Unemployed?

Finding a job in a different field isn't always easy for someone who has been working in one field for most of their life.

 

The discounts I'm getting are greeeeeeaaaaat!

 

And I agree - there needs to be some investigation into how much money each person needs and why.

And making do will be much easier thanks to the VA health coverage, military retirement, and the fact that you had no living expenses throughout your career and were able to save a greater portion of your income.

And don't get me wrong - I'm glad you have all that. I'm a big supporter of great benefits for those in the service and honorably discharged vets. They deserve it more than anyone.

However: There are plenty of good people in bad situations who don't have those resources. We can do some things within reason to help them too.

As for the leeches: Fuck them. But when you do the math, they're negligible rounding errors in the national budget. "Fixing" the national debt by changing social entitlement programs is like trying to bail out the Titanic with a thimble.

 

lol

 

i agree...there is all kind of people that ive seen (i worked at a grocery store for 2 years) who are obviously cheating the system.
granted most of them arent lying and need it
some of them get way to much money that they dont need and when the end of the month comes around they just buy all kind of junk food they dont need

while people like my grandparents (who need it more) are still working to live

pisses me off

 

well i guess your right.. in that case im gonna sit on my ass surf TW and play Xbox and use my EBT to buy KFC and Dominos pizza pay my "neighbor" to " watch my kids" and apply for "jobs" and if im lucky I can blow the interview so i can get more free money.

 

I do not have a single intelligent thing to add to this conversation other than a small observation I have made over the past few years hearing people like you guy's rant. One of the main things that you guy's bitch about is how the rich pay less taxes because they earn their money through investments that only require them to pay 15% in capital gains. 1st Thing is that it is not that easy to have every dollar earned fall into the cap gains bucket and the second is.........wait for it......wait for it...........................who the hell is stopping you from taking advantage of that same benefit???????? As soon as I learned of the opportunity of lowering my tax exposure, I took it upon myself to change how I do business. Is it my fault that you choose to keep your current financial position? Did I tell you what career path to choose? $%^#ing LIBERALS are the most screwed up people next to the born agains. Good friend was a devout born again that stood in my living room telling me that I was going to hell for not attending her church and she earned a living by flashing her boobs for tips and got wasted every night! I also paid only $11k for my low mileage but salvaged taco while the majority have paid well over $30k! Why are the liberals allowed to make life choices but if the results do not measure up to someone more successful...why do they have a right to demand some of what that other person has? Is it there fault for being educated? More intelligent? Made better life choices?

EDIT: I want to apologize for my rant! I have nothing against born agains or liberals...just the ones that I know personally! I obviously cannot comment on the ones that I don't!

 

that not what I meant

what I meant was someone who has worked in an industry for X amount of years, and gets laid off by their employer and does not have much luck in finding the same job that is in their work experience

 

why did you have to bring politics into this discussion, when it is about economics?

 

I was on unemployment from Nov '09 to March '10. At that time, here in PA there was nothing to keep anyone from milking it. Don't have to be actively looking for work or anything. I was actually looking but for someone who just wanted to sit and milk it there wasn't much in place to prevent that. Although I believe they are changing it so that you have to prove you're actively looking for a job.

 

I agree about going a little too far so I posted an edit!

 

1st - Correct.

2nd - If you don't have any disposable income after paying your expenses, you cannot invest.

Money begets money. I have investments and make some money from them - not a ton, but I should be able to retire around the traditional age and support myself. However, if I had an extra million a year, and I could pay $100,000 of that to a broker to invest the other $900,000 for me at a good return rate, I could probably stop working altogether NOW.

So to answer your question: Nothing is stopping me. I'm doing my best to join the party. But I have the means to do so.

What is stopping a lot of the middle class from doing this is the same thing stopping the poor: No money available to invest after putting food on the table.


I ignored the rest of your post because it was some weird politically tainted, quasi-religious ranting blabber. The economics part above I feel has been answered.

Also, FYI, I'm not liberal. I'm just informed.

I'm a big fan of hard work and taking responsibility for yourself. That's why I live a comfortable independent life at 27 and have a few nice things with a stable career in a good field. I worked my nuggets off for it. But I'm not trying to pretend I didn't have any help getting here.

 

That's part of the reason I'm not more invested right now. I'd like to, just a matter of having the disposable income to do so. I'm lucky enough to at least not have any debt other than about $15,000 that's left on my student loan.

 

What really pisses me off is recently "Pro Athletes" crying that they want more money, when they are getting paid millions to play a damn sport...

 

I got no problem with that. They can negotiate with their employers for a raise if they want. I do the same thing with my employers.

They're generating millions in revenue, so their employers may feel they're worth the paycheck.

But then, that's rich, not wealthy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY

 

I'm not saying I don't think athletes are overpaid or not overpaid, but if you're going to make that argument, then basically any actor/actress, singer or anyone else in the entertainment industry is overpaid as well. After college it's no longer a sport, it's entertainment. They're more entertainers than they are athletes. Big name athletes are generating revenue, filling seats, selling the merchandise. No different than an actor making money and getting people to fill seats at the movies and buying dvd's. It's all business.

 

This.

 

I agree with that too

The entertainment industry is all about making wealthier people even more wealthier

 

I have to acknowledge the fact that I did sound like an ass for a good portion of my rant and still feel the need to apologize.

BUT!!!! I feel the need to reiterate my thoughts. I think that every citizen that claims taxing the rich a little more is only fair and just as well as part of the answer to solving the big problem, who also claims to be aware....is quite unaware! This is nothing more than finger pointing. You mean to tell me that because the rich make more money...they are the cause as well as the solution? The whole system is FUBAR'D!! No one will never be happy under the current system! It has been beyond broke since 19 twenty something! The idea now is just do the best you can...be good to your fellow man...and get the hell out! If you knew me personally you might have a little more respect for my words as I do not speak based on assumption but rather first hand knowledge! Irresponsible Govt. spending is beyond obscene levels.....distrust in politicians is too nice of an emotion that should be displayed...taxing the rich more is not the answer!

 

Good on you.

No. The cause is ineffective tax policy and overspending on wars. The solution is altering both tax policy and military spending. I went over that in this post:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/190683-unemployed-3.html#post4126211

At its basis this is still an addition/subtraction problem, albeit on the trillion dollar scale. Tax policy fixes the addition. Subtraction portion is military spending (and in the near future, reform of medical spending, because my industry is the second biggest offender, and fast gaining, after the military. We'll overtake the armed forces in the next decade as the biggest government expenditure).

I fully understand what you're saying, and agree with most of it. What I'm saying is that not all of us, regardless of good intentions or not, are able to take advantage of the same opportunities that you and I have taken advantage of.

Another way to word it: Not everyone has had your life. Or mine. It's illogical to say that should count for or against them.

Actually, for the immediate crisis, it's half of it. The long term solution, as you pointed out above, is that the system is rotting from the inside out and needs to be renovated. But that's removed from policy entirely.