What is your opinion on extending unemployment compensation beyond 99 weeks?

I'm conflicted on this issue.

Yes, it's true there continues to be problems in the economy and people are hurting.

However, based on anecdotal evidence I'm not sure extending benefits beyond 99 weeks is the best decision.

My sister was unemployed for 3 months and she was able to find a job. However, she is having to relocate and she does have a college degree.

On the other hand, I was at McDonald's yesterday and they were interviewing someone.


Maybe putting more money into job training is better than extending benefits beyond 99 weeks. And perhaps some people are putting off taking jobs that are less desirable. I could be wrong.

We can extend benefits while also funding workforce development initiatives.

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I apply for a ton of jobs each week - including McDonalds/Wendy's/Taco Hell/Etc - they won't hire me, I am over qualified.

I can't move (no money for one - and my daughter is here).

What am I supposed to do?

I see anecdotal evidence of people getting jobs and then there are situations such as yours.

The rest of us are "conflicted" about whether to pay for rent, for food, for clothing because people like you think we are a bunch of fucking bums.

might be a better strategy. Some Democrats in Congress have questioned extending benefits beyone 99 weeks, it's not just me.

Do you think those of us, who number in the MILLIONS, should just fucking die because we can't find work in this shitty economy?

You think we are bums. Say it.

fer chrissakes

I had a 2 hour interview a few weeks back. Only thing going against me the lady said was that the owner/ceo tends to hire people from his own country who are here and need a chance, especially recent computer grads (but the problem they kept having with them is that they have no real world experience and they can't grow their IT dept).

If I had been from Korea with my experience the job would have been mine, 80k/yr. The interview was scheduled for 45 minutes and went 2 hours until someone kicked us out of the conference room.

Nothing. The lady was impressed, HR was impressed, but the final decision was the ceo.

Take stuff out of your resume, if you are applying for a job of Wendy's, etc.

Anybody can find out using your SS number where you worked.

More and more outfits are doing background checks, and if there is even a slight blemish, you are out of luck in being hired.

I was turned down for a job "due to information obtained on my credit report" last year!

Fuck them and their fucking background checks!

I had something that turned up on the investigation for my current job, which I started about a year and a half ago. Seems that I had forgotten to renew my driver's license, confusing getting a new one (because of a move) with the renewal. Got stopped by a cop for a burnt-out headlight, and he noticed my license had expired.

Anyway, went to court, with renewed license in hand, and was merely assessed a $60 fine by a judge who was reasonably pleasant to deal with. I did forget, and cheerfully paid the fine.

The rest of the story (as Paul Harvey used to say): This incident happened in 1993! And in 2008, this employer was worried about it! I had to supply copies of the court transcript to show that it was only a mere traffic violation (since I had a license, only it was expired) rather than a misdemeanor, as would be the case if I had driven without ever having had a license at all.

In the meantime, I had applied for and taken several jobs, including one with a computer chip company that did defense work. Nobody else had ever given a tinker's damn about that license renewal. I almost didn't get the job!

I swear, it almost makes me want to turn Libertarian!

If I leave a 10 year gap.

But then you have to dumb down what you did. Hey, I am only trying to help

it's just a really heated subject. This job hunting shit really sucks, and the older you get, the less anyone wants you.

Oh, and BTW, welcome to DU!
:hi:

not mentioning a lot of your experience? If asked directly, I guess you have no choice but to tell the truth, but maybe opening wit things like I don't have much experience (in this particular job) but I'm very eager to learn & learn quickly, just might work for you.

You understand it is a huge reduction in income with no benefits?

Job training should just be a part of unemployment (rather than historically a cause to lose benefits) but job training won't put food on the table or keep a roof over someone's head.

Your sister getting decent work is a blessing not evidence that people really don't need a lot of help. I think you're being a Republican on this one, worrying somebody, somewhere might be getting over rather than first wanting to make sure the people getting crushed by this economy at least can try to keep the home fires burning on the fumes that unemployment provides.

However, a certain percentage keep trying to find a job they were doing before instead of taking something less desirable. That's a small percentage however.

Maybe that money should go into training people for medical and environmental jobs. That's all I'm saying.

Have it your way.
When the cascade effect from these folks not being able to pay bills or keep homes takes your job under with it then you can pray someone is more merciful to you.

