Should jobless benefits be extended?
You know the issue.
On one side, you have out-of-control federal deficits that need to be reined in.
On the other side, you have millions of unemployed workers who have not been able to find jobs because of the weak economy.
Which side are you on? Should jobless benefits be extended?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
190 comments Add your comment
blackprix
June 25th, 2010
7:48 am
You can call me what you want … it doesn’t change the fact that this state and the people in it are suffering with loss of jobs and are concerned for their lives.
If that makes me an idiot YOU HAVE TO BE A MORON!!!
Gus
June 25th, 2010
7:49 am
How can G.A. senators go out in public. They all must live in gated communities.
BeScared
June 25th, 2010
7:49 am
To Derek:
You and Oscar can go smoke some meth at the trailer park. Maybe that will clear your heads from all of the nonsense you are putting out there.
blackprix
June 25th, 2010
7:50 am
By the way, my handle is my car …. you moron!
Brad
June 25th, 2010
7:51 am
No. This is what you get when you vote in inexperienced, incompetent fools to run the country. So enjoy that change you idiots believed in.
blackprix
June 25th, 2010
7:52 am
Just like you voted in Bush TWICE … and look what Obama took over, an absolute disaster or ungodly proportions.
NO President should have to deal with Bush left behind!
BeScared
June 25th, 2010
7:53 am
To Derek:
If you had an education you would not have had to work two jobs for the past 12 years. See where a GED will get you? Two jobs in 12 years.
Don’t be so insensitive because it might happen to you.
John
June 25th, 2010
7:55 am
During the Bush years we had plenty of borrowed money for an unnecessary war in Iraq which raised the deficit to a level never before seen. Now that we want to borrow the money to help our citizens it’s wrong to raise the deficit. Republicans should just change the name of their party to Hypocrite. I never vote Hypocritical.
John
June 25th, 2010
7:56 am
I am 58 and was terminated April of last year.I have been in the job force since the age of 16.Do I want a handout? No.I just want a little bit of what I have paid for.I have always voted Republican but will reconsider the next time I go to the ballot box.
I think this is a way for God to humble those of us who took life,and a steady income,for granted.
Jason T
June 25th, 2010
8:00 am
Obama and the Dems would rather pay for people not working, than actually do anything to CREATE jobs, something they have no clue. Of course cutting vote-buying needless spending programs would never happen.
montrell k
June 25th, 2010
8:03 am
Greedy republicans are trying to keep the unemployed, especially minorities from getting more benefits. Obama needs to keep these benefits coming for another year—it’s hard to find a good job.
Jim
June 25th, 2010
8:04 am
It’s all about politics, isn’t it…. The Republicans don’t gain anything if the economy recovers…. they only gain if it stalls. So by denying benefits, they help to keep the economy in limbo… In the process a lot of good, honest, unemployed people become the pawns in this game of political chess. This malarky about spending is a smoke screen. We need to spend to get the economy rolling. When it’s rolling, all those stalled businesses and unemployed people will be back in the game… paying taxes and pulling us out of debt. This isn’t rocket science. So why are so many people buying the Republican rhetoric? Incidentally, I voted Republican until the Republicans and Bush spent the huge budget surplus that was left to us by the Clinton Administration… go figure…. The Republicans seem to always pick the worng side of the issue….
pookfester
June 25th, 2010
8:04 am
Folks are upset. I wouldn’t be. I don’t doubt they will come up with some kind of new emergency bill. In addition the AJC, may want to list alternative things people can do other than finding a “job”. Things they can do on their own. Look at the bright side here. We could become independent human beings.
Bubba
June 25th, 2010
8:06 am
Since nobody can or will answer my question about how long benefits should last, I have another for you who are unemployed: If someone offered you a job making $15,000 a year, would you take it? Or would you continue to collect that amount in unemployment?
larry
June 25th, 2010
8:07 am
Thank you Nick for pointing out that the bill does more than extend unemployment benefits, it gives tax breaks to businesses to help them hire the unemployed and extends tax breaks for research and development.
