5:32 am June 7, 2010, by Henry Unger
It’s not a pretty picture and it’s getting worse.
Nearly half of Georgia’s jobless have been without work for more than six months, AJC reporter Dan Chapman writes.
And, unlike previous recessions, men remain unemployed longer than women and whites longer than blacks, according to statistics compiled last week by the Georgia Department of Labor.
The jobless pain may get worse, Chapman reprorts. Congress left town last month without extending benefits for the nation’s 15 million unemployed. In Georgia, an estimated 5,000 people a week could lose financial safety nets if the Senate fails to restore the benefits.
Have you been hit by this problem?
Have you changed fields because your previous occupation dried up?
Have you headed back to school to get trained in a new field?
Have you had to move back with family or friends to get by?
And what about jobless benefits, should they be extended again? Or is our deficit too big already?
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16 comments Add your comment
TnGelding
June 7th, 2010
5:45 am
How come nobody ever asks if the deficit is too big to fund the Pentagon’s excesses? We have to stop obsessing about exports and produce goods for ourselves. We’ve proven we can consume everything we produce and then some when working. And federal taxes have to be eliminated for corporations. The consumer pays them anyway. We can start by shifting the entire cost of Social Security and Medicare to the employees over a 7 year period and eliminating the corporate income tax. And those of us that already have our retirements funded need to go ahead and retire. If you wnat to work there is plenty of need in the charity field.
doobie
June 7th, 2010
6:33 am
I agree with TN. The individual withholding on Taxes is way out of hand. Forget France and socialism. Your already there. If not past socialism in France. Once again cut out all welfare. Not some. All. The Government jobs that could put people to work. Instead of sitting around. Would be enormous. I tire of old wives tales of WPA workers leaning on their shovels. Given proper management. People should work. Not sit. When they work. You get something for your money. They produce. They pay in taxes also.
With the taxes people have to pay up to a 40% tax rate. To have people sucking down your hard earned money. Sitting around watching daytime television. Eating free dinners. Because you had to pay for it. Is a shame. Why should you pay for it? When they don’t work. They produce nothing. But
grief and pain for you when you see your pay stub.
For those that don’t like that. That like the welfare cushion. I say be a man. Put your back into it. Go to work. I don’t feel sorry for anyone that does not work.
DustOff
June 7th, 2010
8:09 am
IT jobs are going over to India, cheap labor but poor quality of service as they do not understand the American way of doing business. Thank NAFTA and the ever growing Tax on corporations. The Community Organizer does not have a clue what to do but spend and tax.
Waste
June 7th, 2010
8:25 am
Cut the federal budget by 30-40% by eliminating these wasteful, lobbyist fueled defense contracts and agricultural subsidies. The US has enough weapons systems to blow up the world 1000 times and defeat any enemy. Quit wasting taxpayer money and making execs of these firms richer than ever.
doobie
June 7th, 2010
8:28 am
I don’t see how that has anything to do with working. One can sit around all day worrying about Mexicans, foreigners. Blaming everything including an out of control squirrel population. For their woes. Your safety net in all of this isn’t unemployment extensions or assistance. It’s your brain. Use it. You won’t be sorry.
OBGYN
June 7th, 2010
8:59 am
I think you need to look a lot less at the “defense” contracts and a lot more on welfare spending including medicare and other entitlements… Whats the american household now? 2 adults 2.2 children? Cap FS programs at 400 bucks… Stop rewarding people for having 4 or 5 children and doing nothing outside of that… So long as you reward failure you will breed it.
Besides the only reason China doesn’t attack or start bullying everyone is because we are still the most technilogically advanced nation so far as the military is concerned. To stay that way we have to fund these programs. I do disagree with the fact we didn’t make iraq pay for the war at least partially with oil or other assets… Freedom isn’t free.
its tough, but its not the Chinese's fault
June 7th, 2010
9:12 am
Things are tough..I just got hired after 8 months of unemployment..less than 2 months before my unemployment benefits ran out. However, one thing is for sure: Bitching about government waste, the Chinese, the Mexicans, Obama., and all the other excuses people use ..thats a crutch that will never pay off..since it isnt going to change. may as well move past that .
