Jobless workers dispute claim that unemployment benefits foster complacency
The idea that extended benefits discourage people from seeking work is an insult, unemployed workers say. 'Let 'em walk a mile in our shoes,' one jobless woman says of unemployment critics.
It's an old theory that's gaining new political currency: By cushioning the blow of unemployment for nearly two years, jobless benefits discourage recipients from looking for work.
The claim, most frequently advanced by conservative pundits and politicians aligned with the conservative "tea party" movement, is seen as a fresh insult by the nation's suffering unemployed workers.
Nevada Republican U.S. Senate candidate and tea party favorite Sharron Angle, who is vying for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's seat, put it this way this summer: "You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job but doesn't pay as much. We've put so much entitlement into our government that we really have spoiled our citizenry."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-jobless-election-20100922,0,7671305.story