I recently got laid off from a job that i had been at for 15 years. Thankfully, my wife is still working and we are not in debt. And we have some savings and i recently got my bachelors degree from college.The problem is there is 6 workers that have qualifications for every one job in this country. And its worse if you live in a small town like i do.
The bill needs to be passed. The republicans arent going to agree to anything, the democrats cut 15 billion out of it and the repulbicans still wont pass it. The republicans dont give a damn about the debt that they ran up ( 11.8 trillion in the last 30 years) , all they want to do is say no and that is all they do is say no, even if they agree with the bill, they will still vote no.
T Jackson
June 25th, 2010
8:08 am
The system is broke we need a new way, pointing the finger does not help enough with that.
Jason T
June 25th, 2010
8:08 am
Blah, blah, Bush Bush Bush…..get over it, the Dems have controlled the purse strings since January 07.
Buzz G
June 25th, 2010
8:08 am
What an incredibly biased article. No wonder the main stream press is on the rocks.
We currently have $13,000,000,000.00 in debt. How much debt is that? If you went backwards in time spending a dollar every second, what year would be on the calendar when you spent it all? Well, Neanderthals would roam the earth. Homo sapiens sapiens (modern humans) would not exist. It is almost impossible to comprehend how much debt we now have and how fast it is growing. But one thing we do know, one day soon no one is going to want to own U.S. treasury bonds because they will be too risky. At that time the government will be unable to cut spending and no way could raise taxes to that level. They would have to create money out of thin air and inflation would rule the land. The economy would crash in a way that would make the great depression look like the good times. Sadly, Democrats can’t see beyond the next election and they will continue to spend their way until the total ruination of the country. Sad.
Buzz G
June 25th, 2010
8:10 am
That should read $13,000,000,000,000.00, not $13,000,000,000.00. It’s hard to even type that number!
SAR
June 25th, 2010
8:13 am
The job market is simply not there for people. There is no easy solution to this issue. Funding state jobs is not realistic, in my opinion, because I don’t think they can lob enough money at them to keep people employed until this recession is over. Thus, they are going to join the ranks of the unemployed anyway. Maybe they should try to pay for extended benefits and leave off the state funding. Your local economies are going to grind very slowly to a halt if all of the unemployed don’t get something. People can not spend what they don’t receive. There are no jobs to speak of and when Gwinnett county has 156 pages of legal notices with 148 pages being home foreclosures…you KNOW there aren’t any jobs.
Civitas
June 25th, 2010
8:13 am
When the extended benefits are exhausted each week and thousands of Georgians are without any funds, the Georgia economy ceases to benefit from the $7 of economic boost per $1 spent. The social services budgets will continue to rise and more unemployed need help with food and shelter. Then there’s lower sales tax revenue from the stagnated economy.
Way to go GOP! Once a Reagan Republican, you continue to push me farther away from your ballots and candidates.
PW
June 25th, 2010
8:15 am
Those of us blessed to be working or retired (Oscar which are you), have no idea how difficult finding a job is in the economy. This economy does not discriminate. Whether you have multiple degrees or never made it out of high school, jobs are hard to come by and to call those who find themselves unemployed lazy is just stupid.
As the property values in your neighborhood continue to drop because your neighbor lost his or her job and their home goes into foreclosure, remember that it was REPUBLICAN lawmakers who denied you and extension of benefits. Not because they are budget hawks but to make a point to the President. Absolutely appalling.
Quit nursing Uncle Sam's teet
June 25th, 2010
8:15 am
unfortunately there will always be a percentage of people who because of bad decisions while growing up, will never be able to take care of themselves. To them I say, this country is strong enough to provide some sort of meager assistance although it urkes me because I have made good decisions and pay for their aid. Personally I think we give too much money to foreign nations anyway.
And then are people who will accept aid from the government because its “free money”, get off your arzz and make something of yourself and stop living on public assistance. It is meant as a temporary aid.
