Yeah but doesn't this create bad incentives? Now you're just encouraging people to not go hungry or homeless - there's a real moral hazard here. Shouldn't we use government policy to teach people to not be alive during a Pandemic with Trump and McConnell at the wheel? You're just going to reinforce this behavior!
Widening the wealth gap is the name of the game. They won’t stop until king/queens and pawns are the only thing left on the board.
Thanks. Right now, I’m not working and my wife is picking up the slack by working in a family business owned by my father to make ends meet. However, I have a much more important and rewarding job, being a stay-at-home dad for my five-year-old daughter and helping prepare her for Kindergarten in 2021. To be honest, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I can get more money in my lifetime, but I can’t get time with my family back, especially when my daughter is young. Once my daughter starts Kindergarten, I’ll help my wife run and grow the family business unless the job market drastically changes for the better between now and then, which is unlikely. Since being laid off, I did turn down one really good opportunity as a Social Media Specialist with METRO in November 2019. I was offered and accepted the position, but my work hours were never discussed during the interview process nor listed on the job requisition. During my orientation and first day of training, I found out my schedule was going to permanently be 1-11 p.m. Monday through Friday. My daughter was supposed to start Kindergarten this August (pre-COVID), and that schedule did not enable me to help her with homework, be there for dinner, etc. It essentially would have turned my wife into a single mom for much of the work week, and we would have rarely seen each other. Being a good husband and father comes before any job, so I talked to my new supervisor and rescinded my acceptance after my first day of training. I continued to land interviews with good companies until March, then COVID disrupted everything.
I agree with you completely. Where I suffer is that I think we need to get that cash into everyone's hands. Otherwise, I'm right there with you on all of that. We're a capitalistic society until you look at the socialist things we do.
I agree with you. I have a good friend that was in the oil field in a similar situation as you, and I feel for you. I hope you're finding your way back through it. Part of the issue, I think where my viewpoint differs from others here, is that I don't live in Houston. I live in the rust belt, where salaries are very much lower (if I moved to Texas, as a household, we'd make probably $40k more per year). Most people that have gotten laid off aren't making even $45k a year. But the states here (I believe) have more lenient Unemployment benefits than Texas. These people are making out with more money. And then, there's people I know that are working two or three or four days a week, so they're getting the $600 on top of their three or four days of pay. These are people making between $40-50k. When you add this up, it's like they got a raise of about $8/hour. At least in my mother in law's case. Then, you have people in California who are suffering on $600/week. Moreso than Texas. It's vastly more expensive to live there. $600 does nothing for them. This huge cost of living difference I think contributes to a lot of different opinions on this thread. What it does, though, is it highlights further why UI should have been a flat 100% of people's typical average pay.
I'm going to give you a big virtual high five because I would have done the same exact thing. Being a father is the most important job you can have, and being present and there with your children cannot be replaced by anything else in the world. Never forget that. I hope that the silver lining in all of this is that we get a back to basics crash course on family. I hope that kids being at home with parents during the school year (and I'm that could be a different conversation because there's a lot to be said there) not only results in educated children, but also results in stronger bonds between children and parents and also gives time to teach kids some things they wouldn't learn in school. More back to basics stuff. I hope more kids can learn to cook, to do chores, to get out and go on an adventure outside. Just to function without a screen in front of them. Kudos to you!
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. UI benefits being 100% of a person’s most recent salary or capped for anyone making above a certain dollar amount ($50,000 for argument sake) makes sense. The problem is the workforce commissions in U.S. states are so behind the times technology wise that they would have struggled to get the numbers right for everyone laid off or furloughed because of COVID-19. Look no further than how much they have struggled to pay out the $600 a week in a timely manner to those unemployed due to the virus. Traditional UI benefits in states across America very widely and are poor in many cases. As you said $600 a week wouldn’t get you very far in California, New York or the Northeast, but goes much further in states with a more affordable cost of living (Texas and the Midwest qualify) Trump should have worked with lenders and landlords to freeze all mortgage and rent payments until COVID-19 was under control in America. You can even add credit card payments to that if you want. Once that didn’t happen, a monthly stimulus or something similar should have been sent out until we approached a new normal. Unfortunately, that was only a one time thing.
Who is this directed at? Is Trump extreme alt left, because he and his administration cherry picks data as well especially when Covid is concerned. Who is lauding the governments response, Sam certainly is not or anybody else I can see, why use that strawman? This is a weird post, you seem to not have an argument and now you are deflecting by going after the "extreme alt left" that's something thats usually used by the Trump supporter. And your guy Yang would be considered the an "extreme alt left" on UBI alone by most people. Talk about irony lost on somebody. What the hell does Bernie have to do with anything?
It's directed at Sam's use of random data that he thinks is hard pressed stone cold fact. The post is made because it's obvious that no matter what someone says Sam's opinion is better. Of course I really Yang would be considered alt. He's not a politician and what's to do something fairly socialist. The irony is that our country is largely socialist on a lot of issues, but he'd still be labeled as far left by many. My frustrations with the far left is that it's an "us against the world" mentality. If you're not way out there, woke, and wanting to cancel everything, you're evil. It's all about refusing to see things any other way. Close mindedness. Much like the far right. Of course Trump is making things up all the time. Probably worse than the far left. He largely created this Us vs Them mentality that is running rampant on the political spectrum. People need to realize that most people fall in the center. Having a far left or far right opinion does not make you better, worse or more right than anyone. It just makes you more of an outlier, which is what many of these people want to be. Sam is certainly saying the UI passed by the government in response to Covid is a great thing, isn't he? So you can agree that he's at least, in part, praising the government's response, right?
This was not an argument with the Extreme alt left it was an argument with Sam, you using that tactic means to me that you could not debate on the merits, Sam did not cherry pick data but if he did at least he brought data unlike you. as much of am What does the far left have to do with anything concerning this discussion, you are deflecting, Sam has a strong opinion about this but he has not tried to cancel anything or called you evil. If you agree with Yang and Libertarians you are not in the center and you my friend are just as much as an outlier as the far left and right maybe even more so. It's really weak for you to say he is praising gov response because he agrees with the 600 dollar payment, really weak.
It's one thing to turn down your old employer its another to actively seek a new job. Regular unemployment benefits aren't much but adding $600 a week changes the dynamic significantly for a lot of people. This doesn't mean I'm against it but you would be a fool not to think a lot of people would try to keep it as long as they can
Lol. How dare the average American have enough money to pay his or her rent or mortgage (since the idiot in the White House and his supporters in Congress refused to temporarily freeze those expenses) and keep his or her head/family above water until the job market recovers, which will not happen until the spread of COVID-19 is contained.
Can we clear this up? If a business offers a laid off employee their job back and the employee declines the employee loses the benefits right? Given that how can you have trouble getting them back?
@Major posted this as part of a longer post a couple of pages back... This is true across my industry as well as several cafe owners and other small businesses that I am in contact with. The alternative is to report to the state that the employees are unwilling to return, and thus cut off their benefits - then, if they return, they will hate the business owners and be crappy employees. So basically any small business that doesn't have an ******* owner is dealing with this - pitting their employees' interests against the business owners.
The GOP has been HORRIBLE for this country for YEARS, they **** it up, and a democrat comes and rights the ship - it is staggering how horrible Republican policies have been, very greedy, and they are ripping off the poor. We need a MAJOR shift to the left for a few decades to get the middle class back to where it needs to be. DD
@Major The state should make offers to return an official process going through them since all parties are affected. Company taxes and employee benefits.
