DeMint: Unemployed would rather not work but receive all that unemployment $ and food stamps!

[WI_DEM]

Republican politicians have conflicting explanations for high unemployment, as Political Correction points out using recent comments by Sen. Jim DeMint. On the one hand, businesses are afraid to hire people because Obama will somehow penalize them for this through regulations. On the other hand:

DEMINT: I have talked to a lot of businesses in South Carolina who can't get employees to come back to work because they are getting unemployment and they're getting food stamps and they say call me when unemployment runs out. <...>

There are a lot of people who desperately need it and we need to make sure that we have that safety net in place, but we also have to realize there are a lot of people gaming the system right now. And we need to do better than we have done with just extending benefits, there have to be incentives for people to get back to work. These have to phase out in a way that we haven't done it before.

www.dailykos.com

[aquart]

1. The one who would rather not work is clearly DeMint.

[TwilightGardener]

2. "Call me when unemployment runs out"--"gaming the system"--Oh for fuck's sake.

[hobbit709]

3. Let's put Sen. Demented on unemployment and food stamps.

[shraby]

4. I would guess the ones who said call me when it runs out,

are getting offered less pay and fewer benefits for the work they did before, if there is any truth at all to his statement..which I seriously doubt.

[jtrockville]

16. Maybe even less than the pittance they get from unemployment insurance?

But yeah, DeMint is generally full of BS.

[nobodyspecial]

20. DeMint if lying

Although you can be picky in the beginning and legally hold out for 80 percent of your previous pay, that amount decreases the longer you are on unemployment. If you are on extended benefits, you have to accept ANY offer, even if it is minimum wage.

If these companies are directly calling people and offering them work, those people can be turned in and their benefits will be revoked.

You cut benefits for everyone, but that won't make 5 million jobs magically appear. The more likely result will be loss of millions more.

[notadmblnd]

5. Spoken by someone who has been on the government dole for how long?

[Lint Head]

6. Demint hates the poor and infortunate. He is the oposite of a Christian.

[GoCubsGo]

27. Well, the feeling is mutual.

On behalf of the few sane people who live in this state, I apologize for this son of a bitch and the fact that he has been inflicted on the rest of this country. He is a vile, disgusting waste of flesh.

[RockaFowler]

7. Try living in our shoes for once Mr Demented

My husband calls and writes and works daily to get a job. But here in Floriduh we have a GOvernor and Legislators who think he's not working. He's gaming the system. $275 a week is gaming the system?? Really?? That's less than half of what my husband was making before he was laid off. I would rather go back to those days - so would he. The whole group of Repukes can kiss my ass. I'm sick of all of them.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. So, DeMint is a liar.

This is news?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. At least he's trying to be creative

When the arguments about the so-called job creators and trickle down economics fall apart, Republicans have to find some other reason why companies are not hiring. Hey, they're not hiring because no one wants to work, right?

[FirstLight]

10. it's not because they are gaming the system...

it's because the system is set up ion such a way that you have no sliding scale for benefits, and you can end up in worse shape working than waiting till benefits run out. With TANF -If you make more one month, they take it away from you another month, in either cash or food stamps. Unemployment is either all or nothing, even if you get a job working fewer hours or making less money, they cut off ALL assistance. so if you are making more on unemployment than a PT job would give, it is better to wait it out and hope for a better position.
The system IS a game, and we are the ones screwed...

fuckers like this that oversimplify the realities make me want to kick them in the teeth. :mad:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Businesses begging people to come back to work?

Really?
:wtf:

The same businesses that are sitting on tons of cash and (some of whom) are now refusing to solicit applications from people whom are currently unemployed?

Most people, contrary to the opinion of DeMint and other Republicans, WANT to work and have a job and to be productive law-abiding citizens. Some people are even so proud that they would actually rather starve than go down to the county office and apply for TANF, Food Stamps, etc. What the hell is DeMint smoking?

[Quantess]

12. How ridiculous and over+the+top can they get

before people say "hey wait a minute...my nephew has been looking for a job for 6 months, and my neighbor has been depressed ever since she lost her job, so maybe he's wrong about that." This kind of epiphany might just happen for the poor or less-affluent republicans in his district.

