Georgia’s long-term unemployed about to be abandoned
Unless the state Legislature reverses course quickly, 22,000 Georgia households are going to be stripped of badly needed long-term unemployment benefits by the end of June.
The money may not seem like much — an average of $244 a week per household. But for Georgia families that already have had to survive months without a regular paycheck in the worst economic environment in 80 years, it’s at least something. It helps put food on the table.
But with only four days left in the 2011 session, state leaders are oddly reluctant to take action that would save those benefits.
It ought to be a no-brainer. The money at stake — Georgia’s share would come to an estimated $175 million — has already been appropriated by Congress. Other states with high unemployment rates have already taken steps to accept their share. Georgia leaders have to demonstrate their own willingness to accept it by passing a small, technical change in state law, but so far, they’ve balked.
The question is why.
Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal, notes that as a member of Congress, Deal voted against extended unemployment benefits and is philosophically opposed to them. As governor, Robinson says, Deal is “studying the issue very closely” but hasn’t decided yet whether he would sign the necessary bill into law.
“We’re fine with the Legislature moving forward on it” while the governor makes up his mind, Robinson said. But Deal will neither champion nor oppose the move.
As head of the state Department of Labor, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler is responsible for administering unemployment benefits and looking out for Georgia workers. But through spokesman Sam Hall, Butler is also taking an oddly passive position.
“The commissioner would support whatever the governor and the Legislature decide to do on the matter,” Hall told me Wednesday.
Of course, it’s not just the long-term unemployed who would benefit from the program. The $175 million at stake would be used to buy groceries at local stores. It would be used to pay rent to landlords, or perhaps fend off foreclosures that in turn would help keep neighorhood property values from plummeting. It would also generate millions of dollars in state income tax revenue.
If the money is rejected, none of that happens.
Despite all that, neither the governor nor the labor commissioner want to be seen as supportive of the idea. They don’t want to be perceived as opposing it; that would make them look heartless and cruel. But given the ideology that dominates their party, they also can’t be seen as advocating assistance for the long-term unemployed.
So they choose to “study the issue” or pretend they have no role. They dump the responsibility on legislators, many of whom are no doubt making the same sort of political calculation as their leaders have. They too don’t want to be seen as killing the program, but many may be perfectly willing to let it die.
Choosing to do nothing is still a choice, however. And it will still have consequences, both for those who can’t find jobs and for the politicians who lacked enough courage and spine to take action.
If legislators follow the example set by the governor and labor commissioner and no action is taken before the session ends, 22,000 hard-up Georgia families in communities across the state will lose their financial lifeline come June 30. They and their extended families and friends will have every right to feel betrayed by state leaders who were elected to serve them, but who chose to serve themselves instead by doing nothing.
– Jay Bookman
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590 comments Add your comment
Harry Callahan
March 30th, 2011
5:24 pm
“Don’t confuse close-minded with stubborness. Stubborness is amenable to the proper argument. Close-mindedness is incurable.”
You ought to know.
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:24 pm
Dave
Oh, what the hell, let’s just go ahead, put ‘em all in one place and blow ‘em the hell up…lazy b*stards too d*mned good live under a bridge… okay, sounds good to me… I’m a convert…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
March 30th, 2011
5:25 pm
Harry…Glad that you finally concede that in your 5:22 post that your prior post at 4:28 was nonsense. There, was it so hard to acknowledge that you really were wrong…. oh yes, I guess it was by the number of posts it took.
WOW
March 30th, 2011
5:25 pm
Dusty
Why do you even try to converse with AmVet? The guy spends 90% of his time name calling and throwing out racist comments about white people.
Finn McCool
March 30th, 2011
5:26 pm
When will the Republicans come up with the $100 billion in cuts they promised?
All they can manage is $30 billion? Are you serious?
Harry Callahan
March 30th, 2011
5:26 pm
OK, another school lessons for the Depenocrats:
When your’re $13 trillion in debt, and your future outlays exceed any reasonable estimate of income by trillions more…
you’re broke
Denying it is about as dumb sa it gets.
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:26 pm
“Oh, what the hell, let’s just go ahead, put ‘em all in one place and blow ‘em the hell up”
Only if we can add liberal opinion columnists . . .
Greedy Old People, Inc., A Magazine for the Privileged
March 30th, 2011
5:26 pm
I do not know any Republicans who are debt-free. They also love deficit spending. They do it every day. Deficits don’t matter.
