So what do the 14,000,000 out of work do when the benefits run out?

[DainBramaged]

Is this really what Republicans want, potential anarchy by American citizens ready to die to feed their families while the fat cats enjoy record profits and growing overseas markets. What will the Republicans do when those 14,000,000 don't vote for them in a short year? What will the Republicans do when only a small percentage of them turn to crime because the Pukes cut back on police budgets and they can get away with it? What are they going to do when people rise up and say enough, you shall rule no more.


And will our President fight for them in the face of deal making with the Republican scum? No income from the wealthy, but he'll take it from the poor.


Republicans, long-sighted in their cause to derail Democrats, short-sighted in their perception of the poor.


How will they face the coming crisis they created?

[madinmaryland]

1. Pick themselves up by their bootstraps and...

still be fucked.

:shrug:

[newfie11]

4. but they may not have any boots n/t

[madinmaryland]

7. Nor may they have any straps. nt

[roguevalley]

23. die. no one cares. Not even obama. especially obama.

expecting rioting.

[Trajan]

2. Is it too early to say 'Obamaville' ?

Boehnerville ?

Cantorville ?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. Let's ask the president. I think he's not willing to do anything if the Repukes don't agree w/him.

A shame.

[Earth_First]

5. There's a REALLY BIG LAWN in Washington...

:shrug:

[upi402]

6. BUS TICKETS FOR ALL!!!

:grouphug:

[DeSwiss]

8. All good questions.

But I don't believe anyone in Washington has any answers. They get their instructions from the people who work on Wall Street. Which is the place where the real power in this country lies.

- And that's where the fight needs to be taken, to the money lenders.

K&R

[StarsInHerHair]

16. Wall St. wrecked movie studios in the 1960s when they insisted the studios

get rid of their back-lots......Wall St. is stupid & short-sighted

[n2doc]

9. The Repubs don't care about their vote

In fact, since they want you to have to have a fixed address, license and other info they don't want you to vote. And they will probably get their way- people who are on the edge trying to survive rarely have time for such niceties as voting.

All the repubs care about are the fox and rush listening brainwashed fools in white neighborhoods.

[Doctor_J]

10. Probably vote Repuke

The president usually gets blamed for a bad economy, and this president made sure the UE will run out just in time for Campaign 2012.

Will he fight for the unemployed n the face of deal making with the Republican scum? Fight how?

[defendandprotect]

18. There are 10 million or more who are already disconnected '99'ers ... !!!

Looks like our true unemployment figures are 21% -- and we should still be

supporting every one of them with benefits --

10% unemployment or more -- 15% with those who still haven't found jobs --

and 21% when we consider those working part time and those working at jobs

they're overqualified for -- !!

And another 23,000 laid off recently --- !!!

I tried to catch that Yahoo report and it was gone in minutes --

[lib2DaBone]

11. Pick themselves up by the bootstraps....

..only to discover.. that the bootstraps are missing.. the Republicans stole the Bootstraps and gave them to their corporate buddies. (calling it "free Trade".)

When will American workers have enough of this theft and slight of hand?

Soon.

[housewolf]

12. Well, my unemplooyment ends this week

And I keep praying and hoping for a breakthrough

[WinkyDink]

15. {{housewolf}} Good luck to you.

[jtown1123]

38. Don't ever give up hope. My husband found a job (finally) after a year out of full time work

he took a part time gig that stopped calling and things were looking bad, but a few weeks later he had a breakthrough. Best of luck! Sending good thoughts your way.

[GliderGuider]

13. Time to re-institute the draft and revoke Posse Comitatus? nt

[krispos42]

14. Oh, if only some rich fucker would open a bootstrap factory in America...

:sarcasm:

[killbotfactory]

17. Republicans are comfortable in the fact that they won't take most of the blame.

And the media won't blame them either.

Even here people would rather blame Obama for everything.

[kestrel91316]

19. Join the ranks of the homeless and starve. Useless eaters!!1!!11!

Anybody who thinks I need the sarcasm thingie for THIS has got screws loose. If people are that sarcasm-impaired, let them be scandalized.

[Golden Raisin]

20. Storm the Bastille?

[moondust]

21. Rob banks.

All on the same day. :evilgrin:

[Hubert Flottz]

41. You mean like the bankers do?

[moondust]

42. Bingo!

National Steal It Back Day!

