compromise?????

[rykat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvhX1E8PBa8
hah-ha........ Compromise?  Not exactly!

as DM said, more like Hirohito in 1945!

[Otteralum]

extend unemployment benefits and keep all tax breaks.  I'm not saying anything in favor or against this "compromise," but let me point out that it only exacerbates the deficit problem.  No real courageous decisions here.

[clover]

The big question is what was the cost of the trade off?  Let's face it, the 4 million that were going to lose their unemployment would have just ended up on the welfare rolls, probably costing us more since welfare comes with health benefits   On the other side of the aisle, 2% of Americans would have had their taxes go up an average of $5000 per year. 

Whether or not another 800 billion in debt is a good idea or not won't be effected by popular opinion, it will just end up being another divisive, partisan battle in the 2012 election..........but this time they will pit the rich against the poor.     

[ragman]

Sunday I went to a Christmas brunch with Engineers that I work with through out the year.  They are all from different companies.  In conversation later in the day with one I've know for quite some time (he is 67 years old) he informed me that he heard his company is going to cut some help so he volunteered to get laid off.  He told me it was a great deal.  He could collect both Social Security and Unemployment for  This makes 3 people I know who are doing this. Getting laid off and applying for SS plus unemployment, plus whatever they can get in retirement from the company. I didn't think you could do it but last week another friend of mind checked on it and said it was perfectly legal.  

My thought was that if you are retired and collecting Social Security how could you collect unemployment?  Well it seems that you can because you can still work while getting Social Security.  This is nuts and I don't think unemployment compensation was meant to supplement Social Security.  If I know 3, how many are doing this? I've heard that early next year unemployment insurance which is paid by all companies is going to go up big time to pay for all of this.  Again, American business is forced to become more uncompetitive.  

I'm not saying that some families in dire straights don't need this but it appears to me some of it is a scam.  I'll bet the unemployment numbers would drop at least 2 % if the extension would not have been given.   The retired people collecting would revert back to their retirement income.  The people who will not accept a job not paying near what they where making previous, some of them would go to work.  Then we could start to deal with the real hardships.  With this deal I guess we will see 9-10% unemployment numbers for a while.  

[rykat]

"Let's face it, the 4 million that were going to lose their unemployment would have just ended up on the welfare rolls"

or maybe..............just maybe...............some might get off their dead asses and go back to work???!!!

[clover]

Yeah.....they can compete with the other 11 million people laying around living off of your taxes. 

[ragman]

Another social security story:  I'm talking a little while ago to a friend and the conversation of Lottories came up.  No talk of SS.  All of a sudden she tells me about a neighbor who was laid off who hit the lottery for 1 mil.  She tells me, well that is fine but what bothers me a little is that he still collects unemployment.  The lottery winning are not counted as income.  He will get his 2 years of unemployment payments

Another racket that is going on around here.  Mothers putting their kids on SSI for attention deficit disorder.  She works for the school department and has direct knowledge of this.  One mother has 3 kids on SSI getting $100 a month for each.  Another mother told her that she didn't want to put her kid on prescriptions for ADD but it was the only way to get on SSI.

What the hell is the USA coming to??