Social security will never go away despite the fact it was meant as a temporary program and jobless benifits will keep getting extended as long as there are slackers and the democrats pandering for votes.
Mary
June 25th, 2010
8:17 am
Our Senators are working on borrowed time, hope their houses, cars educations are paid for. I do believe our debt is out of control but my husband has been out of work off and on since 2008, and we have two small children. We have gone through all savings, had medical bills from cancer, my first born and insurance that does not pay for everything when needing to go to the doctor? So my main concern no one not even our elected official are concerned one bit about JOBS and not STATE JOBS or GOVERNMENT JOBS being saved just jobs. Keep getting over looked on every job applied for and I have a degree and a minor but I am not qualified to answer phones or file–WOW..Not saying we wanted to stay on unemployment because you are WRONG, but it sure did help when those two littles ones needed a little something??
atlshirt.com/job
June 25th, 2010
8:17 am
In other news, some 28 millions dollars from the first time home buyer tax credit was reported as being spent fraudently !!!
Rick
June 25th, 2010
8:18 am
Extend the unemployment benefits, but PAY for them with cuts somewhere else! Bring back the troops from all bases not in the US and let others defend their own countries.
atlshirt.com/job
June 25th, 2010
8:20 am
all of you guys sure do love to write, well, get paid to do it, I DO
I made it easy for you to find it 
Mike
June 25th, 2010
8:21 am
blackprix….your ignorance is astounding ! I sympathize with being out of work, short on money and trying to make ends meet. God bless and I hope you find work soon. BUT, to simply blame Republicans is truly ignorant. This adminsitration has ignored the economic problems other than bandaids like Unemployment Compensation…it has spent time on health care overhaul and sap and trade etc etc….when it should have been passing tax breaks to incentivize small businesses to go out and hire. Denocrats have raised the deficit more since they took control on 2007 than Republicans had in the 12 years prior to that *combined*!
blackprix….your prejudice is showing.
Reese
June 25th, 2010
8:22 am
Is it just me, but does it annoy you that the only people against the extension and worried about the debt are people who still have jobs? We spend billions to fight a war and defend people in other countries, but how quickly we snub our fellow Americans. As for people who think I’m a lazy, uneducated, drug-abusing fool, I’ve got a few degrees and a stack of rejection letters to prove different. Here’s what’s depressing — I went to college, got a good job, worked hard for 15 years, busted my butt to get into a management position before I had my daughter, etc. Now my degree in print journalism isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, so I’ve got to change careers and start over, yet no one will give me the chance. I’ve even been PAYING for a sitter to go and volunteer to get some new job skills. If you want to be enlightened, go spend some time at the unemployment office and talk to the people standing in line. When you meet the folks with master’s degrees, the older folks who were let go just months before they retired, the single parents who consider letting their benefits lapse so they can qualify for stamps and housing, maybe you’ll be more sympathetic. Do I care about the debt. Yes. But not as much as I care about not getting evicted or getting my baby girl a new pair of shoes. Do you think I’d prefer a few hundred dollars a week over a few thousand a month, you’re crazy.
NoKidding
June 25th, 2010
8:28 am
If the object of the bill is to extend unemployment benefits, then do that. The politicians on both side like to litter bills with pork bloating an obliterating the original intent of the bill. Where to make cuts? Sue me but the National Endowment for the Arts would be my first target.
pookfester
June 25th, 2010
8:28 am
It’s not lobbing money for the state to create jobs. Never is. Currently many contracts go to private companies. Instead. They should hire their own workers. It really is not throwing money away. Those people pay taxes. They need to cut permanent welfare roles. See the problem here is throwing money away on people who do absolutely nothing. In the name of being fair. Tell me what is fair about giving money to people who do absolutely nothing. Mind you I am not talking about unemployment.
If you took that money and gave it to essential services. Public Safety. City and State services. You would have people that pay taxes and actually do something. It baffles me why you would want to throw away money to people who don’t work. You can bring up the defense budget. How does that balance or detract from people that do nothing all day but sit around and watch game shows?
