Tough Sh-t* - You Try It

I remember with fondness the excitement I felt after being laid off from that awful thing called the job that supported me. What freedom! And, what I boost to my self-esteem! I had all this free time to goof off while sitting in a folding chair for four hours or longer at the unemployment office. I was totally dissuaded from looking for work when I was having such fun sitting in that small block building with crying babies most of the day. I still had lots of forms to complete - way too much like a job, I thought! I was told I would get a grand weekly benefit of $86. (That's $344/month or less per month than my first job.) There was absolutely no incentive for me to look for a job when I could pay 40% of my rent each month and nothing else. I agree, Senator Kyl. Why would anyone want to work if the government gives them money?? A**hole.

Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican whip, argued that unemployment benefits dissuade people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

Unemployment insurance "doesn't create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work," Kyl said during debate over whether unemployment insurance and other benefits that expired amid GOP objections Sunday should be extended.

"I'm sure most of them would like work and probably have tried to seek it, but you can't argue that it's a job enhancer. If anything, as I said, it's a disincentive. And the same thing with the COBRA extension and the other extensions here," said Kyl. (source)

*Quote from Kentucky Republican Senator Jim Bunning to colleagues as he objected to extending unemployment insurance

Joel Pett / Lexington Herald-Leader (March 2, 2010)