:woohoo:

[Greybnk48]

22. Think of the impact on store owners when no one can

afford to buy their stuff; food, socks, jackets, shampoo, whatever. This is where we'll really see trickle down econ. Walmart is already felling this (not that I give a flying f**k about Walmart or the other Corp profiteers). My point is this will come back to bite them in the ass in more ways than one.

[DainBramaged]

24. When the corporations realize they need to be safe HERE they will begin rehiring here

and until they realize their tactics will LOSE them the next couple of elections, they won't loosen their grip on our throats.



Or maybe the country will mimic the Middle East.

[LiberalEsto]

32. We have new dollar stores popping up all over

It looks like Walmart has become the Nordstroms of the working and unemployed classes -- not that many can afford their high prices and fancy goods.

I see more and more dollar stores opening, and more middle-class type people shopping in them, in recent months.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Last time, Obama traded extension of benefits and DADT repeal for an extension of the Bush tax cuts

Needless to say, the posters on DU remember that he "caved' on the Bush tax cuts, and utterly forget that neither UI extension nor DADT repeal would have happened otherwise.

So, forgive me if i take your question cynically, and assume that many people here can't take the situation seriously when they only see what they want to see.

[lonestarnot]

26. I hope they eat pigliCONs

[WCGreen]

27. You want to really know...

it will lower the unemployment rate as they fall out of the workforce.

[Ter]

28. Look harder for jobs?

Flame away, but I know one 27 year old on it for almost two years who never looks for employment. This guy's last job was Best Buy. Yes, Best Buy. He could get a job in a day if he applied at PC Richards, Modells, a supermarket, or a restaurant, and make more money. Problem is, he says "Why should I? I get to stay home every day and play video games." I know there are more like him. I have been fired in the past, and let go when stores have folded. I have never found it difficult to get a job and was never out of work for more than two weeks.

[cutlassmama]

29. yeah, well I know a 27 year old that looks ALL DAY, on foot because he

can't afford a car or bus, living in a tent, that can't get a job.

[Ter]

39. I think it's also a location thing

If you are in a tiny city, work can be so far. But if you live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Staten Island, there is a store on every corner. Luckily for me, I always was in walking distance (at most 20 minutes walk; certainly fine for a younger healthy person who can't afford a bus fair) of a plethora of stores. Some people don't have that luxury and deserve unemployment, I totally understand. But people around my area, some I feel less sorry for.

[fasttense]

35. Oh my that magical mystery guy

who lives off a government check, doesn't do anything, refuses to work, doesn't ever pick up the bill... Yes I'm talking about the RepubliCON controlled House of Representatives.

But seriously folks, I know a woman who never worked a day in her life. She sits around the pool waiting for her dividend check. She pays less taxes than her maid and has contributed nothing to this society. She is so lazy, she paid someone to have her babies for her and pays someone else to raise them. Her children of course, are little monsters. She uses the roads, our electric grid, counts on our police, fire department, military and legal system to protect her while complaining constantly about how many taxes she has to pay.

There are bad examples everywhere.

[progressoid]

37. nevermind.

[haele]

44. Well, there will always be that 2% that can be held up as a bad example.

And, of course, the 24% of 30 - 40 year old "middle class" who are still on unemployment rather than working retail because they're out looking for the jobs they can pay the mortgage on rather than giving up and living the Wal-Mart Life.

Mr. "Stay at home and play video games" either has an indulgent parent (or spouse) that would rather he not take a job below his "qualifications" and wait until there is an opening, or he could actually be unemployable.
Despite the Calvinist stigma of "not working" and "entitlement expectations" - most retail jobs no longer have benefits and are not cost and effort effective to take on as a primary method of support - especially since there is little upward mobility, and unless you are at a high-ticket item store that supplements with consignment and bonus payments (or tips), you're basically working for pin money now-a-days.
Back in my early days, and my parent's generation (and I'm in my 50's) - a single parent or person could make a living working as a full-time cashier in a grocery store, local hardware store, or at Sears - they could make rent, perhaps a cheap car payment, have basic medical expenses met, and still not have to take on a second job to make ends meet. If they worked hard enough, they could make manager and get a salaried job with real benefits, and start living a "middle class" life - taking vacations, buying a house instead of renting, maybe putting the child with the most promise through college...

