Benefits: Jobless relieved life raft still afloat
Photo 
In this Dec. 17, 2010 photo, Kimberly Smith looks out a back door at her home in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Smith was laid off from her job as a department manager at a jeweler a year and a half ago. She went back to school and became a certified medical assistant and still cannot find a job. President Barack Obama extended unemployment benefits for Smith and millions of other Americans when he signed tax-cut legislation Friday. For unemployed people who spoke to The Associated Press across the country, the extension is a relief, but a shadow of the relief a new job would provide. "We, the middle class, are just trying to keep our heads above water," she says. "And you know what? We're drowning."
CLEVELAND — Kimberly Smith holds up the piece of paper that is the only thing keeping her from bankruptcy: an application for extended unemployment benefits. She's not happy that she needs it. And she's upset that it was nearly taken away.
"I do deserve it," the 49-year-old says. "I've done everything I could to try and get a job. I tried to get back into the retail industry. I made the effort to, at my age, go back to college."
President Barack Obama extended unemployment benefits for Smith and millions of other Americans when he signed tax-cut legislation Friday. It helps people who have been out of work more than 26 weeks but less than 99 weeks, though the benefits vary greatly from state to state.
They could be just about anybody. People with college degrees and people with no higher education. People who have resorted to living out of their cars. People who have cashed out their retirement savings. People who once held six-figure jobs and people like Smith, who was laid off from her job as a department manager at a jeweler's a year and a half ago.
What unites them is the bitterness in their voices as they talk about how badly they need unemployment benefits — to clothe their children, to pay for heat, to save their homes from foreclosure.
"My options are to not pay my bills, have my house taken away, have creditors on me," says Smith, a mother of two in Lyndhurst, Ohio, who has been supporting her family on an unemployment check that amounts to $477 a week before taxes.
In Ohio and the 24 other states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent, the unemployed can receive benefits for up to 99 weeks. In other states, they get less than that — in some cases as few as 60 weeks, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
The new law restores, for 13 more months, the 99-week maximum. It also renews federal programs that extend benefits beyond the 26 weeks that states always provide. Those federal programs had expired Nov. 30.
For unemployed people who spoke to The Associated Press across the country, the extension is a relief, but a shadow of the relief a new job would provide. They are frustrated not only with their struggles to find work, but with the accusations — on TV, even by protesters outside the office for food stamps — that they're lazy, that they're not trying hard enough.
Right now, there is nothing Smith would like more than a job. Anything to get her out of her living room, where she spends her days trolling the Internet for jobs while the snow piles up outside.
Before her job with the jeweler, she spent two decades working for a fashion retailer that ended up leaving northeast Ohio.
Smith doesn't intend to settle for a low-skill, low-wage job, saying she's not going to "throw myself into poverty."
"That's just making people settle for whatever can be had," she said. "Speaking for myself, I didn't spend 25 years in a career that was supposed to be my livelihood for the rest of my life to go work at a Starbucks."
Instead, she has re-educated herself.
There are jobs in the medical industry, people told her. So she went back to school and became a certified medical assistant. Weeks blurred into months. And still Smith cannot find a job.
"We, the middle class, are just trying to keep our heads above water," she says. "And you know what? We're drowning."
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"THEY HAVE NO IDEA"
"If I hear one more senator, congressman, TV pundit or whatever..."
Theresa Christenson can't finish the sentence before breaking into tears.
"It really gets me when they say 'you lazy people,'" says Christenson, who lives on $1,720 a month in unemployment insurance benefits and what's left of her dwindling 401K. "They have no idea how depressing that is when you have been beating your head against the wall, trying to find work. Every time I see that or read it, I just start crying. They have no idea."
Before she was laid off from a quality assurance job at Yahoo! in July 2009, Christenson, of Burbank, Calif., earned around $100,000 a year. The 58-year-old has managed to hang on to the 4-bedroom house that she co-owns with her sister, where they've lived for 22 years. Without the extension, she expected to lose the stucco, one-story "house that looks like every other house."
She knows she's better off than others, but depression has set in during the long, hard months of fruitless searching.
"People who have lost their homes and are now living out of their car — my heart shatters for them," she says. "I'm very, very thankful for the extension."
Yet she says she's disgusted by the deal between Obama and congressional Republicans that made the extension possible — a deal that preserved tax cuts for the wealthy as well as the poor.