Or maybe someone desperate and hungry kills you or your's to get food or money to soothe their bellies and you won't have to be of any mixed minds about the issue going forward.

I want all the incumbents in BOTH parties out of Congress. They aren't serving the interests of the American people.

until I know all the facts.

Look at my thread about this.

be accused of spending too much and adding to the deficit. That's stupid during an economic crisis and high unemployment, but apparently a big deal in some districts. Someone just posted a poll that said Americans are most concerned about two things: Terra and federal debt. Nancy has to be careful not to cause any Dem losses in November.

Who says terra and debt are the most important? What a load of shit. It's the fucking economy and JOBS that are the issues this year.

banks and corporations while leaving them to starve on the streets won't vote for the Democrats who are in charge and left them hanging either.

And I could give two shits about the morons crying about "terra" and the federal deficit. All that nonsense about running government like a business is just that nonsense. Just because the media gives them all the attention doesn't mean that their concerns are warranted or that they should be catered to.

GDP rose in Q4-09, Q1-10 and preliminary estimates show GDP will rise in Q2-10.

The recession ended. We are now dealing with the aftermaths of the recession.

It is possible to have high unemployment and no recession.
There likely will be higher than normal unemployment for next 3-5 years or longer.

it.

Maybe not as fast as you hope but there simply is no evidence that there is "no jobs".

Unemployment is high but that doesn't mean there is "no jobs". We have never (not once, not for a single month) had 0.0% unemployment. The economy is gaining jobs.

Don't ask a question if you don't like the answer.

"Is the recession over?" Yes. The recession is over.

When there are nearly six people for every job opening, it is NOT good out here.

I never said it is good just like I never said unemployment is over.

The recession is over and things are betting bettER. They are getting bettER.

Net jobs were created in April thus the situation in April was bettER than in March.

Strawmen aside you do understand that the following are not mutually exclusive right?
The employment situation is bad.
The employment situation is getting better.

Oh hell, stay away from Cleveland, we got a couple of hundred for anything even remotely considered a stable job with a living wage!

to people who have run out of benefits and are struggling to keep from starving or ending up homeless.

You know what they say about "statistics."

If BP stops the oil flow the situation will be getting BETTER doesn't mean the situation is GOOD. However we can agree that no more oil flow is BETTER than more oil flow right? Net increase in jobs is BETTER than a net decrease in jobs.

April produced a net increase in jobs thus compared to March the situation is BETTER. That is simply a statement of fact. Try not to read to much into it.

and are not seeing evidence of a turn around. It may make you feel as though things are better but it doesn't mean a hell of a lot when people are suffering. Is that clearer for you?

In April 290,000 net jobs were created. That is 290,000 Americans who were preivously not working who are now.

Things are getting better just because your PERSONAL situation didn't get better last month (or maybe got worse) doesn't mean things aren't getting better.

"It may make you feel as though things are better "

I don't FEEL things are getting better I know things are getting better because empirical data (not feelings) show that it is.

It could be that some people are taking second and third jobs to make ends meet. It's a job being filled it does NOT mean that every one of those jobs is being filled by someone who was previously unemployed.

More shit for assurances.

Your personal situation may get far far far far worse before it gets better. I certainly hope it does but I offer no assurances that it won't. Statistics can never address the individual. Murder rate in 2010 is lower than 1980. However you weren't murdered in 2008 but you could be murdered in 2010 (despite the lower overall murder rate).

Net jobs increased. Number of persons employed increased. Employment Situation is getting better.

Number of persons employed in United States:
December 20009: 137,792
January 2010: 138,333
February 2010: 138,641
March 2010: 138,905
April 2010: 139,455

November 2009 was the last month where number of persons employed in the United States declined.

because my company has several job openings posted on their website.

But you have to live in L.A.

No single action will provide more direct stimulus to the economy than unemployment benefits, which are minuscule and immediately spent on food, shelter, car payments etc.

Without such a safety net, loan defaults, homelessness and yes, crime all increase. If we can afford TRILLIONS FOR 2 STUPID FUCKING OCCUPATIONS, we can pony up a few billion to prevent hunger and homelessness until people can find jobs.

Job training is all well and good, but just because one obtains a new skill, doesn't make a new job appear by magic.

How do you expect people to train for new jobs if they don't have some kind of money coming into the household?

