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Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay appeared on CNN’s "State of the Union" this morning and had this to say about the effort to extend unemployment benefits:
You know, there is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits, keep people from going and finding jobs. In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.
The problem with DeLay’s statement is that it contains a kernel of truth, but completely misses the larger reality. There is a disincentive that slows people down in the process of looking for a new job. But that disincentive is not necessarily a bad thing.
As an example, a friend of mine was laid off about a year ago from a good-paying job with full benefits. He immediately went on unemployment, and through COBRA, was able to maintain his family’s health insurance. As a result, he was able to pass on several low-paying jobs that did not offer benefits, and was able to wait eight months for a job that was comparable to the one he lost.
Having the ability not to rush out and grab the first job he could find has allowed my friend to secure the long-term financial stability of his family, a nuance that DeLay’s argument fails to grasp. Not to mention the fact that there are millions of people that are out there every day trying as hard as they can to find work who desperately need that unemployment extension.
At best, DeLay’s remarks are insensitive and uninformed. At worst, they are deliberately calculated to demonize a large chunk of America that is currently fighting for its very survival.
What’s on your mind tonight?
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Tom is an expert on unemployment, being a long-term unemployed job seeker ever since his mug shot hit the Internet.
(I do hate the elites who masquerade their war on the middle class as hard-working populism, and there is not a single kind cell in my body when it comes to figures like Tom DeLay.)
Tom Delay, with a face only a mother could love. And a convicted loser to boot.
Sure, I take him seriously. Not.
See below (it doesn’t save edits properly)
Currently there are at least 6 applicants for every job opening. Let’s say that DeLay is correct. Furthermore, let’s say that EVERY person receiving unemployment won’t apply for any of them. Sounds ridiculous, but hear me out.
Not everyone who is out of work is receiving unemployment. I’ve heard it said that as many as half of those out of work didn’t qualify for them, for one reason or another. This means that THESE people are in most desperate need of a job. If DeLay is correct and my ridiculous stipulation is fact… then the fact that it keeps unemployed people from looking for work is a GOOD thing!!
Now, if there actually were jobs going unfilled, THEN we might have a problem. But there aren’t, so we don’t. If DeLay is correct, the only thing that unemployment benefits are doing is reducing the number of people whose application for employment was rejected.
Because all those people on unemployment in an economy that has 6 applicants for every opening are just lazy. Tough talk for a guy who should be not only permanently unemployed but rotting in prison.
During the time I was unemployed and looking for work, the Workforce Commission personnel were encouraging job seekers to take lower wage jobs, on the grounds that it was unlikely in the present climate that we would find something at our previous wage level. It was also stipulated that we should take whatever offered, or lose unemployment benefits.
Tom DeLay -why is he even on State of the Union ? Mr DeLay is not worth the air time .
Delay and Jon Kyl earlier with the same sentiment are using Larry Kudlow as their economics guru. I’ve seen Kudlow multiple times over the years claim that “all unemployment is, is an opportunity for a paid vacation” for those collecting.
I would like to see these clowns actually try to survive on unemployment and keep up with all their bills. And I’ll even allow them to stipulate that they receive it from the highest paying state (MA last time I checked) rather than from the states that cap it at far less (I think a couple of states are still capped at under $200 per week)
There isn’t a kernel of truth in DeLay’s statement. Unemployment is a mind-numbing and humiliating process that makes you document your job search and forces many families into homelessness. Convicted criminal Tom DeLay lives much higher on the hog from his ill-gotten gains than hard working Americans who are eking by on the benefits of their unemployment insurance.
The rightwing media strikes again. If I happen to click on a show with CONVICT DeLay’s ugly mug there, I immediately change the station before my eyeballs & brain melt. Why this convict has a “place at the table” and is given any kind of “voice” in the purported political debate is way beyond me.
That said, most prior posts sum up a lot of important points about the current economic climate, the jobs scene “on the ground,” and what happens for those on unemployment. And yeah, a lot of unemployed folks are simply not eligible for unemployment, which is too bad.
I personally do know one young person who chose to quit in this economy because he “didn’t like” his job, and definitely is seeing his unemployment as a kind of (in his mind, “much deserved”) vacation. So, yeah, this does happen in reality.
That said, this particular person is NOT the norm; has loads of personal and pyschological problems (take it from me); is extremely immature. So, yeah: it happens. But seriously? It’s rare.
Give me a break. There is ALWAYS going to be some small percentage that “takes advantage” of a program or whatever, but Republics just love to poop out the propoganda that EVERYONE is lazy, stupid, worthless, shiftless and taking advantage of the uber-rich white folks at every turn and at every angle. Just stupid. Unemployment benefits are actually very stimulating for our consumer-driven economy.
DeLay??? ACK. He should just STFU. But unsurprised. If not DeLay, then some other jerk would’ve said it.
“Unemployment benefits are actually very stimulating for our consumer-driven economy.”
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You’ve actually been listening to too much malarkey and have no idea what you’re talking about. Unemployment benefits aren’t as much wage insurance as they are mortgage and car payment insurance. Rather than maintain or expand consumer discretionary spending, they guarantee existing obligations.
Most Gopers are so fucking stupid they think Unemployment Ins. is the same thing as welfare.