"I hate the cost," she says. "That we got it at the cost of millionaires and billionaires getting to keep their money and stay at the same tax rate."
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WINTER TO OUTLAST BENEFITS
The furnace broke down not long ago in Tina Price's ranch home in Southfield, Mich., so she resorted to plugging in space heaters to keep her children warm. The 36-year-old mother of two young boys doesn't expect much of a Christmas this year.
Her unemployment benefits were cut off in November and she's been unemployed for about 92 weeks. She took a buyout from American Axle several years ago and hasn't had steady employment since.
"I was just able to get them boots," Price says of her children. "I'm just trying to keep my utilities on. There is absolutely nothing I can do at this point."
The biweekly unemployment checks worth about $670 will last a few more weeks thanks to the new extension. But not enough to get her family through the winter.
"I'm still struggling to get things right," she says. "My bills are sky-high because I have not been able to pay them — the light bill, gas bill and water bill. I try to keep agreements with the utilities."
Price still receives state assistance to buy food. Friends, family and "generous people" have also been helping, she says. She's taking information technology classes as part of a career retraining program.
"I think everyone, right now, is stressed out," she says.
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SAVVY, 60, STRIKING OUT
Mike Bryson left Pittsburgh when the steel industry collapsed, heading south for greener pastures in the form of Maryland's electronics and computer industry. He found a job there but returned when it ended, and has been out of work since August 2009.
Bryson has experience and education — he recently attended a technical training center and has many computer certifications — but the 60-year-old believes his age has made it more difficult to find a job. He's sent out hundreds of resumes.
"Right now, I'm computer savvy, Internet savvy, degreed, certified," he says. "And I can't find anything."
Bryson was homeless and lived in his car for a while before finding the McKees Rocks Employment and Training Center, where he now works about 20 hours a week, making minimum wage and, ironically, helping other people improve their resumes and find work.
He still qualifies for about $200 a month in unemployment benefits, but says it's still hard to make ends meet. He has no health insurance and fears what will happen when his car, which has more than 200,000 miles on it, breaks down for good.
"I want to work. I want a job. I'm tired of this," Bryson says. "I have a car that's breaking down on me everyday. I can't live like this."
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LAYOFF AFTER LAYOFF
Without the unemployment extension, Joan Niedhardt would have lost the roof over her head to foreclosure. She is living through her third bout of unemployment since 2004, when budget cuts cost her a $65,000-a-year job as an information technology project manager in state government.
"I am my only means of support," says Niedhardt, of Bel Air, Md., who has been unemployed for the past six months. She desperately needs her current unemployment benefits, which would have run out next week.
She has worked as a grant writer, a public relations executive, a project manager, a web designer. After losing her job in state government, she went back to school for another degree in business management and computer science and a certification in web graphic design.
The other stretches of unemployment lasted nine months and two years, respectively.
Because she is overqualified for many jobs and nearing retirement age, Niedhardt suspects that employers worry she will leave for "something better that hasn't come along in over six years."
"I'd be perfect as a government contractor or employee, but most of the open positions require a current security clearance," she says, "which you can't get without an employee sponsor."
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A TREE WITH NO PRESENTS
Zyola Nix is grateful that her 3-year-old daughter is too young to remember this Christmas in years to come. The 40-year-old single mother, who was laid off in March from a job in electrical mechanical design, put up a Christmas tree in their one-bedroom apartment. But there aren't any presents beneath it.
"I don't have an actual gift I can give her," says Nix, of Denver. "For my daughter, it's going to be like any other day."
Nix worries about finding work in the aerospace and defense sectors, which have suffered from cuts to federal programs. She has a bachelor's degree in engineering and astrophysics, "which is cool-sounding on paper but doesn't do much in the workplace."
She's grateful for the benefits extension — she gets about $1,600 a month, half of what she used to make. But she'd rather be working.
Reluctantly, but out of necessity, she's gone to sign up for food stamps twice. Each time, Nix had to pass protesters who told her to get a job and stop mooching off the government.
"I don't think some people ever could understand. I don't think they have the capacity to understand," she says. "They have an image of what an unemployed person is like, and there is no way to change that image until that person experiences true unemployment. And most of them never will."
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Associated Press Writers Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles, Corey Williams in Detroit, Jennifer C. Yates in Pittsburgh, Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland and Alex Dominguez in Baltimore contributed to this report.
Dec 23, 2010 at 12:31 p.m.