Not everyone has a college degree and a lot of prospective employers won't even consider you for a position you've been doing for a decade without it. Civilized countries subsidize their citizens to go to school all the way to PHD because an educated citizen is an investment which will return much more than was paid out.

Too bad we don't live in a civilized country.

and nobody hires you because you are too old?

I can't believe people are that dense they can't see we have a jobs CRISIS in this country.

That doesn't change the fact that without a degree employers won't even bother to give you a second look. And even without bothering to train for a job if you can't get hired and there isn't a lot of hiring going on you still need money coming into the household. So are you seriously trying to argue that extending unemployment is a BAD thing?

On Edit. Not everyone is over 55. Are you saying they shouldn't go for a degree if they want to and think it can help?

That is INSANE to owe student loans at that age. There are few jobs anyway for those with degrees.

I already have TWO degrees. I am not going back to "retrain" when I have only six or seven years to go to draw early SS.

I don't have 2 degrees. I don't even have one. And I'm nowhere near retirement age. What am I supposed to do work at McDonald's for the rest of my life, assuming they'll hire me? Which they won't. The local colleges are reasonably priced and I'm going back with the money I was saving to put down on a house. And that's what I'm doing. If it were easier for me to finish it would certainly benefit me that's for damn sure.

by pushing "retraining" and "moving" is just WORTHLESS when a disproportionate number of the long-term unemployed are over 50.

And the retraining can help some. So I'm supposed to pretend it's not helpful because SOME people won't benefit from it? I'm not 55 but I've been trying really hard not to blast you for having a rather narrow vision because I can see you're angry and hurting due to this shitty economy. But if you think tossing people under 55 under the buss is the answer you're not going to be much more useful than the fools touting the great economy as a reason to do nothing.

then perhaps it's time for you to consider it and forget about a job.

Personally I wish they would lower the retirement age to 45, then I'd have been done 2 years ago.

That's the problem. I don't have a spouse to support me and my parents are dead. What realistic suggestion do you have?

And not "self-employment," please. There is no money to start up a business.

you can always cash that out and live on it until your SS or other pension plan might kick in.

Seriously, WHAT are they supposed to do?? Can anyone answer this question?

What will people do if an extension runs out and they still don't have a job by the time the extension ends?

Not saying I have an answer but there will always be people who's unemployment runs out unless you make the timelimit infinite.

THIS IS NOT LIKE OTHER "RECESSIONS." It is HORRIBLE out here.

But of course you have a job so you can be self-righteous about it.

The country is going to pay big time if there are MILLIONS without jobs.

n/t

closer to 9 months...So 18 months should cover it. That's a year and a half, I am thinking even if someone goes to a community college to learn a new trade, they will be done in less than two years...Keep in mind, I am saying because unemployment is sooo damn low in this country, getting a job, any job, is better than what unemployments pays.

You think I am not wanting to take a job-any job--because unemployment pays "so much"? You are a piece of work.

In fact, the more unskilled the job, the MORE applicants.

I don't apply for teaching jobs anymore--I can't be hired in that field anymore--but nobody will hire me for any kind of job, cleaning toilets, whatever.

Take your GOP talking points elsewhere, please.

See sign tacked to the telephone pole for details.

Great minds...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/27/tier-5-pelosi-says-no-to_n_592121.html

she has a damn job!!

Seriously - I live in California and it's bad here. 12+% and that doesn't include people who have given up. I can't imagine Detroit or other places.

Have a little compassion and try to imagine what it must be like. Not everyone is as fortunate as you.

So do you.

A tad out of touch would be a nice way to say it. And I think comparing yourself to the Speak of the House is premature.

My unemployment is based on my salary for 18 months proceeding end of employment. If i took a minimum wage job instead of the one I have spent many 10's of thousands of dollars training in I would be screwed. The rate i get now BARELY pays rent and electric. So in my case and most likely many others you are woefully wrong.

Why bring a red wheel to a intelligent conversation? Oh that's right. unemployment is welfare right?

I was under that mistaken myth myself. When my job ended, rather than face the 'kiss of death' of unemployment, I took a cashiering job out of sheer desperation. I figured it would pay at least as well as unemployment, and after all, any job is better than no job?

WRONG!!! Shit, did I shoot myself in the foot or what? By the time I realized that I was netting about 400 per month less than UI, it was too late, I was trapped. I will never make that mistake again!

