Fear And Hopelessness As Five Families Prepare To Lose Unemployment Benefits

[drm604]

1. K&R

This is about real people, not abstract economic theories.

These aren't lazy people who were happy to get by on their inadequate unemployment checks. Living on unemployment is not a picnic. If you're on unemployment that means that you are bringing in less money than when you were when working and, since millions of working people live hand to mouth, and had monthly budgets based on their employed income, living on unemployment is NOT a free ride. It is NOT something that takes away the incentive to find employment. It IS something that hopefully keeps your head above water and slows down the descent into bankruptcy while making it possible to hang on and continue looking for work.

Anyone who thinks that cutting it off is doing them a favour is an idiot or at least is severely sheltered from the reality most Americans face.