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Today's Poll: Should Congress re-authorize extended jobless benefits?

By Howard B. Owens
Meg Cook

Yes congress should pass it everyone I know is havin an extremely difficult time finding a job in this county and if u collct unemployment you have to look for work as you have to go to the career center and report your search history. Not to say there aren't people using the system there always will be but the maority of people need the extension so their families can survive.

Nov 29, 2011, 3:11pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

I agree Meg. I recently had someone come to me and asked me to sign a paper. My signature would of been used to show proof that they were out looking for a job. She did not care if she was not qualified to hold a certain position. Heck, lets have Congress and the House of Representatives cease their government retirement checks. Also, have them take a pay cut since, they cannot work together and come up with viable solutions.

Nov 29, 2011, 4:48pm Permalink
tom hunt

I have been told by several advanced aged individuals and long term unemployed, that they have no interest in finishing up their working career at a legitimate job and plan to ride this unemploymemt horse to SS retirement

Nov 30, 2011, 6:20am Permalink
Bea McManis

The next question...how to pay for it?
1. put a 3% tax increase on any income over 1 million?
2. cut benefits to the elderly and disabled.

I know what the answer would be on this board, but it would be interesting to see if I'm right.

Nov 30, 2011, 12:49pm Permalink
Dave Olsen

Bea, why does it have to be only those 2 options? I'd have to go with neither. It is my long-standing belief that there many other places to find money. John's suggestion about a pay-cut and benefit cut for Congress is a good place to start. How about we adopt a very, very simple tax code and cut the IRS in half and charge them with auditing how the Federal government spends our money?

This guy (Ron Paul's running mate, I hope) has a couple of ideas

http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/economy-and-taxes

Nov 30, 2011, 2:49pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Ah, Dave.
There are other options, but the only options that the right can come up with is to penalize the elderly.
They will stick to their guns to appease the Tea Party group, many of whom live on this board.
The people who want to see the middle income get a break are the elderly, after all they are their sons and daughters.
Sadly, those same middle income people are more than happy to see the elderly pay for that break.

Nov 30, 2011, 3:46pm Permalink
Jeff Allen

Dave, I like those ideas in the link you posted, the other source of additional revenue I can't understand why it won't gain more support is the lifting of the cap on Social Security income limit.

Nov 30, 2011, 3:48pm Permalink
Charlie Mallow

Bea, save your breath. This group has drank the entire pitcher of cool aid.

I wonder how many paychecks you all are from begging for food in the street? How many of you are financially able to care for your parents (including healthcare)? How many of you live in your home because of a government backed loan? How many of you went to school or your children went to school because of a government loan? How many of you actually have enough money in your 401k to survive? (the stats say most of us have next to nothing saved). Could you really live without your government pension or retiree health care?

Take another swig of the cool aid and tell me how far your really able to do without your government freebies..

Nov 30, 2011, 5:10pm Permalink
John Roach

Bea, you overlook that Obama has put Medicare on the table and has already started cuts as part of the Health Care bill.

Charlie, you make the case. We need to slowly stop the government "freebies", because they are not really free and can only be paid for by printing money or borrowing it. Unless you go back to the Eisenhower tax rates, we don't have the money and taxing the 'rich' will not come close to paying the bill.

As you have said, cut his pork, but not mine.

Nov 30, 2011, 6:11pm Permalink
Dave Olsen

Jeff; I can agree with lifting the cap on SS.

Bea; I don't think re-shaping or revising the rules of entitlement program has to necessarily penalize the elderly, it's pretty obvious the current method ain't workin'. I believe there are other areas to address first and foremost.

Charlie; just about all of those things apply to me, sadly. That's the way it is. Doesn't make it right, doesn't make the government my buddy and as a nation we should be trying to change that, I don't believe this is what the founders of this country envisioned. It's not going to happen overnight, it'll take many years and a lot of resistance. The first step is to cut-off the corporatism/ big government alliance that is screwing the middle class into oblivion. We rely on government because that's the way the big boys want it.