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:27 pm
jonix 5:22 – no one is proposing ending foodstamps, which also help. no one in this country is going to starve.
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
Oh, I forgot to add . . .
(poke) (poke)
Harry Callahan
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
“Harry…Glad that you finally concede that in your 5:22 post that your prior post at 4:28 was nonsense”
Dude, what color is the sky in your world? My position has not changed.
Reading Is Fundamental…
Finn McCool
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
We’re 1/4 of the way through the year. Have the Republicans done anything?
Are we paying them to work for 3/4 of the year?
jewcowboy
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
Harry Callahan,
“What’s your guess?”
That they really don’t care, and are intent on implementing ideological changes that neither address jobs nor the deficit.
md
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
“A modern economy does NOT operate in a simple 1:1 analogy with an individual or household economy, especially one such as the United States whose currency happens to coincide with the world’s reserve currency. Such an economy has a range of options at its disposal for raising cash which an individual doesn’t have. But try explaining this to some of our more stubborn-minded colleagues – you’ll come to grief.”
The basic fundamentals are the same……….and we have used many of the options already to very little avail……….we are currently printing money which will only make matters worse, and continue to add to an unsustainable debt load………….even the most wealthy will eventually come to a tipping point……….we are playing “the straw that broke the camels back” and no one knows when it will come crashing down……….
We are having a hard enough time maintaining the status quo, and now throw in the variables of inflation and high oil prices………….
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:28 pm
Finn McCool 5:24 – a thousand points if you can name what happens if you just try to print money to solve the problem.
Harry Callahan
March 30th, 2011
5:29 pm
“I do not know any Republicans who are debt-free.”
My guess is you don’t know any Republicans. I’m jumping in my paid-for car and heading to my paid-for house for a comfortable debt-free sleep right now.
Enjoy
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:30 pm
Finn McCool – $30 is the compromise # bucko. Its Reid that won’t sign up because he wants a shutdown. Playing politics with our finances. Irresponsible.
Harry Callahan
March 30th, 2011
5:30 pm
“That they really don’t care, and are intent on implementing ideological changes that neither address jobs nor the deficit.”
Interesting…that’s how I view Democrats…
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:31 pm
jm
How much is the monthly maximum allotment of food stamps for a family of four?
And as for not starving…of course not…there are plenty of dumpsters full to overflowing behind just about every restaurant in town….
1811/1801 - 0311/0317
March 30th, 2011
5:31 pm
Oooops !
“Qaddafi’s son toured Air Force Academy this year”
“Muammar Qaddafi’s militaristic son, Khamis, was given Air Force Academy VIP tour just before uprising.”
Mary Elizabeth
March 30th, 2011
5:32 pm
And I likewise consider you thoughts uneducated and unaware in anything of depth – though you can’t or won’t see it – so just drop the asides to me and we can have a silence truce.
You’ll do that – unless, of course, you are more interested in bullying or berating than you are in understanding.
To readers: If Harry addresses me again, you’ll know the answer was his need to bully and berate, otherwise, he will have the good sense to leave me alone.
I regret, readers, that you have had to read all of these negatives between Harry and myself. I have simply tried to defend myself against his bullying of me, which was what I should have done. I did not ask to be singled out.
On a more positive note, I have written a rather philosophical treatise regarding President Obama and America’s evolving role in the world. I have posted it in response to WOODSTOCK MIKE
at the very end of all of the posts of the entry Jay posted yesterday called “Obama Administration Under Fire On Transparency” for those who might care to read it. Some of my remarks were lifted from my blog which can be reached at http://www.maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com. I hope some with that more philosophical kind of vision might find my thoughts rewarding.
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:32 pm
Keep, hows the recovery going?
Left wing management
March 30th, 2011
5:32 pm
Harry Callahan:
If for example I check the balance in my checking account and it says $0 and I know I have no other income coming in, then that’s broke. But a national economy such as the US has ways of raising cash and can then – unlike me the individual – use that cash to generate activities which will then eventually generate additional revenue and perhaps pay off that loan and then some.
What part about this simple – though admittedly counter-intuitive for a certain moralistic / minimalist perspective – picture do you not grasp?
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:32 pm
“Have the Republicans done anything?”
Actually, Finn, they have. Largely passing bills in an attempt to defund as much cr@p as was passed last year without funding, and working on a budget for THIS year. Considering they only have one branch of Congress, they are doing above average in my estimation. Nt great, but good enough. The proof will be inthe budget they unveil in April.
