What happens if you can't collect unemployment insurance any more? Or ever?
Here's something "cute". The 13 week unemployment extensions, which handily passed the house, have stalled in the Senate because the extensions only apply to states with unemployment above 8.5%.
States with lower unemployment levels are all like "Whoa! Our unemployed are just as much in pain as your unemployed. Don't leave us out!" And other folks are all "Dude, that's going to cost too much, we won't vote for extensions for all states!" And other states are like "GAH!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE JUST PASS THE BILL!!!"
It's this whole big thing. I'm in the "pass the damn bill now" camp...you know, tick tock...then make ANOTHER bill for extensions folks in all other states. Whatever's fastest. Just fix it.
But maybe that's just me.
But what about folks who aren't eligible for unemployment benefits at all? Folks who are out of the job and there's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing to fall back on?
I'm talking about the folks running mom and pop shops around America.
Case in point. My wife owns a small business with her partner. Every month they pay into unemployment insurance. Several hundred dollars a month for the both of them, the only people at the biz. It's not going to break the bank. And thank god it's going to people who DESPERATELY need it. Though few realize that my wife and her partner, as owners of the biz are ineligible to collect. Ever. They pay in, but they can't collect.
That couple running the candy store down the street, or your favorite small shop, the local hardware store. The places that are run by the owners almost exclusively. The places who already can't buy insurance for themselves or any employees they may have. The folks who nurse this business along even though they sometimes go weeks or months without any pay at all. Well, in addition to that, when their doors close, that's it for them. They're done. All over. No unemployment benefits.
When you see that sign that says "Closed - Thank you [CITY] for a wonderful 7 years!!" Keep in mind that more often then than not, those guys are sucked dry. They have nothing. There's no golden parachute. Usually every single asset has been bled to keep the business going. Why? Because when it's over, it's over. They're doomed. And they know it.
Small business, of late, has been getting hammered on every side. And there's been very little recognition of this fact...and less done to facilitate small business or ease the burden on them when they're starting up or when they're shutting down forever.
And in many cases, the owners started the biz because they had no other options. Why? Because few Jobs exist. And the Jobs that do exist offer no full time positions, no benefits, no retirement options, no long term security. The concept of the Job as a long term option is dying.
Down the street is a man with a wooden sign that says Small Engine Repair. A closed restaurant near by has been re-opened by a new owner who couldn't afford a sign so he has a vinyl tarp with his biz name on it. For a while scrapbooking shops popped up like mushrooms as recently unemployed women followed their dreams...then saw them crumble. Clothing resale shops are moving into old strip malls...talk to the owners "Yeah, I got laid off, and my father in law knows the owner of this building...and since it was empty anyway he gave me good rates...so we took our savings and bought used clothes and here we are."
Political figures need to pay more attention to these people. There's going to be more of them. There are more of them. The old concept of "job" is fading fast, along with the safety nets, pensions, retirement accounts, and health coverage. Huge corporations love it that way.
I for one believe that small businesses are pillars of a community. While chains and franchises dissolve the unique features and textures of a community and culture, homogenizing our cities...small business gives us a cohesion and contiunity and sense of community. Local flavors. Local personalities. People who know your name. People who know your needs. People who have a vested interest in the health of the community. Businesses that have a vested interest in the health of the community. And according to SCORE.org, they "generate a majority of the innovations that come from United States companies."
And yet, those who choose to follow that direction are doing so in a more and more perilous environment. One that offers few safety nets, aggressively hostile health care options, and a political culture that is paid by lobbyists to care more for the interests of huge corporations.
Our politicians need to do more than pay lip service to small business. As more people are shoved in that direction, our representatives need to make an environment more favorable to small business.