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That was nice of you to do and you got taken. But you cannot classify all by what you have been through or seen. Merry Xmas.
Dec 22, 2010 at 4:59 p.m.
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Oh btw the person I paid the bill for didn't know I was in the area. They thought I was going to pay by computer at my house. I wasn't home and I was passing through anyhow so I figured I'd drop in and help them out. Should have seen their face when I ran into them in the mall after I just paid their bill. Priceless.
I'm all for helping those down and out. I'm just starting to feel some of those down and out are seriously taking advantage of the situation. Its sad those who are honestly trying aren't getting anywhere when the ones who are using the system are having a grand time.
I basically was used so their family could have a nice Christmas with no thought that I had to rearrange bills and short change my own Christmas in order to do what I thought I was doing- helping them get back on their feet.
This whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I've heard others with similar experiences of being used by the unemployeed.
I still gave to the toy drive even though I almost didn't this year. It was less than I usually give but I don't have as much as I usually do. I figured why make a kid suffer
Dec 22, 2010 at 4:27 p.m.
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Oh i've dealt with people on Unemployment. You tell them a place is hiring to help them and you hear about all the reasons they can't apply no gas in the car, no babysitter, too many people are going to apply so why bother and then you run into them at the mall without kids and packages draping off their arms. yes I've had this happen to me. I was driving back from Northern Wisconsin and had a friend who needed help at ATT so I stopped into your mall to make a payment so they could keep their phone on to look for work :wink :wink. While I was trying to be helpful I also saw this person had enough items drapping from their arms that had they not bought they could have paid their own bill. Half the stuff they had I can't even afford and I work yet I get called to pay their bill to help them HaHa. I paid it but that's it and that friendship is written off. I'm tired of being treated like I'm rich by people who won't look for work because I have a job. I also had to endure listening to how crappy someone's computer is (btw theirs is newer and nicer than mine and nothing is wrong with it) because they can't afford to upgrade it to play the latest game they bought because they are down on their luck and out of work.
Cry me a river. Like I said I do feel sorry for those who are looking and are being legit discriminated against, but I think there is just as many honest out there as dishonest. No not all those on UE are lazy bums but there are a lot that are.
Merry Christmas and Good luck to the honest ones and I wish you a happy and prosperous new year.
The lazy ones: I want you to figure out how your going to play your high priced video games when they cut your electric off for not paying the bill in the spring. Priorities people!!!
Dec 22, 2010 at 3:22 p.m.
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Janesvillean, again, thank you. It is extremely sad when people cut on those less fortunate than themselves. Not everyone can get a job right now, it is impossible when there is 1 job for every 5 people! Instead of b_tching, we need to be helping. If you are so worried that your neighbor is living on UEC, get a few apps somewhere and stick them in their door, otherwise keep your nose out of others business. We all have different lives, different skills, different bodies, different mindsets. We are not all "stepford wifes". No one has the solution, I don't and neither do you. It is not nice to aim all these negative comments on people who cannot find a job. You should be ashamed of yourselves!
Dec 22, 2010 at 9:41 a.m.
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EVERYONE should learn to live within their means. Who are the biggest culprits? Our government and Big Money. I mean don't preach to others about this if you can't do it yourself. We all live by the examples we see. Sometimes it seems pointless to curb our spending and live within our means, when our own government and big money can't. No matter how hard you try to cut spending within your own home, taxes, utilities, food, insurances, etc., keep going up.
Dec 22, 2010 at 9:14 a.m.
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Sandman: I think that this should apply to everyone, including banks, corporations, government officials, etc. Why is it that they never have to worry about never losing their homes, good paying jobs, pensions, etc.? Seems to me that they have the cream of the crop, while we all suffer.
Dec 22, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.
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"Smith doesn't intend to settle for a low-skill, low-wage job, saying she's not going to 'throw myself into poverty.
"That's just making people settle for whatever can be had," she said. "Speaking for myself, I didn't spend 25 years in a career that was supposed to be my livelihood for the rest of my life to go work at a Starbucks.'"
Great expectations! She'd rather throw others into poverty supporting her present lifestyle, AND slam those folks that work at Starbucks at the same time. What an inflated sense of entitlement and self-worth, all from someone who worked fashion retail! Sorry, honey, but you're not a "rocket sturgeon"!
