Obama to “Bail Out” Unemployed?
One of the most underrated American newspapers around, the Christian Science Monitor, reports that president-elect Barack Obama may attempt to ‘bail out’ the unemployed when he takes office in January of next year.
Unemployment has surged in the United States. Approximately 6.5% of those willing and able to work cannot find a job, and are dependent on the government and charities for income.
It seems likely that many more become unemployed in the weeks and months ahead due to the economic crisis, which is expected to worsen.
“I suspect it’s going to get worse,” predicts John Silvia, chief economist at the Wachovia Economics Group in Charlotte, N.C. “It will just take time. There is no quick solution.”
President-elect Barack Obama also knows this and is reportedly considering plans to help out those who will lose their job due to the crisis. Not only does he want to prevent massive jobless by investing in the country’s economy and supporting businesses in trouble (like automakers), he also wants to extend unemployment benefits.
Although a lot could be said in defense of such measures, conservative critics believe that massive government spending is not wise during times of crisis and, they believe, making it easier for people to receive money without working for it may encourage them to stay home rather than go out and get a job, any job, in order to take care of themselves and their family.
Obama, on the other hand, believes that the government has to help victims of the crisis out, and argues that if people have more money to spend, more jobs will be created, or at least fewer will be lost.
The main focus for Obama, however, will be on investing in the economy and helping out businesses in trouble, such as automakers. These companies are not essential to the U.S. economy, investing in them is, therefore, unnecessary. Jobs will be lost in the short run, but other jobs will be created in the middle to long term. Stronger jobs, better jobs.
Instead, it seems that Obama is preparing to artificially keep some businesses intact. Businesses that should collapse, simply because they are unable to compete in the free market. By doing so, Obama could very well end up weakening rather than strengthening the economy.
I don’t envy any president in this position. On one hand, you have to decide whether to let a huge company fail and make employees mad at you, or do you save it and risk inflation or raising taxes.
For those that are looking for jobs, About.com just added 3 new employment sites to their top 10 job site list:
http://www.linkedin.com (networking)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated lists)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to jobs)
Whole Top 10 list here:
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/joblistings/tp/jobbanks.htm
I realize this is purely anecdotal, but I thought I should share:
I know someone who recently lost her job, but who’s husband makes enough to support them. She applied for unemployment and got it for 6 months as long as she applies to two jobs per week. She wasn’t in a hurry to get a new job. In fact, she said that she had some job applications ready, but she was holding onto them because she had already met her quota for the week. She’s perfectly happy taking the unemployment check while she does some freelance work on the side (apparently that’s totally legal) and waits for a good opportunity to come along. And I don’t blame her.
When I think of that story, I can’t help but think there’s something wrong with our unemployment system. I’m not opposed to expanding the benefits to people who really need it during hard economic times, but when you’re giving the benefit to people who don’t need it, or giving people so much that there is no motivation to get a job, there’s a problem.
I agree Mike, but for different reasons, it’s not really the government that is paying it – it’s business. Business pays most unemployment benefits to the State – and a much lower percent to the Federal Gov’t.
For example, for the past 20 odd years, various employers I have worked for have paid unemployment for me in various capacities I have worked in. Getting laid off during the Clinton Administration I applied for unemployment, but never submitted for a check. So I never used it. All that my employers paid in unemployment benefits for me went to someone else. It’s a typical Socialist program.
Now, to add insult to injury (for business) – if I were to file claim now – the employer ends up paying a higher rate for a few years.