I don't see it as that big of a debate in light of that. Either you want that safety net there or you don't.

she's being played by the GOP, who in turn WANT a double-dip recession in order to help their own prospects.

If there are no more extensions, there NEVER will be.

not the workers. Now it's time to start taxing their damn bonuses down to nothing to pay for part of the damage and that includes extending unemployment bennies until this mess is resolved.

We can limit the dole only when we've managed to limit the duration of any financial catastrophe.

For the record, unemployment sucks. It's barely enough to cover the basic bills. People on it long term are getting dunned, trust me.

Nobody stays on unemployment or welfare if they have a real choice to get off them. You live very, very poorly on both.

It's time we quit blaming the victim here!

Blame the one's whose policies and agenda's made life a living hell for millions of us!

Ship the jobs overseas, allow too many foreign workers in and surprise! The well dries up.

Certainly there should be an extension for those who need it, until the recession is over at least. How are you going to stick out job training if you can't pay rent or feed the family?

The recruitment was closed 3 hours later, with over 2,000 applicants.

It's utter buillshit that there are "plenty of jobs out there" or that UIB recipients just need to "get out there and look".

I have students from my classes last year who are coming back home from their first year of college and trying to find summer employment. One Taco Bell told a girl that they would shop her application around a 20 mile radius because they had nothing locally available. Most of my students this year are openly stressed about prospects for the future and sound like they are 17 going on 35. It's bleak.

Now statewide it hovers around 14 PERCENT, and I am looking at idiots like Pelosi who haven't a clue how bad it is.

She'd rather we fucking die than to lend a hand. She is playing right into the GOP's desire for a douple-dip recession in order to help their own political fortunes.

lazy? Fuck that right-wing talking point. People can't find jobs. Or there are no jobs. What? Are they supposed to starve? Go homeless? Most of these people have worked hard all their lives? Suddenly they collectively got lazy or something? Thank NAFTA, union bashing, and global free trade for the planet of slums.

Anyone on DU who thinks it's ok to let people starve can FOAD.

I'm glad your sister found work so quickly. Do you have any idea whatsoever how lucky she is?

Walk a mile in my unemployed shoes before you stand in judgement of me or tell me it's ok with you that I should lose my house and starve.

They claim they are "conflicted" when it isn't THEIR call to make.

What angers me is Pelosi has told us we can go to hell.

No, wait, not you! The other guy.

I have got to remember that one.

I was talking about people that have been getting unemployment compensation for 99 weeks (no one else). Maybe these people would be better off if the government spent money to train them. And perhaps when you keep extending benefits it prevents some people from taking less desirable jobs. You have to admit that is the case in some instances. I hope things get better for you.

You have to have something to tide you over. Do you really believe those of us who have been jobless two years or more aren't lining up to take "less desirable" jobs when in fact those jobs are GLUTTED with applicants because they are less skilled, less well-paid.

I really don't think you understand how bad it is in most of the country. Because employers are extremely picky, I am discovering all kinds of weeding questions are on applications, and more employers are insisting on applications rather than only resumes. If you don't have an absolutely spotless record, they weed you out.

benefits beyond 99 weeks.

WWFDRD?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps

unemployment compensation vs. the government paying for job training. Not that you were callous and didn't care if people starved. For the record.

we need pragmatic solutions, not intellectual exercises

weeks? Every city, State & municipality is facing layoffs & cutbacks. What if those jobs could be filled by those uneployed for 99 weeks or more & the salaries be paid by the Feds under the unemployment benefit bill?

I think it could solve two problems with one idea. Everything from teacherr aids to working the desk in the PD are being eliminated to try to balance a budget. If those jobs can be filled, the budget still balanced & at the same time shut up the growling Pubs about extending benefits to people who desperately need them, why not try it?

Republicans and DLC-type Democrats were in favor of people "working" for welfare benefits.

It's the same talking point.

Nobody is going to do what you suggest. I don't like your judgmental attitude towards people like me.

The real issue is that SOME people who could be looking for work are just collecting unemployment and not looking. That is easily solved by checking up on people and requiring them to report on their job search.

Married people who have a working spouse may be ok without unemployment, but guess what! Some of us are single and that unemployment check is all we have. And we are desperately looking for jobs.

documented in order to receive UI.

I swear there is widespread ignorance about UI.

They have the right to check it, but it rarely happens.