And how is it that unskilled Mexicans with little or no English can come to this country, find jobs, work hard, and send money back to Mexico? Easy--they recognize an opportunity and still have a work ethic! This is just another example of why it is that people should not be given ANY benefits without having to trade some of their time (i.e. "w-o-r-k," at something!) to get them. It's probably the first time in history that any group of people have been on significant and sizable "free" benefit handouts for a substantial length of time without anything being expected of them. THAT needs to change, and those on benefits need to re-examine their lifestyles and downsize accordingly (unless there's a big surge in fashion and jewelry buying, of course!).
It ain't gonna last forever, folks, and standing at the window staring at the horizon won't bring employers knock,knock, knocking at your door (unless you start dressing in sexy lingerie and put out a red light--that'll make you think twice about that Starbucks job now won't it!).
Dec 22, 2010 at 12:23 a.m.
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Yeah if they put half energy they put in the hate they have towards me as they did looking for a job most of them would be working. LOL. I'm not against everyone who is out of work just those who think they are too good to take a job. Right now any job is a good job. It's easier to move into something better if you have a job. Employers don't look well on people being out of work for extended periods of time. While it is sad that there are people being discriminated against due to age and there aren't enough jobs there are jobs out there. People need to get past thinking they are too good for them.
Dec 21, 2010 at 11:04 p.m.
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Interesting those on the fringe left declare people with opposing views are full of hate...then they make hate filled remarks; gives me a chuckle every time.
Dec 21, 2010 at 5:25 p.m.
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I listen to the angry voices and hear the fear--we really are all in this together. We don't see how the jobs will come back--we know the world we knew a decade ago is gone forever. Sorry snowshoe--hope you are one of the lucky ones. A friend of mine just got a job after looking for a year and a half--and at that lovely $10.00 rate--but hey it's not a temp job!
Dec 21, 2010 at 5:17 p.m.
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I know times are hard and I do feel bad for those who can't get work. I don't feel bad for those who turn down work. If I quit my job like you are asking I won't get unemployment and I'm not gonna get myself fired
Dec 21, 2010 at 5:02 p.m.
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Btw if u want my job be prepared to work all different hours, nights weekends, and holidays with no gm pay or benefits. Merry christmas
Dec 21, 2010 at 5 p.m.
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If you want my job come apply I'd love a two year paid vacation
Dec 21, 2010 at 4:02 p.m.
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I really do feel for the people out there struggling. But you just have to wonder how much longer we can pay for all these people. Two years is a long time...
I do think some folks need to lower their income expectations. The whole resentment of the rich thing is also unhealthy. Unfortunately much of our country is obsessed with the "us vs them" mentality. It's pretty sad.
Dec 21, 2010 at 2:08 p.m.
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With your statement one out of five isn't taking a job and if I lost my job I wouldn't be out of work two years I'd do what it takes to work. I've done it before without getting unemployment. If I had to take U E I would but not for two years while I was waiting for a job good enough for me. Btw thanks for the good wish
Dec 21, 2010 at 1:34 p.m.
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Oh, shut up with your hate. There are five unemployed workers for every job opening. That means four out of five people, since 2007, with no other explanation, have suddenly and unaccountably turned lazy? Four out of five comments have suddenly and unaccountably turned stupid, so I suppose anything is possible. anonomouse, I sincerely hope that you lose your job tomorrow and spend the next two years searching fruitlessly, because that's exactly what you deserve for your comments.
Dec 21, 2010 at 11:53 a.m.
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Ain't that the truth but some would rather sit on their butts while the rest of us slave away because they are too good to do what the rest of us have to so we can pay for them to tell us how good they are.
Dec 21, 2010 at 11:19 a.m.
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The new economy folks, like it or not. Low wages no benefits. Unless you happen to work for the Gov...
Dec 21, 2010 at 10:40 a.m.
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Do not assume I am a teacher because of my user name. I have taken plenty of low paying jobs even after getting a masters degree becaue I had student loans to pay off. I could not find that perfect job and did not have any choice but to take 2 "low paying" jobs to make ends meet. I think more people need to cut back and live within their means. I just do not see people I know on UC doing that. They expect to live the same life they did while making "good money". That is just not possible now.
Dec 20, 2010 at 9:40 p.m.
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http://thenewsjunkie.com/2010/12/the-99e...
Dec 20, 2010 at 9:04 p.m.
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jobs.com also has jobs in Janesville.