Nov 30, 2011, 6:18pm Permalink
Charlie Mallow

John, "cut his pork and not mine" should replace our national motto. I firmly believe cuts of any significance are impossible in our system. The fact is no one will accept cuts unless it's balanced, across the board and includes tax reform. Tax reform means different things to different people as well.

Nov 30, 2011, 6:22pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Charlie, well too many people sip from the taxpayers' pool of green. Today's society is more lazy and there are more people who drain social services, many of which milk the system. It is a give me, give me, give me society. Less and less people putting taxes in the pot and more and more taking. Another reason, why we need to control illegal immigration, need Congress and H.O.R. to stop receiving a retirement check for working less then 20 years, set limits on welfare, etc... We need to start collecting tariffs on products ship into U.S. by U.S. companies who ship their businesses oversea for cheaper labor and send their product back here. Instead of complaining nothing is getting done think of a solution.........

Bea, I believe the elderly benefits should not be cut because, they have paid their debt to society. I believe the problem exist because, with the lack of taxpayers due to unemployment, welfare and social service abuse and not to mention the government's mishandling of social security.

Dec 4, 2011, 3:54pm Permalink
C. M. Barons

"Charlie, well too many people sip from the taxpayers' pool of green. Today's society is more lazy and there are more people who drain social services, many of which milk the system."

Why do we always grumble over the "people" who receive benefits such as welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, student loans, food stamps and whatever entitlement program is the flavor of the day? There may be a stream of tax dollars flowing to those "people," but a deluge of public revenue coursed to the bailed out banks, auto industry and regularly surges into corporate pockets by way of subsidies, grants, deferrals, government contracts and debt service- all shrugged off. It's like cuffing an indigent who lifted an orange while holding the door for a drug dealer loading a ton of heroin into a delivery van.

Dec 4, 2011, 6:38pm Permalink
Charlie Mallow

John W, I think we can all accept there are a percentage of criminals stealing unemployment money, they should be arrested. It just seems a little strange that you are so willing to eliminate your own safety net. Do you not know anyone who lost their job and has been unable to find a new one yet? What exactly should the unemployed do, perhaps they should be forced to steal food money?

I listened to that air head Bauchman explain to me how the people who harvest our food are a "drain" on our country. I wonder how much of a drain skyrocketing food prices would be?

Dec 4, 2011, 9:01pm Permalink
Mark Potwora

I would be going after Corporate welfare first..No tax break for ethanol..Gas and oil...No property tax breaks for multinational companys..No tax break for millionaire sport owners for millions to build stadiums for millionaires to play ball in..There is no reason in the world the GE should not be paying any tax this year...A company worth millions does not need property tax breaks.. The list goes on and on....Start there first then we can go after the little guy for taking a couple of thousand dollars too much, later..It cost more to go after him then what its worth...I still would like to see some of those Bankers who were cooking their books to go to jail..Who out of that whole mortgage housing bubble went to jail.....Who from Leman Brothers is in jail....

Dec 5, 2011, 5:35pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Charlie, I am not saying remove the safety nets. I do however see an increase in people abusing these services and a lack of urgency to get one's self off such services. People are getting lazier because, more and more service appears. Who wants to work two or three jobs when one can just collect from the government?

I could collect a disability check because, I suffered some major damage in my motorcycle wreck but, I keep pushing myself and do my job. Heck, I even begged my commander to allow me to go overseas to Iraq. I am not a warlord or hunger for war. I had my team going and their safety is my responsibility.

Not only do we have an increasing number of abusers but, people do not take pride in their job and work just to have a job. That is part of the reason American industry is failing. With more people out of work, more scamming the system and businesses sending jobs overseas, there is less of a tax base. Taxing the rich more will not be the answer. They will be forced to move their companies away too.

Dec 8, 2011, 3:41pm Permalink

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