Finn McCool
March 30th, 2011
5:32 pm
I guess the Republitards read my line about printing money and thought:
“Dey’s gunna print money? Where de line i get in fer that? Get er done!”
jewcowboy
March 30th, 2011
5:33 pm
Anywho…I’m off to meet some folks for a cocktail…or four. You folks have fun.
Charles
March 30th, 2011
5:33 pm
All I know is that I secured new employment today after 5 months of unemployment! I’m very happy!
md
March 30th, 2011
5:33 pm
“A governement won’t stop collecting taxes- so it isn’t broke. A government can issue bonds and print money – so it won’t be broke. let’s see you and your spouse print money and try collecting taxes.”
Who they going to collect from if folks have no money??
Bonds?? Ask Greece about their bonds…………………..
Print money?? Know anything about inflation????
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:35 pm
” If Harry addresses me again, you’ll know the answer was his need to bully and berate, otherwise, he will have the good sense to leave me alone.”
For me, it’s so much easier to simply ignore your misguided attempts to rationalize government action.
Rebel Son
March 30th, 2011
5:36 pm
for sure everybody here has got great arguments for their side to this issue…may i be allowed to add just a little something…somewhere out there there are children whose parents are unemployed…not because they are sorry and wont work …..they would love to have a job…it is just a very bad economy right now and companies are having to let people go…still doesnt make it any easier for those pareents to have to look at those children and try to explain why there is no food…and yet we argue here about whether the State of Ga. or any state for that matter shouldnt do everything they can to help these children…God save us all people…
Greedy Old People, Inc., A Magazine for the Privileged
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
My guess is you don’t know any Republicans.
Your guess would be wrong. Then again, you probably believe that no part of our current national debt is your responsibility.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
Private enterprise, corporations included, are free to do as they like…give to charity – or not – and over-pay taxes – or not.
Any corporation, GE included, has the responsibility to pay as little tax as the law allows, thereby maximizing profits. Shareholders demand this and rightfully so.
Indeed Harry, reading is fundamental,,,,and so is understanding your own nonsense is contradictory.
Real Scooter
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:22 pm
Thank you josef! Now I get it.
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
Congrats, Charles! I guess you don’t have to be rounded up and blown up like josef and I want to do!
Dusty
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
JOSEF,
I see you are on a tear about “the starving children” etc. There may be undernourished children in the USA but I was told that obesity is the problem. If I want to see starving children, I can see their pictures on TV from foreign countries. They don’t picture any starving children of America.
But you lost me with those $244 dinners. For an evening engagement? Now that’s plain self indulgence unless it’s for about twenty people. Don’t talk about us people who rather save for the good causes than be an elite on the night out. I suggest bread and water for you and Mary Elizabeth to show your equalization of food benefits. Then tell me about giving support money that we don’t have in the treasury.
larry
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
Georgia Works, a program where the unemployed worked and trained in new jobs without any expense to the employers was suspended by Skip Butler upon taking office in Janurary. The program had a 60% success rate placing unemployed workers in permanent positions with private companies.
And now they are going to reject the money that has been set aside for the long-term unemployed……
with an unemployment rate over the national average for the 34th straight month.
And they are worried about looking heartless. That was a joke right?
Traci
March 30th, 2011
5:37 pm
I have been out of a job for over 2 years and have run out of benefits. I would like a job that pays at least the basics, not a handout. I went to a job fair today at the Crown Plaza Hotel off of powers ferry road and over half of the companies that were advertised as attending were not there. It was awful. Where are the jobs?!?!
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:38 pm
Mary, I’ve found it best to just ignore them.
They want your attention…
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:38 pm
Charles
Congrats and good luck!
Paul
March 30th, 2011
5:40 pm
I always thought it a nice principle to hold people accountable for their choices. Here we have all these unemployed, been that way for quite a while, some of them since the ‘08 meltdown occurred. So, people should be held accountable.
Which is why I think it not a bad idea to levy a tax – rate to be determined by the amount required – on the Wall Streeters and banks and whoever else were the root cause of the meltdown that put all these people out of work. Of course, the gov’t had some contributory negligence, but seeing’s how one party is loathe to enforce accountability in the form of taxes to pay for the damages or deficit spending to finance it, we can knock their percentage off and just go as far as the assessment on the Street will take us in paying damages, I mean, benefits, to the out of work folks.