Now-a-days, getting a full-time position in retail even if you are a manager is next to impossible in the larger cities - most of the businesses are impersonal chain stores that if they are required to provide benefits due to union activity, do everything in their power to cut costs and ensure that no employee below, say. a district manager qualifies for any sort of benefits or salary because an constant increase to the national profit margin every quarter is far more important than the community any one store is in.
Labor is expensive, and if there are few bean-counter incentives to view employees as anything but productive tools, then most employees are considered disposable as soon as they reach a certain cost, no matter how "friendly" the company tries to portray itself. And with wages having actually gone down in some fields (entry level electrician with basic certification - 1990 - $13.50 with full benefits; same position with more requirements and certification, 2010 - $12.50 with fewer benefits), there's more profit being made at the levels most of us can't attain.

Many retail companies and chain restaurants get subsidies from the DoL and tax breaks for new hires and "trainee" hires - usually for six months per employee. This was originally set up to hire young, entry level people out of high school or who were getting welfare and get them started in the workforce.
You can tell who the companies who abuse and profit off this program are - they are the companies with low entry wages and a high turn-over rate.

But ultimately, tricks and slackers aside, the real problem with getting people to work is that there are only 3 or 4 jobs around minimum wage and perhaps 1 or 2 jobs that are above living wage available for every 10 people looking for work.

With 24 million people vying for the 5 million or so mediocre minimum wage and 2 million or so good, living wage jobs, there's really not that much available - especially for those who are "overqualified".

I know of two/three 40+ year old laid off computer and electrical engineers who applied to but couldn't get the "skilled", better than entry level paying jobs at Target, Radio Shack, Ralphs, or Lowes because "they'd just leave when a better (i.e - that they got their degree in) job will come around". Still on unemployment after being laid off in late 2009/2010. The commercial electricians and building contractor companies don't need to hire an engineer they have to retrain to do installation - and besides, they have enough technically-competent applicants out of ROP or the military that can do the work well to code without the Master's Degree.
And with the city, county, state and federal government not hiring because of budget cuts - where will they go for work? Who will hire them after they "retrain" - and what should they retrain for? There are fewer and fewer lateral moves that someone can make without starting completely over - and as one gets older, it's harder and harder to just start over.

How many Program Manager or Project Lead jobs are there available to meet the needs of both laid off experienced Program Manager and Project Leads or experienced lead engineers and managers ready for advancement that are looking for that work?

Why should a 47 year old RN with 15 years nursing experience and a degree - who works in a "corporate" Hospital system have to also work at Target part time to supplement her income enough to pay rent on an old apartment and keep her car running?

Why do we have to put up with a "uniquely American" austere way of life, where if you're not one of the decreasingly fortunate few, you're going to be working until you end up on Medicare in a nursing home in your 70's or 80's?

Haele

[slackmaster]

30. Fix up their homes, work on their cars, gather cans and bottles for recycling, deal drugs

The usual stuff.

[hobbit709]

31. do you really think those bastards care?

they never have before, why should they start now.

[LiberalEsto]

33. They'll face it by marshaling the troops

and bringing in the mercenaries from Xe and similar "security" companies. They'll round up those of us who dare to protest, and pretty soon we'll be sitting in those private prisons, manufacturing new American-made goods at slave wages (if any wages at all) so the corporations can make even bigger profits with minimal labor costs.

[ck4829]

34. This could all be solved with an employer of last resort, bring back the CCC and the WPA

[FogerRox]

36. March on DC

[LWolf]

40. I'll tell you what my son did.

He was laid off two springs ago. He gave up his apartment, turned in the 2 yo car he was still making payments on, and bought a cheap old junker, and moved back to the town he grew up in...which he swore he would never do. Still, though, his old roommate needed someone to help pay the rent, and it was cheaper. He went back to school, and waited to be called back to work.

When his benefits ran out, he hadn't been called back to work; but they offered him a minimum wage starting position, back where he started years ago. So instead of managing the place, he's back at the same place making minimum wage.

And barely able to make rent with two roommates.

[southerncrone]

43. Private quasi-military like Xe.

Not to mention the high level technology that we don't have a clue about yet.
Gittmo & other isolated concentration camps. Heck they may even have big ovens.

[mistertrickster]

45. How about stop voting for Republicans? That'd be a good start. nt