The Dogfighter Returns
June 7th, 2010
9:26 am
Cut corporate taxes and replace it with what? What do you think present corporate taxes collected are used for?
What do you think companies will do with the additional income from not paying income tax?
If you think corporations will reduce their prices when corporate taxes are eliminated I have a bridge to sell to you. Cutting Income tax is what got us in the mess we are in now (Reaganomics).
Cutting the federal budget means reducing the growth of the economy, which means GDP will go down and the stock market might crash once ad for all.
Just take care of yourself (whichis much simpler) and stop worrying about others.
Let’s cut taxes for corporations so that BP will be able to perform more exploration and pollute the world. Those corporations will save the day.
It’s interesting how you associate welfare with women and children and ignore the corporate welfare that is pervasive and encouraged.
BP’s losses from the damage caused by the spill are limited up to about $75million, any excess is picked up by the taxpayer. Corporate welfare at it’s best. Farm subsidies ever heard of that?
Don’t worry, God loves America so everything will be fine. We are the chosen ones, with God on our side we wil be victorious.
TimOregon
June 7th, 2010
11:49 am
Washington needs to keep hearing from the unemployed and America. Congress has totally failed the American public on this issue. For 800 Billion dollars we should have factories that create jobs, balanced trade and a great looking economy… However for 800 billion we have banks posting profits and 500,000 Census workers.
There is a not a Company on Earth that would look at the investment we made and thing for a second we got our moneys worth out of it.
Support Tier 5 at Change.org and call your Senator and Obama to ask what we got from our investment thus far. Demand they start making the right choices.
No Jobs
June 7th, 2010
3:28 pm
I lost my job last year in marketing support from a downsizing, making $55,000. After sending out 500 resumes all over the country, not one interview. Amazing.
Pam
June 7th, 2010
4:31 pm
I have been unemployed since December. I have applied for a lot of jobs and the only ones I hear back from are the ones that said I didn’t make the “cut”. Companies are being more specific about what they want because they can. If you are lacking just one little thing they want, you don’t stand a chance. Train for something else? Heck, everybody’s doing that too. Pretty soon we will have too many medical personnel and tradespeople because that’s what everybody is training for apparently. If somebody could give just one good piece of advice, it would be a miracle. Most of the articles during the past couple of weeks have said the job market was getting better. At least this article is telling it like it is.
danielle
June 7th, 2010
9:57 pm
My extension said I would get money until August they forgot to tell me it would expire on June 2. Now I was suppose to get a whole $254 tommorrow and I am not getting it now. I have no food in the house and that was my grocerie money and gas money to take my son to school one more week until it is out for the summer. Now I guess I will be going to the social services office and get $300 worth of food stamps and some money. What difference does it make how we get the money because we need the money it either unemployment or social services so what are they thinking.
TnGelding
June 7th, 2010
10:08 pm
danielle
June 7th, 2010
9:57 pm
Your family, friends and neighbors are there for you as well. Ask the senior citizens in your community if there is any work you can do for them. If your son is old enough let him cut yards this summer.
Tax cut » Blog Archive » Affected by long-term unemployment? – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
June 8th, 2010
3:54 am
[...] Affected by long-term unemployment?Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)The Community Organizer does not have a clue what to do but spend and tax. Cut the federal budget by 30-40% by eliminating these wasteful, lobbyist fueled … and more » [...]
TnGelding
June 8th, 2010
7:01 am
The Dogfighter Returns
June 7th, 2010
9:26 am
Replace it with the taxes millions of jobs will generate. Our current situation is due to the new world order. We have to get leaner and meaner to compete in the global market place.
KTnGA
June 8th, 2010
2:11 pm
Doobie I hope and pray you are never laid off and have to go out looking for one. Each place you go there is either a sign on the door saying not hiring or go to our website. I have not been sitting on my AZZ as you think watching daytime TV. I am on the computer 10 hrs out of a day normally looking for a job. Therefore you are an AZZ to say that we sit here on Welfare, BTW when you get unemployment as a rule you make too much for any other assistance. Thanks and hope you never loose your job.