And Mary Elizabeth, welcome to the club. Don’t take it personal, don’t even feel special. Harry’s an equal-opportunity diverter and name-caller. Just ask him to define socialism and offer to buy him a $12.50 lunch (he spends 12 bucks, it’s what really rich people do) and you’ll get along famously.
And never forget that, on the Internet, people can be whoever they want to be!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
March 30th, 2011
5:40 pm
AmVet…. thanks for asking. Feeling better. Bandages off one arm (just 10-15 punctures well on way to healing). Other arm has the slashes and punctures…will be another week or so…but good news is no infection. The fingernail….that is going to take awhile to regrow and attach but I am learning to 9 finger type,
md
March 30th, 2011
5:40 pm
“But a national economy such as the US has ways of raising cash and can then – unlike me the individual – use that cash to generate activities which will then eventually generate additional revenue and perhaps pay off that loan and then some. ”
Well…..don’t look now, but what do you think they have been doing the last few years?? And all it has accomplished is a bigger debt and deficit………..
And sure you can compare individuals to gov’ts………either the money is there or it isn’t……why the heck does one think local govts are cutting back severely??? They ain’t got it and they can’t get it……can’t squeeze blood from a turnip…………..
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:41 pm
Yes, Charles, Mazel Tov.
Things are slowly improving…
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:42 pm
Hey, AmVet! I saw today where about 37 out of 44 ESPN analysts picked my Red Sox to get to the World Series and win it all.
Zero picked your Yankees.
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:42 pm
josef nix 5:31 – I don’t know. Report on WABE says 1/3 of all food is not used and can be redirected in the system to their food bank. If 1/3 of the food created in this country is not enough to feed the 15% of the people (+/-) below poverty level, we have a problem.
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:43 pm
That’s great Keep! Glad to hear there is no infection.
Nine finger typing?
Is that like one finger saluting?!
Mary Elizabeth
March 30th, 2011
5:43 pm
Dave R
You have, in the past, thrown a few insults my way, for my views, but nothing that I would consider continuous bullying. However, I do appreciate your recent idea of simply ignoring my thoughts since you do not concur with them – rather than throwing insults my way The views I give I have given much thought to for most of my life. I do not recall ever insulting you, even though our thoughts are opposing. I wish you well.
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:44 pm
Charles – Dave R – I have a discussion tomorrow with company hiring in Singapore! Fired up!
Even if it goes nowhere, I’ll learn something out of it.
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:45 pm
outta here – research to do. good luck folks.
md
March 30th, 2011
5:46 pm
“But a national economy such as the US has ways of raising cash and can then – unlike me the individual – use that cash to generate activities which will then eventually generate additional revenue and perhaps pay off that loan and then some. ”
And for the downside of that gamble….which is what it is…..look to Japan and see one of the longest recessions in history……………
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:47 pm
“Zero picked your Yankees.”
Time will tell, buddy!
I got in late last night and missed the first two thirds of my fantasy draft.
Ended up with 4 Braves (I chose Chipper, gawd help me!), no BoSox and no Yanks.
I did get the Freak and David Price from the Rays, so maybe my pitching will carry me for awhile…
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:47 pm
But Mary Elizabeth, those on the right can’t just sit idly by and ignore you all the time.
They have to hunt you down and make sure your views are never implemented!
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
Good luck, jm!
larry
March 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
Where this is going to hurt is in rural Georgia . These counties that have 11 to 12 % unemployment.
Truth Squad
March 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
Let us not forget that for every $1 in assistance, there is an economic gain of around $1.5 returned. In other words, it’s a very good investment.
Second, unemployment is only paid to those who have worked, thus the “insurance” part.
We should also remember that unemployment insurance is taxed. We can thank the Republicans for that as they denied President Obama’s request to extend the exemption created in the stimulus package.
At some point there will come a time of reckoning for Republicans and the Democratic Party.Even this country cannot have some 20+ million un- and under-, employed people milling around frustrated and desperate. These aren’t bums, many are educated and have professional work experience.
There aren’t enough jobs for everyone that wants one to have one. There are too many jobs being created that pay low wages, or pay high wages but require specialized skills that may, or may not always be in demand.
Polls are showing that the American people have had enough of the mean spirited Tea Party. They want jobs addressed, they do not want the social safety net or collective bargaining rights cut, and the list the budget deficit as a secondary concern.
The only way the Republicans beat President Obama is to propose a jobs program that puts people to work. Cutting taxes and cutting discretionary spending is not such a plan. Most Americans know that to seriously deal with the deficit is to put people to work at fair wages so they can pay taxes. They also know that something is wrong when huge multinational companies pay less taxes than the average middle class family.
If the Republicans don’t help the unemployed to regain work, and if they don’t address the shifting tax burden on the Middle Class, then President Obama will win in a landslide.
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:48 pm
Scooter
Sorry about that…jerking knee got in the way!
And that starving children one…no hyperbole for me? But, Dusty, we already know that in a certain line of thought it’s perfectly okay for them to be hungry and malnourished…so long as they keep their dirty little fly ridden selves outta sight and outta mind…got it…I’m learning…check
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:49 pm
Good luck, jm.
Like you, I’m trying to figure out a way to become an ex-pat…
Left wing management
March 30th, 2011
5:49 pm
md: Well…..don’t look now, but what do you think they have been doing the last few years?? And all it has accomplished is a bigger debt and deficit………..
Yeah that’s right. We did do it for a time and that’s the only thing that has maintained some bare measure of social stability during the most tumultuous period economically in 80+ years. You know, the so-called “stimulus”? It was a timid one (like everything this president does), but a stimulus nonetheless. We’re about to see what happens when the effects of those measures run out before the economy is able to get back to its feet in some minimal way.
And sure you can compare individuals to gov’ts………either the money is there or it isn’t……why the heck does one think local govts are cutting back severely??? They ain’t got it and they can’t get it……can’t squeeze blood from a turnip…………..
No, you can’t. For an INDIVIDUAL it’s true that the money is either there or it isnt’t, but this principle does not hold the same way for an economy that has the ability to raise cash on capital markets and yes “print” money as you say. You mention “local govmts”. Well, they’re a little different. They can sell municipal bonds, but they can’t devalue a currency for example and they are required to balance budgets.
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:49 pm
larry
Rural Georgia? Out of sight, out of mind…
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:49 pm
AmVet, I think the Rays pitching will keep them close, but they just lost too many to free agency to compete in the AL East.
No BoSox in your draft? That’s taking team loyalty a bit too far, isn’t it?
md
March 30th, 2011
5:51 pm
“so long as they keep their dirty little fly ridden selves outta sight and outta mind”
We talking about the folks waiting in line to immigrate again?????????
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:51 pm
“Let us not forget that for every $1 in assistance, there is an economic gain of around $1.5 returned.”
More phony math from the people who could argue that the sky is purple if the government told them so.
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:53 pm
jm
@ 5:42
That is much my point…what we waste in this country is a crime, sin and a disgrace…there shoulde not even be a question of anyone going to bed hungry…but we can’t seem to get a handle on it…
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:54 pm
AmVet – if I were a retiree…. I’d be headed to Costa Rica, or somewhere with plenty of islands….
Instead, I got 30 (hopefully 40 or 45) years ahead of me.
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:54 pm
md
@ 5:51
Keep Up the Good Fight!
March 30th, 2011
5:54 pm
Amvet…. well in my younger days all 9 fingers would be used to give Bucky Dent a one-finger salute but I’ve moved on…..and I can tolerate Yankee fans. But then I lived in walking distance to the Green Monster.
Mary Elizabeth…don’t let the knuckle dragging Hairy or the others get you down. You may have more that agree with you than not.
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:54 pm
Dave, when it comes to fantasy sports, I’d take Russians, Red Sox, Phillies, Chinese…(grin)
I did see where someone picked the Yanks to win the wild card.
It always comes down to consistent pitching.
Last year I had a huge lead, but lost it down the stretch.
I’m a great manager, but sometimes, my damn players…(another grin)
RW-(the original)
March 30th, 2011
5:55 pm
It doesn’t appear that the column tells us how long everybody is supposed to be getting this supplemental UI. (Maybe it’s in the comments, but who has time for that?)
Is this just to get them to 99er status and if so when does the drive to remove that cap begin?
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:55 pm
jm
Costa Rica? Love it! Socialism at work and working…
jm
March 30th, 2011
5:56 pm
jonix – AFB (and others) are starting to do a good job collecting “waste food”. If only every community would organize itself to do this….
Frankly, given the quality of food wasted by Whole Foods, Fresh Market, etc, I’m half tempted to check out what they have.
Just kidding, I can still afford mac & cheese and cereal…. 
Left wing management
March 30th, 2011
5:56 pm
Another attempt to free a sluggard from the boulder his head is pinned under that failed.
Let us not forget that for every $1 in assistance, there is an economic gain of around $1.5 returned.”
More phony math from the people who could argue that the sky is purple if the government told them so.
As you can see, there is probably nothing more difficult to break than the grip of a pseudo-intuitive idea — such as the one that says that $1 is just $1 and nothing more and can only be earned and spent once — that’s seized the head of a person under the spell of the false intuitive idea.
md
March 30th, 2011
5:56 pm
“No, you can’t. For an INDIVIDUAL it’s true that the money is either there or it isnt’t, but this principle does not hold the same way for an economy that has the ability to raise cash on capital markets and yes “print” money as you say.”
And there are risks associated with both those avenues…………which is a gamble.
Sure there are different methods to remain solvent……individuals can file bankruptcy while most govts can not……….
Never said it can be compared 1 to 1, but the fundamentals of accounting are the same……both best have more income than expenses, or there will be consequences………..
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
5:57 pm
Keep and as a lifelong NYY fan, I’ve learned a lot in the past few years about begrudging respect.
Trust me, blowing a three game lead in the playoffs has a humbling effect!
And now, the table shave turned…
BTW I went to a game at Fenway back in the 90s.
And loved every minute of it…
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
5:57 pm
“well in my younger days all 9 fingers would be used to give Bucky Dent a one-finger salute but I’ve moved on”
Keep, I’m ashamed of you.
The proper wording is Bucky BLEEPIN’ Dent!
Got that, chief?
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
5:57 pm
Mary Elizabeth
I’d worry more if Harry DIDN’T jump in my sh*t if I were you!
Soothsayer
March 30th, 2011
5:58 pm
These two congressmen, one a Republican and one a Democrat didn’t realize they were on camera. The results are hilarious. I’ll bet they’re more careful next time!
Jefferson
March 30th, 2011
5:58 pm
Get the money from those who have plenty of money…why is that so hard to do?
md
March 30th, 2011
5:59 pm
“Let us not forget that for every $1 in assistance, there is an economic gain of around $1.5 returned. In other words, it’s a very good investment.”
Is the debt service to China built into that return??
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
6:00 pm
“As you can see, there is probably nothing more difficult to break than the grip of a pseudo-intuitive idea — such as the one that says that $1 is just $1 and nothing more and can only be earned and spent once — that’s seized the head of a person under the spell of the false intuitive idea.”
I agree that in some rare instances, this theory might be true, but what you fail to understand is the resulting implications of the effect that occurs in the free market as a result of the government’s deficit and debt increasing with that $1 being given away.
AmVet
March 30th, 2011
6:01 pm
Hey, blame Mike Torrez for hanging one boys!
I skipped work that afternoon and watched the excitement in a bar down the street from my office.
Ah, life was good back then…
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
6:03 pm
AmVet, there’s nothinglike being in a bawlpaak (Fenway) where you can still recognize the players your jeering at . . .
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
6:04 pm
Uh, AmVet? That would be “Mike BLEEPIN’ Torres” !
World B. Free
March 30th, 2011
6:05 pm
Freewill by Rush
There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance take,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.
A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
“The stars aren’t aligned,
Or the gods are malign…”
Blame is better to give than receive.
Chorus
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;
I will choose a path that’s clear
I will choose freewill.
There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren’t born in Lotusland.
All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can’t pray for a place
In heaven’s unearthly estate.
Chorus
Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that’s far too fleet.
Left wing management
March 30th, 2011
6:07 pm
The best indication of the fact that the modern GOP has set up camp in the land of the absence of thought, of hostility to thinking, is the way Mitt Romney blurted the word “nuanced” recently to describe Obama’s foreign policy approach. You could just see the wheels turning, as he grasped and fumbled for a simple adjective to describe the object, and finally his tortured mind fell on that old war horse from the Bush / Iraq War era: “nuanced”, which is purely a cipher for the thought luggards, the ones who nod their empty little heads when those heads ought to crackling with a new thought. But hey, that’s the GOP base for you.
You’re an unprincipled man, Mr. Romney.
md
March 30th, 2011
6:07 pm
“Get the money from those who have plenty of money…why is that so hard to do?”
Because it is morally bankrupt……………
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 30th, 2011
6:09 pm
I could have sworn I read somewhere, the other day, that Georgia stopped taxing businesses for the unemployment fund, around the year 2000. Anybody know if that’s true or was I dreaming?
