"Unemployment checks provide jobs" ~Nasty Pelosi

I couldn't disagree with you more, crossbones27. I understand that you're well intentioned; and on its surface, people making more money makes sense. But when you look at the big picture, what does paying people more solve? For the person working in fast food, at Wal-Mart, at a car factory, etc (private industry), having the government come in and forcing people to pay more (which is the only way it would happen) only does one thing: Forces employers to discriminate more in the hiring process. Having to pay employees more means that you will only seek out the absolute best in the field. Why? Because you cannot afford to hire as many people. You now need a single employee to work beyond his or her intended job description. And this means the average person has even a tougher time finding a job. And that's just the start of it... Take a self-employed individual like me as an example. What does other people getting paid more do for me? Nothing. In fact, it hurts people who are self-employed and people who are looking to hire. Interference upsets the balance and smacks creation around. Here's part of the reason why. Why are things still so hard in today's economy? Because food prices are high, fuel prices are high, rent is high, everything is still taxed, etc. And all these things tie in together. Earning more money (read: having the government force up wages, which I'm sure you're implying) does nothing to solve these problems. Food prices are high because energy prices and fuel prices are so high. Producers' costs are going up, and those costs are passed down. People can't afford anything because everything outside of employment has caused prices to go up. The seemingly simple fix is to pay people more. It's a great way for politicians to earn points, and it's a fantastic way to divide and to cause people to call for blood. But that does nothing to solve the problems. You have to work to bring the prices down. Energy has to be far cheaper. Water needs to be cheaper and turned back on. Fuel has to be cheaper. There needs to be less red tape and less government interference. There's nothing unsavory going on with grocery stores and the like. They're not price gouging; they're not inflating rates to milk profit. They're simply paying more to do business, from the people who grow carrots and milk cows to the people who farm chickens and the people who process it all and the people who deliver it. Everyone's paying more money. And paying people more money does nothing but ensure that fewer people have ways in which to make money. Prices need to fall. I know this is longwinded, but it literally makes me sad that so many people fail to realize the actual problems we face as a nation. Everyone is so quick to act as if a pay raise across the board would fix anything. That would make the problems exponentially worse, because employers have massive costs too. Their overhead is tremendous. What we're dealing with is more government's fault than anything government would provide a solution to.

I will would be willing to go that route too. Just make things affordable so people can actually afford to live in this country. To be able to let people enjoy themselves every once in a while. That is where you are going to get the economy back. Right now all people can afford is there bills and many people can't even afford that. They can't afford to go eat at the new little restaurant that just opened up, or take that trip to the zoo. I hear what you are saying about massive costs. It sounds like you are a small business though. I think small businesses just get screwed as bad as lower income people do in this country. I think people that own small businesses should be just as p!ssed with these to hig to fail companies also. Many of the regulations that get slapped on small business's are from to many big businesses acting irresponsibly, then that screws it up for everyone. Except they can afford to pay extra costs where as small businesses can't. So I would be all for lowering cost across the board. It seems like that would make things more simple too, because the more you add to anything the more complicated it is going to get. If we really want to drive down costs, we are going to have to fix our energy problem though. Lets face it oil is not going to last forever and there is no way it is going to support 7 billion going on 8 billion people for long. That should be the focus of our future for jobs. See people its not that hard for people from different sides to agree on something. You just need to come with a open mind and and ideas that make sense.

It used to be that if you went back to school you were considered employed and could not get unemployment.

I do agree with you, but I have been hearing many people say certain high tech companies have plenty of jobs but they have no one to fill those jobs because they can't find people with the skills. Personally I think part of that may be true, but I still think corporations are just using that as an excuse to keep jobs overseas so they don't have to pay as much in employee cost. I heard one person say, "that this is why they are shipping jobs oversea, because our people aren't as smart as China and India's are." Even if that was the case, if these people would would invest in their own people they wouldn't have that problem. I also do agree with you, and this is what I find so frustrating from the right, that there is just not enough jobs out there. You have all the college educated people taking all the low income jobs that normal high school graduates usually do. Yet the right is just trying to say people just don't want to work. It is kind of hard to work if there is nothing available. I bet you this problem isn't that hard to fix. Its just no one wants to put in the time and effort to fix and overly complicated system that was designed to do one thing keep the rich getting richer. Plus many people are just trying to keep certain things from surfacing so they don't go to jail.

That'd be a great idea, only no one would ever qualify for unemployment. The reason people aren't employed isn't a lack of training its a lack of jobs. People with great job skills are getting jobs that require almist no skills just to work, many people have 2 jobs just to afford to live. If people unemployment paid people to train on the job, greedy employers would use it to get free labor and turn over workers as a way to get new people on unemployment. All unemployment does is give people a small window to get another job. Most people live paycheck to paycheck, so imagine the havoc if every time there was a big layoff, people defaulted on loans, lost their homes, and cars, and health care. Every major layoff would cause an almost instant collapse of the local economy.

If raising taxes will help grow the economy why not tax everyone at 100% and we will have a bombing economy. The truth is that for every dollar the government takes in taxes $0.35 to $0.65 is used by the government to sustain itself and collect more taxes and only a small portion is used to grow the economy. When private industry takes a dollar they use it to create a product that is worth more than a dollar. The company then takes it expenses out and the difference is called profit. They create goods and services that people want and are willing to pay for. The government on the other hand takes your money by force, if necessary, and they decide how it will be spent and who will benefit. As for me I will trust business over government every time.

The concept of "better than nothing" has never improved anything.

It is a necessary evil. A perfect governments job is to do things business's can not. Fix pot holes, protect the country, enforce laws so people aren't killing each other, Educate are kids so businesses can have up and coming talent. They are there to make sure businesses aren't taking advantage of people. Though they have not been doing a good job lately, but I blame that on the people. We don't pay attention enough to make sure these guys are doing there job. Then even when we do pay attention and see what is really going on, we don't do nothing about it. That is why I have to say I admire the people of Wisconsin because at least they are trying to do something about it, whether you agree with them or not.

Minimum wage jobs were never meant to support a family.

A higher minimum wage would hurt the economy. It would force the cost of all goods and services up and we would be right back where we were. When the minimum wage was introduced during the depression unemployment increased. People who would work for less could not and companies that were forced to pay more went out of business. During WWII companies were under government wage controls and could not increase pay. To attract better workers Companies on their own sought ways to make working for them better than another company. What the did was started to provide limited health care for workers. Now company A offered skilled medical care by a Nurse to its employees. They attract better employees. Even today we hear calls for higher minimum wages yet entry level jobs like McDonalds are starting people at $7.50 more than a dollar above minimum wage. Hardies offers a company paid college fund. Companies will pay whatever it takes to get someone to work for them. If you want to grow the economy get the government out of the way. Their regulations and taxes are killing the economy of this country.

Thats' the point. Unemployment checks simply cover basic needs, they don't allow for "splurging" once in a while.

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse doe to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.” Alexander Tyler In other words, freedom cannot exist as long as the people are willing to use the government as a means of lining their pockets with other people's money. It's simply a method of bribery.