Ten years ago, I was layed off form ym first job after graduate school, and I will never forget the feeling of waiting in line at the unemployment office. The person who processed my claim was very pleasant and professional and she did everything she could to make my ordeal as manageable as possible. But no amount of cheering up could erase the feeling I had knowing that, for a time, I had to draw money that I did not earn with my own work. And today, the failed former House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggest that if emplyment benefits are extended, our workers, the backbone of the American economy will just sit on their asses.
When you really analyze it, if you want to stimulate economic growth, you have to have people investing, creating capital and creating jobs. Basically, a big part of that (stimulus package) went for extending unemployment. It's a nice thing to do, but when you extend unemployment, you take the incentive away from people to go out and get a job. So it almost has a counter negative effect.
You're right, Dennis. I really enjoyed waking up in the morning knowing that my income came in the form of an unemplyment check. There was nothing I liked better than telling people I was "in-between" jobs. I'm sure others love supporting their families on the 80%(?) of their wages when they could barely get by while they worked. With this attitude I hope more of your fellow Republicans will learn the joys of the unemplyment line in 2011.