A lot of Republicans - here's one from Nevada - believe that unemployment benefits, especially extended unemployment benefits, keep recipients from hunting down one of the jobs in that cornucopia out there awaiting every American with the gumption to get off the sofa, put down the bon-bons and turn off daytime cable. This attitude may strike you as obnoxiously typical of people who think the middle class starts at about $300,000 a year. But, apparently, the GOP crankiness over extending benefits had nothing to do with the factory worker or teacher who lost a job, but rather because of this:
After the economy slipped into recession in 2008, millions of Americans received unemployment benefits to make ends meet -- including almost 3,000 millionaires.
According to U.S. Internal Revenue Service data, 2,840 households reporting at least $1 million in income on their tax returns that year also collected a total of $18.6 million in jobless aid. They included 806 taxpayers with incomes over $2 million and 17 with incomes in excess of $10 million. In all, multimillionaires reported receiving $5.2 million in jobless benefits.
As Alan Viard, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told Bloomberg, "A millionaire who loses his or her job is entitled to benefits the same as a laid-off factory or restaurant worker."
Mr. Viard is absolutely right. And golden parachutes apparently aren't all they've been declared to be. Times are so tough that the Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich. Clearly some sympathy is in order. Being out of work smacks multi-millionaires harder than anyone.
True, they don't have to eat rice and beans all month. Or get their Guccis at Goodwill Industries. But think of the negative psychological impact of having to fill out that jobless benefits claim. Even though filing on-line means no longer must they queue up in some grubby government office rubbing elbows with one of us, the humiliation can still be profound. Worse, after filing an application, they may actually have to speak with a government employee, one who doesn't give them quite the level of obsequiousness as when they're lobbying for a corporate bailout or no-bid contract. Where is the respect?
So, before falling in line with Republican disdain for unemployment benefits, don't forget that even the owners of Lamborghinis, Rolexes and 5000-sq. ft. condos on the Cote d'Azur have a rough time paying the bills with a $300-a-week government check.