There are jobs out there. Enough for everyone who is laid off NO but there are jobs. Thing is you have to get a decent resume, show up to the interview on time, clean, and not intentionally mess it up so you can stay on unemployment because your waiting for GM to come back. It ain't coming back and even if by some miracle it did it's not going to pay the wages it did. The cost of living up there is cheaper than other places where people are surviving on $10-$14 an hour jobs yet several on this site think they are too good for that low of a wage. Well guess what. Many of us our out there making that wage and getting by, it's called pride. I couldn't feel good about myself if I sat home and collected free money because I was too good to do a job. Also I don't want to hear the whining about needing a computer to apply. Obviously plenty of you who won't work still have computers to post here and there is always the library.
Dec 20, 2010 at 8:17 p.m.
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For those who say they are looking for work.Spent less than 5 minutes looking on craigslist check outside of Janesville like Rockford or Madison there are some job postings. Your city needs to do something to attract jobs but part of that rests on your own shoulders. That area is notorious for people not wanting to work for reasonable wages
Dec 20, 2010 at 6:44 p.m.
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As somebody who has been labeled a heartless conservative I have no problem paying taxes for somebody like snowshoe. I think where a lot of us have a hard time is when we see people turn down jobs. But I really agree with snowshoe, there really are no jobs. At our business at least four people per week walk through the door asking us if we have anything and the answer sadly is always no. This whole unemployment debate seems to have arisen because this program was simply not designed to cope with a financial meltdown like we have had. Perhaps it would behoove (sp?) us to have a plan for this in the future. I know for myself it is hard for me to argue against continuing unemployment compensation when the feds gave out money willy nilly to the banks and automakers. Our unemployment account with the state has been drawn on but whatever, I guess that's what it is for and besides, these were my employees and customers. The last thing I want is for them to have nothing to spend and lose their homes. I know I am paying for it (more than most) but it is a cost and effect I can see in their families and my community versus banks and wall street firms.
Dec 20, 2010 at 4:07 p.m.
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P.S. A Merry Christmas to all!
Dec 20, 2010 at 4:02 p.m.
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It seems to me, most of the people posting are working. Otherwise they would know that work is scarce. I am a fifty-five year old construction worker, off for fourteen months. Look around. Not much coming out of the ground is there? I could not get hired at Swiss Colony for seasonal work. To many people needing a job. I would love to get back to work. When you work your whole life only to see your savings evaporate is a terrable thing. Spooky stuff, because I know I will be homeless if this lasts much longer. No, I do not live in a huge house, unless you think 800 square feet is huge. Giddyupteach, if you think working 100+ feet in the air in this kind of weather is a perfect job leave your classroom and try it! And let me know where that 10 or $12 dollar job is! I will take it!!!!
Dec 20, 2010 at 3:35 p.m.
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The one I am talking about is the 58 year old sharing a house (4 bedrooms) with her sister and complaining. I am sorry, but this seems odd to me. Rent out a couple rooms, basement, whatever. Why do two people, such as sisters need to own a 4 bed. house and then complain they have no money. I am always compassionate when it comes to the poor and unemployed. It is this article and the one about Echo helping one family that tick me off. I am only being honest. JMO
Dec 20, 2010 at 3:33 p.m.
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Oneday.......Who cares what those people do for a living? They are still paying more in taxes in one year than you or I will probably pay in 20 years. For someone who is collecting a paycheck for contributing absolutely nothing to speak out against a group of people whose tax dollars help support her is pathetic. Don't give me your BS about how all of these people want jobs, when the article highlights a woman who refuses to take a "lesser" job because it is beneath her. Get off of your soapbox and back into reality. This country cannot afford to indefinitely subsidize these people. At least the legislators we're smart enough to keep the 99 week cut-off point in place.......
Dec 20, 2010 at 3:12 p.m.
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Yes, a small group of people who benefited by adding 800 billion to the deficit. Do sports stars, movie and television stars, hedge fund managers need that tax break and in doing so cause hardship for others...in your words...pathetic. Don't give me your B.S. about small businesses that create jobs, only 1.4% of small businesses fall into the upper income level. The people in this article ALL WANT JOBS. Maybe when you lose your job and 50% of your savings you might see things in a different light. Look up compassion in the dictionary, you don't seem to have any concept of the word.
Dec 20, 2010 at 3:06 p.m.