I got very lucky & got a job in 3 weeks, but although they tell you you have to apply for a job with at least 3 employers every week & keep a log, nobody ever checked! I logged every co. I sent my resume to, even though it was far more than 3, but at the agency, they would look to make sure you filled it out and just put it in the file.

That's going to look pretty fucking horrible when you end up with a laid-off state or municipal worker doing their old job for unemployment benefits.

With a limit on the distance from residence, and on dangerous/unhealthy jobs.

And only from the "magic" 99th week onwards.

For starters.

1 - less time to look for a job, go to school, etc.
2 - if the unemployed person has a young child, they need to find child care
3 - people may get laid off because the company or social service can now get an unemployed person to come in (think that won't happen? we know it would!)

As in, the $ per hour should be MORE than a regular job. I may have fubared the numbers, but that's the idea I had.

and see how all those grandiose reaganesque policies and agendas have made it economically unattractive to allow outsourcing!

and if you were one of the people who's been looking for a job for over a year you wouldn't need to ask this question.

I have a college degree and a lot of experience in several possible positions. You can train people til the cows come home. If there are no jobs there are no jobs.

The ones I have applied for and been interviewed for so far are offering an average of about 30% less than what I was making. A lot of people are in the same boat.

Unemployment, even if you get the max, is a pittance. I can't imagine anyone wanting to stay on it as long as they can. In the almost 1 year since I lost my job I have not been able to save anything toward retirement.

:shrug:

Sorry, but that's just anecdotal.

You do need to realize that the policies that brought on this huge onslaught of unemployment/underemployment, outsourcing, wage slashing, downsizing and union busting are not, I repeat NOT THE FAULT OF THE UNEMPLOYED!!!!!

On the other hand, could either you or your sister SUPPORT yourselves/family on McDonald's wages? NO, YOU COULD NOT, buddy, cuz I've been there, and as frugal as I am, I still could not do it, not even with a college degree and a wonderful, 'highly marketable' resume! And don't tell me that folks would rather sit around at home and smoke crack than work, cuz that's not true, but if it's a choice between that and making the CEO a millionaire at another McJob while my family gets evicted due to lack of funds for rent, then thank you, I will pick up a crack pipe!

We need to quit blaming the victim here, because the victim didn't make these policies, and didn't create this economy; people like Mitch McConnell did.

So until those in charge see the light, and the failure of their policies and agendas, the safety net of unemployment should be unlimited. Maybe at that point, THEY will have learned a little something!

BTW, I am not receiving UI. So I am not sucking off that particular government tit!

is a result of my taking any job just to survive. On that kind of money its just party all the time at my place.

I'll provide the food stamps! I've got $18 til the 6th, we can have a jolly good time!

I've been on UC since June of '09 and nobody is HIRING around here; I need full-time work in order to survive and you can't even find part-time work around since those out of work who managed to find part-time are now juggling two jobs at times

I really, REALLY fucking resent the implication that those of us who lost their jobs are being picky about what kind of jobs there might be ( none around here ) since health coverage does NOT come with UC benefits, and I'm making a little better than half of what I used to make weekly

I was laid off from a job of eight years....EIGHT fucking years and have been working since I was 17, with a solid work record before that job. If one more person accuses me of being a layabout and just giving up searching for work, I just might knock their teeth out

Unemployment extensions are very important stimulis. It's very dangerous to take them away right now even for the 99er's.

People need to stop resenting people for not having jobs. This hurts the economy in more ways than one.

It's stoopid.

Shore up the bottom with extensions and food stamps. If they are withdrawn we go back down into recession.

It's called CONTAGION!

Our middle son has been unemployed for a long time now (don't know the exact number of weeks).

Where he lives, he's in a "protected job" grouping because what he does is very specializes. The state does not want him and others in his field to leave, so he has a very generous unemployment package. If he accepts some low wage job, he loses those benefits. he is managing..just barely..and stays in touch with his former employer and competitors, but until the economy breaks, he's going to ride it out until the benefits run out.

People forget that unemployment is INSURANCE, and even if the feds partially fund it, it's a right that employees have, and if possible, they should take advantage of it when they need it.

and best of luck to your son. He is doing the right thing. And honestly, that makes a pretty poor choice for him!

..what a fucking stupid question...

Even with job training if there aren't any jobs, what good will that do?

