Congratulations to Obama and his supportersFollow

The one thing that really stood out to me while being on unemployment was that there are so many ways in which they could use the unemployed that they just don't. I'm not saying to make them work a 40-hour workweek and thereby have very little time to job hunt, but they could work 8-16 hours a week for the city or state they live in.

This probably sounds like a good idea in a world where unemployed people are YOU. Young, unmarried people in good health with no kids. The idea that 56 year old Bob, the diabetic who lost his job but now stays home with his school age kids while his wife works is going to arrange childcare and show up somewhere to go through the motions of community service because just mailing him a check is "a waste" stretches credulity a little if you think there's some +ROI to it.

Yeah, those are all good points. Perhaps some sort of required registration at the job assistance center in order to qualify for one of the extensions after your original claim runs out or something could work. All I had to do was fill out a form with three places where I had inquired after a job each week.

It almost seems like you're trying to make the case that Black and Latino voters are in the Democrats because of government handouts to the poor. I'd caution you against going down that line of thought too far. Remember that you don't have the Asian vote either, and there are many other reasons why minority voters may be hesitant to join the Republican ranks.





Okay seriously, the Republicans have at best an iffy record on reducing government expenditures. That's the thing, you guys aren't a small government party. You guys have a terrible habit of running on a small-government platform and not following through with it. Cancelling a few token Democrat-backed programs and jacking up the military budget doesn't count as small government, especially times when you increase overall spending in the process.

Tax cuts are fine, but you actually have to follow those up with the promised budget cuts when you are in the White House. Given the past record I have no idea why people would believe you would do that.



Romneycare.

Given the past records, if I have to choose between spending money on the military and spending money on social programs, I'll take the social programs any day of the week. The other has plenty of money already. If you want to convince people you're a small government party, you're going to have to do more in that area. Right now it seems you only want to reduce budgets when you're not in charge, and then the Dems can pin that "party of no" label on you all, and it sticks. I'm sympathetic, but this falls in the "fool me twice shame on me" category, ya'll are going to have to do more here.

Edit: grrr... quote boxes...

Edited, Nov 15th 2012 8:47am by someproteinguy

Let's give Mr. Tsoukalos a breather, eh? Dude's gotten quite a workout lately.

If he's looking for a place that's likely going to need some refits, Yankee Nuclear in VT got it's license renewed recently, and they had some pending upgrade projects in the pipeline. I don't have much in the way of details, unfortunately.

But for what its worth I have it on good authority that Pilgrim is in much better shape than Indian Point or Seabrook.

Seabrook looks fine from the highway when I drive by on the way to the Maines..

Wow, you really have no clue how people operate outside the white middle/upper class suburban network, do you? The people who are willing to collect unemployment without job searching are the people who don't give a damn about social stigma, and there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of them. Unemployment has a place and helps a lot of people, but to assume the percent of collectors that abuse the system by collecting to the fullest extent while making no effort to seek employment is small enough not to matter is just... mind boggling.

I think most people who go on unemployment go through varying stages ranging from "This sucks BALLS. I need a job ASAP, lets make a goal to apply to ten of them today," to "@#%^ job apps, lets just watch the entirety of Gilligan's Island on Hulu for the next forty eight hours."

Eventually, the pressure to actually do something productive and make money overrides the urge to slack off in front of the TV for days on end, and the "@#%^ it" days gradually reduce over time. I think I made it about a month when I was laid off before the urge to slack was gone completely and a sense of genuine panic took over instead. And yet, it took me four months to find a job that paid enough with benefits. That was four months of quiet panic. I did play a lot of FFXI, now that I look back on it...

Edited, Nov 15th 2012 10:13pm by catwho

I would argue that the percentage is similar to the number of rich CEO types that find loop holes to equally cheat the system. Once people realize that citizens at all financial levels will find a way to cheat the system, then the blame will shift away from the "poor" and be equally spread among all of society.

Just curious really. I don't put a lot of stock in any one persons personal experience.

When I was on unemployment I spent two months playing golf (it was spring and my fiancee was working). Then I lined up a job, got married and started working by July. It was kind of like a mini retirement.

My greatest fear from Zombieland comes to pass.

Well, that and zombies.