case of the lowest of the low financing the people who have a leg up already keep that leg up.

bobknight33says...

Good job Jim Bunning...Your got my vote. All he asked is to have a way to pay for this, that's all. The Democrats spent a day to write up this extension but forgot how to pay for it.

Stormsingersays...

>> ^bobknight33:
Good job Jim Bunning...Your got my vote. All he asked is to have a way to pay for this, that's all. The Democrats spent a day to write up this extension but forgot how to pay for it.


Yes, of course that was all he asked for. But then...why did he vote against the pay-as-you-go rule? And why did he vote for so very many things previously that weren't paid for? This stance doesn't have a damned thing to do with principles, unless they're brand new discoveries for him.

TerryFsays...

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
The majority of Americans out of work do not qualify for unemployment insurance, but we all pay for the privileged few who do to get them. Once again a case of the lowest of the low financing the people who have a leg up already keep that leg up.


The lower/middle class unemployed are "privileged" to be so? Get a clue you heartless selfish lowlife. You really need to look in the mirror. Bitch about a leak in your roof when the river is running thru the neighbors house. (yeah, I know, it ain't your problem...)

For all you that praise Bunning, take a look at this info on his "NON-profit" foundation.

Jim Bunning Foundation

On December 18, 2008, the Lexington Herald Leader reported that Sen. Bunning's non-profit foundation, the Jim Bunning Foundation, has given less than 25 percent of its proceeds to charity. The charity has taken in $504,000 since 1996, according to Senate and tax records; during that period, Senator Bunning was paid $180,000 in salary by the foundation while working a reported one hour per week. Bunning Foundation board members include his wife Mary, and Cincinnati tire dealer Bob Sumerel. In 2008, records indicate that Bunning attended 10 baseball shows around the country and signed autographs, generating $61,631 in income for the charity.[38] "The whole thing is very troubling," said Melanie Sloan, Executive Director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

entr0pysays...

A few points since we've started debating the fundamentals of unemployment.

1. Unemployment taxes are only payed by employers

2. In order to claim unemployment benefits the worker must be unemployed through no fault of his own (generally through lay-offs)

3. Unemployment benefits are paid by the employer on a per-case basis. Meaning if an employer lays off less people, they will pay less. They are also based on a percent of the employee's previous wage.

4. In general anyone who has not had their job long, or who had a part time job, is not eligible for unemployment benefits. Even if it was lost through no fault of their own. source

5. The result of the above is that the poor, who are far more likely to have seasonal or part time work, are often ineligible for unemployment.

If you think that unemployment insurance should be eliminated entirely, you're arguing that a safety net that protects most Americans should be be eliminated because it's costly for the businesses employ them. I can only guess you're extremely trusting of your employer and think they will never lay you off. In which case I'd remind you they're not paying anything for not laying you off. Or you may think your employer only lays off people who deserve it. In which case I'd remind you that people who deserve it can simply be fired. That is what being fired means, that the employee deserved to lose their job, and people who were justly fired are not eligible for unemployment.

jwraysays...

Of course we need a stronger safety net, but this is a shitty way to construct the safety net. Unemployed people should be paid to to learn vocational skills from general treasury money from a single progressive income tax. Unemployment Taxes, sales taxes, social security taxes, medicare taxes, etc are not adequately progressive, and harm the poor. Employers should be free to hire and fire anyone they please for any reason they please with no strings attached. All the restrictions on firing make employers ridiculously circumspect about hiring so that it is actually much harder to get a job and much harder to start a business.

The sheer amount of time people waste figuring out if they qualify for benefits A through Z and filling out the paper work for each one wastes time that could be spent doing something productive. All this shit needs to be consolidated. I'm tired of seeing pages and pages of shit like a $50 tax credit for one-legged zebras on my 1040.

Fuck all the little deductions and pork. Just make annual personal income after taxes = 10k + 0.6*(income before taxes), including capital gains, employer benefits, inheritance, gifts, and absolutely every other source of income in the same pool for that "income before taxes". A 1% annual net worth tax would be fine too.

Subsidies are always rife with waste and contrivances to conform to the letter but not the spirit of the regulation. So instead of giving tax credits to barely efficient cars, just tax fossil fuels themselves. Instead of tax credits for people who bought well-insulated houses, tax the builders in proportion to how shitty their insulation is.

Stormsingersays...

>> ^jwray:
The sheer amount of time people waste figuring out if they qualify for benefits A through Z and filling out the paper work for each wastes all the time they could have spent finding a job.


Maybe it's different wherever you are, but filing for unemployment here takes approximately 2 minutes. I can't really get a lot of job searching done in that time... If it takes more than 5 minutes, you aren't smart enough for a job that pays a livable wage anyway, and you should probably be looking for a "special needs" home instead.

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