Amazing how common folks like you and I can see the obvious, but our best and brightest in Washington just can't seem to see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

Or is it more likely that they themselves can't seem to put down the MIC corporate $$$ crack pipe?

Hmmmmm.....

Yet they act like receiving $1600 per month in UI bennies is a really bad habit that WE need to break ourselves of!

What are they supposed to do when they have run through their savings and sold their houses and literally have not worked full time for YEARS? I have a relative and two friends in that situation. All of them held on by their fingernails (part-time and temp jobs, using up their assets, living off relatives) until they hit age 62 and qualified for Social Security--at the lowest level. Now they survive on reduced SS payments and part-time jobs, which are just enough to barely scrape by.

That's reality.

I'd be for letting people over 50 stay on unemployment until age 62 if they made sincere efforts to find a job. Unemployment payments are not quite survival level, so it's not as if they're sitting around watching soap operas.

without tax loopholes and if we cut defense spending. If we can give a hardened criminal a basic living, we can give everyone the necessities. In this way, socialism is a good thing. You can still earn what taxes will allow wile there's a stronger middle class and less poverty.

no one should have to go to bed hungry or living in a tent. No one as long as we have people who are making enough for hundreds of people to live a good life on. After all we're all in this together. How much power do we average joes have, let me put it this way. If we were all to say we're not working another day for a company who pays its top few more than the rest of the work force combined we'd get some attention and we'd get some changes made. Yep just quit doing their bidding and they'd have a change in heart pretty quickly

radius.

She has a high school diploma and that's it. Prior to being laid off over 2 years ago, she did customer service work. She is disabled enough to not be able to do any kind of physically demanding work but not disabled enough to be considered "disabled" and get disability.

Her unemployment ran out a few months ago. Her boyfriend has a part time job and that's all he can get, he's applied to every job in 30 miles as well.

They only have one car between them. They have about $8 "mad money" at the end of every 2 week paycheck. She has an "extra" $16 a month. Man, she's living large.

At least when she was getting Unemployment she was making about $400 a month, which really helped them.

They have no cable
no internet
no phone...cell or landline. That is very inconvenient with the job search because there's no way for anyone to contact them for jobs.

She has looked in to going back to school for something like medical transcription or something, but she can't afford to go to school. And most schools (I know this because I am a recent Community College student who went back for Nursing), your first semester or quarter of school you have to pay upfront for books and fees, attend for 30 days THEN you get your financial aid check.

She has $16 extra dollars a month....there's no way she could afford the startup fees to go back to school

And the fact that grants won't cover her schoolign, she'd have to take out a loan and there is *NO* guarantee that she'd be any more employable after getting a degree than she is now.

Then there's the transportation issue. The gas cost...they have their gas bill down to the penny so they don't do ANY extra driving because it will fuck up their budget.

She's not lazy. She doesn't enjoy being poor. She has never been on welfare, unemployment EVER in her life until 2 years ago. She has worked from the time she was 14, she has never been unemployed before. Never had foodstamps or WIC or welfare or AIDC when I was growing up.

She's 54, has paid her fair share, and now can't get a fair shake.

Has your mother considered doing day-care for kids out of her home?

My daughter finished college a couple of years ago with a degree in business. She couldn't find anything either.

So she got a day-care license which she said was really easy to do and now she makes a lot of money. She makes more money than her husband makes, another college grad, who wears a suit to work at a large insurance company.

My wife used to do the same thing in the 1980's when I used to get laid off a lot.

Not easy or glamorous work, but it paid the bills.

Good luck to your mother.

Don

On edit I know there are currently only about 10 school age children living in my subdivision of about 50 houses, yet when I walk my dog in the morning there are over a 100 kids waiting at the school bus stops. So that tells me there are a lot of people living by me who are doing the same thing right now.

unemployment benefits need to morph into some sort of Welfare program.

What about those of us who were unemployed for months or years *before* the government extended benefits? Many of us completely annihilated our life savings and were left financially devastated back before it was "cool" to be unemployed.

Roads, bridges, schools, electric grid, high speed rail.

For each dollar invested in infrastructure, 4 dollars IS RETURNED to the economy.

Outlaw Credit Default Swaps, bring the troops home and end the War ON Drugs.

Simple. Do this and watch the economy (and standard of living) take off.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployment-rat_n_394559.html

:sarcasm: