Nomi writes: >> So much for involuntary unemployment. > >Can you explain the details of this part a bit more?
Sorry for my cryptic economics terminology. What I mean is that ultimately, though they won't really say it because it doesn't make sense when exposed to the light of reason, Repubs believe that most unemployment is "voluntary" -- that people would find work if only they would look harder, rely less of guvmint hand-outs, be less choosy about what jobs are acceptable. (Like maybe if your WorldCom friend didn't insist on health insurance....) As some right- wing Chicago guy put it in an article I used to assign my students -- if I lose my $70,000/year job and, rather than take a job washing dishes for minimum wage, choose to continue searching, then I am really voluntarily unemployed. There are jobs, I could get one, but I choose to turn up my nose. The standard right-wing schtick is that the unemployed are encouraged by social programs, left-wing rhetoric, labor unions and (of course) unemployment compensation, to hold out for good-paying jobs when lower-paying jobs are available. This makes wages "sticky downward" and prolongs recessions. So according to this morning's NYT, Bush's plan will include a proposal to give unemployed workers $3000 (instead of simply extending their unemployment benefits) which they can either live on (yeah right) or they can keep after they get off their duffs and find a job. Ellen > >Finally, while I'm on this rant, the plan is also said to contain >> funds for "re-employment" rather than "unemployment" insurance. >> The idea is that the unemployed would receive a lump-sum payment >> which they could use to seek work or retrain. If they find work right >> away, they keep the money. This, supposedly, eliminates the >> "incentive to remain unemployed" of the current UI system. > > >I just spoke with a laid off WorldCom worker. She hasn't found a job in 6 >months and is supporting two kids and a husband who is on a donor list >for a liver transplant, though they have no health insurance. Her car was >repossessed and job interviews have not been forthcoming. Nothing >voluntary about her unemployment. I can't imagine it's as hard for Bush >to get up each day as it is for her. > >Nomi > >