PR
June 25th, 2010
8:34 am
Congress is a bunch of liars and thieves. They gave junior Bush billions for his fake war but they don’t give a damn about the american public. All those who lose their unemployment benefits should move into the offices that their congressmen have and demand their fair share. Its time to cut the congress off at the knees…throw all of them out of office and start over. You know how to tell when a politican is lynig…their mouth is moving!
Neshnev
June 25th, 2010
8:37 am
I’m glad to report that I’ve emailed both our senators and my congressman (because he’s a republican too) and called them SOB’s for their shortcomings.
Fed up with the Feds
June 25th, 2010
8:38 am
It’s amazing the stupidity on this board. The Republicans dig in their heels once because they want to stop spending money we don’t have and all of the sudden they don’t have a heart??!!
I apologize to my 5 year old daily because we are selling our kids down river due to the debt this administration has piled on them. It’s not about not caring about the unemployed; I was there and can attest the job market stinks and there is too much competition for the few jobs out there. However, we cannot keep spending money we don’t have and then tax the “rich” for it. Believe it or not, those bad ole rich people are the same ones who give jobs. Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person???
Bottom line, if you are going to get all up in arms about the Republicans saying no to ANOTHER extension of unemployment benefits laden with more pork spending then you should be equally upset at our President for stating unemployment would not exceed 9% if the stimulus package was passed. “Crisis, crisis, crisis, spend, spend, spend is his motto.”
Jason T
June 25th, 2010
8:39 am
atlshirt.com/job
June 25th, 2010
8:17 am
In other news, some 28 millions dollars from the first time home buyer tax credit was reported as being spent fraudently !!!
Ahhhhhh….more Government at it’s finest!
Joe
June 25th, 2010
8:39 am
The media has been rabid in their reporting of this. This is not a jobs bill by no means. This is a bill to piss away more tax money and to create more government dependance. If the benefits ended then people will be forced to get out and find a job. Mickey D’s and Burger King hire everyday. This bs about not being able to find work is just a plain lie!
Jason T
June 25th, 2010
8:41 am
Neshnev
June 25th, 2010
8:37 am
I’m glad to report that I’ve emailed both our senators and my congressman (because he’s a republican too) and called them SOB’s for their shortcomings.
Sure hope you sent Obama, Reid, and Pelosi the same “SOB” letter for their huge spending spree!
Change
June 25th, 2010
8:42 am
These that say people are lazy and taking advantage of unemployment are COMPLETE idiots. Just wait until it happens to you and you look for work and find another 400 people competing for that one job! If the stimulus dollars had been used appropriately–like helping the people who really needs it, not big business–we might be better off. Think about it, banks would’ve gotten their money–bill would have been paid. Car lots would have sold cars, grocery stores and small business would have boomed. But when it comes to helping “The PEOPLE” there is always someone MORE important–BIG BUSINESS!!! Their greed and high price dollars for politicians got us here in the first place!
pookfester
June 25th, 2010
8:43 am
Can’t you see a real major problem here is welfare. For some reason in a really bad situation. It’s not out there for cuts. I say get rid of a lot of it. Create all kinds of jobs for people who want to work. It’s a real way to get money back into the system. They actually produce something. We need new jails. Guards. Police officers. City workers. Road crews. State workers. State public safety. We can build transit systems. Public water and sewage all over the state. People pay for these services. Public electricity. That would lower our bills. We could build our own gas system. Heck we could even have our own airline and electric car plant. Georgia cars. We have an entire plant sitting vacant in Doraville. Why is the State limited in such things? Why do we have to do things like everyone else? We are a state, independent. Not the Federal government. I say cut out welfare use the money for other purposes.
EJ
June 25th, 2010
8:46 am
The issue is not that benefits are being cut.
The issue is that government has saddled the private sector with enough regulations, taxes, licenses, and whatever rules and regulations they can think of onto their backs.
Then, when there is not enough profit to hire and pay salaries, and people are left unemployed, government does not unwind all the harmful legislation and regulation, they add even more.