Dave R.
March 30th, 2011
6:10 pm
” is the way Mitt Romney blurted the word “nuanced” recently to describe Obama’s foreign policy approach.”
You’re actually right this time LWM.
I’d label it confusing and contradictory.
md
March 30th, 2011
6:10 pm
“The best indication of the fact that the modern GOP has set up camp in the land of the absence of thought”
Now, with that little tape from Shumer, it should be obvious that party doesn’t factor into the equation……….
Dusty
March 30th, 2011
6:10 pm
JOSEF,
You have gone overboard. Absolutely. Between school lunches, food banks, churches and most religious institutions, there are no starving children in America. I simply do not believe the starvation implication is true. And nobody forgets children in far off Georgia USA.
Small communities usually take care of their own, sometimes from necessity. Anybody who depends on the government for everything has lost their freedom.
I think there is a better way and it isn’t government handouts. It is the old American spirit of taking care of one’s own. Our country was established by people who valued their independence. I’m still hanging on that for dear life.
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 30th, 2011
6:11 pm
Rural Georgia? Out of sight, out of mind…
Ain’t that the damn truth. We don’t even exist in the AJC world.
Soothsayer
March 30th, 2011
6:13 pm
HD: that is not true. The SUTA tax is alive and well. Some businesses with good “experience ratings” (i.e, no claimes) pay very little. All businesses start out paying 2.7% on the first $8,500 each employee makes each year. For businesses with “poor experience ratings” (i.e., lot’s of claims) the rate can go up considerably. However, only the first $8.500 for each employee is taxed each year.
@@
March 30th, 2011
6:15 pm
So I’m toolin’ around the AJC blogs, low & behold…Mrs. Tucker is writing again. Two threads and only two comments.
Kamchak’s was the first. Rather odd though…he commented on her not having any new topics and recycling materials.
That wasn’t very nice, Kamchak.
Perhaps your fellow leftists should go over there to repair the damage you’ve done.
Geez!
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
6:15 pm
DUSTY
Like I said, can’t I play in the hyperbole playground with you?
josef nix
March 30th, 2011
6:18 pm
Hillbilly
“Ain’t that the damn truth. We don’t even exist in the AJC world.”
Sure you do…anytime they want to paint a negative picture, off they go outside the perimeter to do it!
Left wing management
March 30th, 2011
6:21 pm
Dave R: “but what you fail to understand is the resulting implications of the effect that occurs in the free market as a result of the government’s deficit and debt increasing with that $1 being given away”
I assume you’re talking about the effects of money being given away on the average person’s willingness to work for the money when they can lounge about and still receive a hand-out?
Again, nothing is harder than to loosen the grip of deeply held, moralistic ideas about the inherent justice of a system – even when that system is screwing people like you at every turn. The notion that one is surrounded by slackers and freeloaders is deeply ingrained in the mind of some human beings and it’s a highly intuitive idea in the sense that if one looks around one has no trouble finding examples of laziness and sloth. To a certain common man’s morality, this idea that this is the root of our problems is thus deeply appealing. In actuality however our problem is anything but sloth. The Wall Street speculators and corporate lobbyists are hard-working enough, but they’re still gutting our system.
md
March 30th, 2011
6:23 pm
“President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
People familiar with U.S. intelligence procedures said that Presidential covert action “findings” are normally crafted to provide broad authorization for a range of potential U.S. government actions to support a particular covert objective.”
“You want me on that wall……..you need me on that wall”
Just another passage in the Holy Crap Book of Secrets………….
Dusty
March 30th, 2011
6:24 pm
HillBilly,
The AJC world is not the real world. Thank goodness! Blogs attract the blowhards of the world (except for you & me)!
Keep rural Georgia pristine. We need the stalwart to keep us city-folk from going astray.
WOW
March 30th, 2011
6:29 pm
“The AJC world is not the real world. ”
Like my dad used to say, “the only thing I’ll ever use the AJC for is to line my kids pet parakeets cage with.” It worked, too.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
March 30th, 2011
6:29 pm
Who says they are “badly needed”? GO OUT AND GET A JOB, ANY JOB, BUT GET TO WORK!!!
Doggone/GA
March 30th, 2011
6:29 pm
“Just another passage in the Holy Crap Book of Secrets”
The talking heads have been discussing for days whether such actions would be legal under the UN resolution…and you’re surprised? Try paying better attention.