[formercia]

13. Even the most demented T Bagger can see through that Bull.

The people who can't are probably already Dead.

[Bozita]

14. A THOUSAND applicants for TWELVE fucking jobs at Aldi's last month - video

video:
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/your_money/12-jobs-at-Aldi-1000-applicants

12 jobs at Aldi, 1000 applicants
New Holland store to open by November

Updated: Monday, 22 Aug 2011, 6:01 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 22 Aug 2011, 4:41 PM EDT

By Henry Erb
HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - The Aldi store in Holland is still being built, but the company held a job fair to fill a dozen jobs. Hundreds of people showed up to apply.

"We're planning on seeing about 800 or 1,000 (job applicants)," said Aldi district manager Gabriel Disbrow. "There's quite a bit of talent out there, and we're happy to be able to be a stable employer, a growing employer, and I think people respond to that."

But Judy Payne has been out of work since May. She worked a factory job for eight months and was laid off. Before that, though, she spent 30 years in the construction business, installing metal roofs and wall panels.

When she heard there may be 1,000 applicants for 12 jobs, she said, "I was afraid of that."

more...

[kentuck]

15. I would admit that there is a disincentive in many low-paying jobs...

When a person can do as well on the survival wages of unemployment and food stamps as he can working, then maybe we should ask about the wages paid for work in this country. Barely survival wages versus food stamps and unemployment? Shouldn't one pay a little more than the other? Wages have declined for several decades and it doesn't pay to work for some folks. Whose fault is that?

[spanone]

17. LIar.

[GodlessBiker]

18. I see he's hired Marie Antoinette's speech writer.

[JuniperLea]

19. Name one, liar...

I talked with God this morning and he don't like you.

[lynne]

21. Unfortunately, there is some truth to that, especially with lower paying jobs -

- in fact, I know of one such case. He's been out of work at least a year and has been collecting unemployment. He has some college education but no degree and had a pretty good paying job previously. In discussing his situation, I asked him if he'd checked with grocery stores for clerk jobs, etc., certainly different jobs than he had before with lower hourly wage.

His response was that it made little sense to get a part time job at $8. or $9. an hour as he'd be forced to give up his unemployment and would then have additional expenses such as clothing, gas and travel.

I'm sure few will believe this but - sadly - its true.

[DenverDad]

22. Even though some people are probably "gaming the system"

it's hardly an enviable lifestyle. People receiving unemployment insurance and food stamps are hardly living like kings.

[area51]

23. What fscking BS.

If he thinks unemployment compensation is "living large", let him try to live off of it, and food stamps.

You know a republican is lying because their lips are moving.

[formercia]

24. He needs to fsck his Brain Housing Group.

Too many unrecoverable files, Methinks.

[quaker bill]

25. Words from a privledged idiot

and clearly one who has never tried to live on these benefits. While unemployment compensation and food stamps are considerably better than starving in the street, no one finds that sort of living comfortable or desirable.

There was a period of time where this was how I lived. I looked for a job daily and took the first nasty thing that came along, because as bad as it was, it was an improvement. I met no one capable of working on the lines waiting for an unemployment check or food stamps who was not ready to do exactly the same.

[Saphire]

26. But...I thought there were no jobs. They need to get

their stories straight.

[undeterred]

28. DeMint needs to get a lot of clues.

Most people on unemployment do not qualify for food stamps. Most people on food stamps have no income at all.

The vast majority of people collecting unemployment are desperate to find a job. The money you get from unemployment is not enough to pay your bills, so the longer you are on it, the worse your financial situation is.

[On the Road]

29. This Sort of Thing Absolutely Goes On

and denying it does not help with people who may have firsthand knowledge of it.

The issue is that it's ridiculous to give this as the reason for high unemployment. For every person who is nursing benefits, there is more than one equally skilled person willing to go to take any job.

[Yavin4]

30. He Forgot the Steaks and Cadillac References.

I think they have to add that in order to get the conservative-asshole-racist-royalty-fee.