Drop minimum wage, eliminate all business taxes in the state of Georgia, and let Georgia get back to work ahead of the rest of the states. Make Georgia more attractive for business than it’s neighbors. Learn to compete again.
Then the rest will take care of itself.
Shawny
June 25th, 2010
8:46 am
Unemployment benefits aren’t being cut. They just aren’t being extended any further than they have already been extended. The reality is that they can’t go on forever.
I would have been in favor of extending them in order to help both the economy and those looking for work vs. paying for this healthcare debacle, but the current administration and congress do not have their priorities straight.
www.hostdawg.net
June 25th, 2010
8:47 am
Seriously people, for $3.95 a month, you can own and operate your very own web business!!! You can easily build a website around a topic that you love… most of you are everyday bloggers, and you can make money running your very own blog, stop sitting here whinning about not having a way to make money, or that there are not any jobs available….
You know how we got out of the last depression, people started opening thier own businesses, that all it takes, go to http://www.hostdawg.net and open your very own business… I will not say it is very easy, but it is easy to get started, and does not cost much at all.. Believe me when I say this, the Fruit of your own Labor, tastes much better than the Crumbs leftover by someone else!!!
Glenn Beck
June 25th, 2010
8:47 am
Those people are lazy and should not get free money.
Change
June 25th, 2010
8:50 am
BTW, I have a job and worked through this GREAT Depression! I see the 400+ people fighting for one or two jobs almost daily…most business are just stacking resumes for when the economy turns–they are not really hiring anyone! KNOW the FACTS!
Change
June 25th, 2010
8:51 am
Great points pookfester! They should do it!
Robert
June 25th, 2010
8:53 am
It seems to me that anything that comes from President Obama is automatically rejected by the Republicans but no “real” alternatives are presented. Just this is raising the debt and we can’t do it. Blah, blah, blah. If I remember correctly, when President Clinton left office, we had a federal surplus. When President Bush left the office, we were in a deficit, largely thanks to the wars overseas. The financial crisis, housing crisis, unemployment, etc all started under President Bush’s watch, not President Obama. Unfortunately, he took over the country in possibly the worse condition it could be in.
So I simply ask since everything President Obama proposes is so wrong, he’s clueless, etc., what does the Republicans propose instead? It’s fine to have a different opinion, but where are your “solutions”? Seems to me it’s all about politics and getting elected, not about helping our own people.
For the record, I wish we would end the wars and use that money for the issues at home. I wish businesses would start hiring so we can get the economy moving, which would improve the housing mess, financial crisis, raise tax revenues, etc.
When will Whites Change
June 25th, 2010
8:55 am
The reason we are in debt is because of a money,oil driven war started by the White man…Then once the economy takes a dip and millions lose jobs, they want to cut off the Unemployment benefits…Wow..
almost an all time low
this ranks up here with the worst that the white man has done
1.katrina ( opening the levys, then not helping them, then calling them REFUGEES)
2.Iraq ( Lying about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, just as an excuse to get over there, i thouight the people who did 911 were from Saudia Arabia right? WHY ARE WE IN IRAQ) and we will be there forever…
3.Vietnam(the white man lied and said that a ship owned by the Us was blown up by Vietnam( IT NEVER HAPPEND) to start that war.Then off course they used blacks as shooting dummies…
4.Slavery
5. Stealing the election for George W Bush
6. Not extending the benefits for thousands out of work, red necks remember all these people HAD JOBS, they didnt get fired, they got laid off…
pookfester
June 25th, 2010
8:59 am
My mother used to call it the height of laziness.
JT
June 25th, 2010
9:01 am
Oscar, Derek and Bubba are idiots who should be laid off and see how much they will hesitate to collect the government check then. I bet they would be the first ones in the line.
Good luck to you Bob.
pookfester
June 25th, 2010
9:02 am
Maybe Michigan can try some of these things. Who knows. Detroit has plenty of vacant plants.