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That is my point. People on UC will not take a $10-12 an hour job because "it does not pay". They can make more sitting at home doing nothing and not paying for child care then working. If UC is cut, that $10-12 an hour job would look pretty good. I think when people say they "would love a job" what they really mean is they would love the perfect job and none of us have that!
Dec 20, 2010 at 3 p.m.
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My issue is with the fraudsters and the "I won't settle for 'X' job because it's 'beneath me" crowd.
Studies show that when the government puts ONE dollar into FRAUD ENFORCEMENT, the Treasury gets THREE dollars back! Sounds like we need more audits and door-to-door checks on recipients, huh?
I have no problem with those who are really trying, but to me the math is wrong in this whole program is it pays better to be on UC than to work one/two/three part-times, or one mediocre full-time. Again, the studies show that the higher UC compensation is, the longer it seems to take for someone to come off the benefit.
God bless all those honestly trying to pull themselves up, and I'm happy my tax dollar is helping you. For you fraudsters, bah humbug!
Dec 20, 2010 at 2:01 p.m.
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My favorite quote regarding the extension was from the woman that the government has resumed paying $1720 a month not to work. She says--"I hate the cost," she says. "That we got it at the cost of millionaires and billionaires getting to keep their money and stay at the same tax rate."
Too funny......Ok lady--you're basically getting paid close to $2K a month for doing absolutely nothing, yet you're "disgusted" that a small group of people who are actually working and contributing to the tax base actually get to hold onto a little more of what they make......pretty pathetic......
Dec 20, 2010 at 1:34 p.m.
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"Also, why do we keep having to hear about women being the Mother of 2 or 3 or 5 children. Where are the Fathers?"
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It's possible that some of these women are widows. Some may have chosen to leave an abusive spouse. Or some could be single because dad ran away with his pretty young co-worker. We shouldn't make blanket assumptions because there could be a thousand different reasons, good or bad, that dad wasn't mentioned in the article.
Dec 20, 2010 at 12:53 p.m.
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Yeah, Patch, if there's anything that's disappointed me more in this current economy, it's the sharp rise in smug, judgemental snobbishness by people who imagine it could never happen to them.
Dec 20, 2010 at 12:51 p.m.
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Really? People should simply sell their home when they run out of unemployment benefits? Many of these people live in areas of high unemployment. That's why they can't work. Do you have any idea how long it takes to sell a home in the current market?
What happens when the house is sold? They either have to rent a moving truck with money that they don't have or they have to try to sell their possesions so they can fit into a smaller place. Again, who is going to buy things when nobody has money?
What do you propose we do about the absent father? Force the parents to live together? Perhaps the father is dead, perhaps he pays support, perhaps not. The bottom line is that he is not there.
Some of you think that they should take two low paying jobs. The jobs are simply not there for the taking. I have a daughter in high school that has been looking for work for over a year without any success. Even entry level jobs are hard to find.
Those of you that complain about the unemployed don't have any idea of how tough the job market can be for many people. Perhaps you should count your blessings instead of kicking others when they are down.
Dec 20, 2010 at 12:17 p.m.
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Meanwhile, the raft keeps springing more leaks.......
Dec 20, 2010 at 12:07 p.m.
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All states are different. Ours is at it's highest of $360 I think. Some of these stories make me sad and others make me mad. If it is so bad for those one, sell your homes, rent an apartment. The others like the single lady with the 3 year old, that is sad. Yes, these people deserve unemployment and government help such as food share.
Dec 20, 2010 at 12:07 p.m.
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"Why not take that low paying job?" If a person is able to make their mortgage with UC they are able to keep their house. If they take a job that pays less than UC and can no longer make the mortgage payment they lose their house. Try finding a job when you are homeless. Employers are now offering less than UC because they are taking advantage of people. They are getting well educated highly skilled workers for what amounts to 3rd world wages once you consider the cost of living in this country. I just can't believe how people are either blind or in denial that America is turning into a two caste system, the middle class is disappearing.
Dec 20, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.
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It depends on where you live and how much you used to earn.
Dec 20, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.
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Why not take that low paying job? I bet she would take it if she had NO free money coming in. Maybe she would even take 2 of them to make ends meet. Kind of like the people who are helping her keep her unemployment coming.
Also, why do we keep having to hear about women being the Mother of 2 or 3 or 5 children. Where are the Fathers?
Dec 20, 2010 at 11:33 a.m.
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$1600 a month???
$1725 a month?????
I thought something like $360 a week was the MAX in unemployment...........?????
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