[dsula]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', '
')Any idea's on or comments on the percentage of people abusing the system?

[Novus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('beamofthewave', 'I') don't think Americans who are unemployed realize what dire straits they are in and that they really should not spend money on eating out. They don't get it that many of their fellow citizens are going to be oh so fine with watching them starve to death on the streets once the money is gone and they cant find work. After that guy yelling with happiness and gratitude about letting old folks die without medical care at the Ron Paul debate, I do not understand how they dont get it and they dont. I for one am very grateful for unemployment insurance as a piece of a very frail safety net that the USA has.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', 'T')wo people, out to dinner, collecting UI beni's and working side jobs.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('beamofthewave', 'I') don't think Americans who are unemployed realize what dire straits they are in and that they really should not spend money on eating out. They don't get it that many of their fellow citizens are going to be oh so fine with watching them starve to death on the streets once the money is gone and they cant find work. After that guy yelling with happiness and gratitude about letting old folks die without medical care at the Ron Paul debate, I do not understand how they dont get it and they dont. I for one am very grateful for unemployment insurance as a piece of a very frail safety net that the USA has.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'T')his chronic "eating out syndrome" has been a development over the last few decades.

[ColossalContrarian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', 'T')wo people, out to dinner, collecting UI beni's and working side jobs.

[rangerone314]

I eat out dinner on a regular basis, like once a month, usually KFC or TacoBell and inexpensive lunch once every two weeks. Every two weeks, I get $35 in mad money and wife gets $35 in mad money to be spend on anything.

Also every two week paycheck, each credit card is paid off in full without regards to the bill date.

I go to the movies on a regular basis, like 3 times a year.

Not sure if that is affluent or not by American standards, but I believe in putting $216 in reserves each 2 weeks, $80 of which is for stocks and $116 of which is for gold/silver, rest savings. I'd note this does not include the other savings accounts which are named BigFund { house maint, medical, discretionary, technology, agriculture etc} }, CarFund, SolarFund and MiscFund.

I'm pretty consistent in this.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', 'S')ix, I'm looking at this from the perspective that if any Joe Shmoe with a heart beat could get a loan for a $400K house while only making $32K per year, can anyone just go and apply for UE Benefits and get them?

[rangerone314]

I gotta wonder though about spending 800 billion to create 2 million jobs... why not just pay 10 million people $40,000 each and you'd be helping 10 million instead of 2 million?

[ColossalContrarian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ColossalContrarian', 'S')ix, I'm looking at this from the perspective that if any Joe Shmoe with a heart beat could get a loan for a $400K house while only making $32K per year, can anyone just go and apply for UE Benefits and get them?

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ') But to make you happy, a solution to what you're talking about would be a new Works Progress Administration. Have 99 weeks of regular unemployment, then a job from the government after that. Get people fixing parks up, working in the community.

[beamofthewave]

The mooch class of banksters and elite will continue reaming you and every other hard working American and they do not care about you one bit or how much you dont like their thievery. They do not care about you one bit unless of course you are a member of the mooch class, then they care, maybe. But as for stealing the wealth of the country, they do not care.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'I') don't think you have any clue how tired the productive class is of getting reamed by the mooch class. But you are about to find out.

[ColossalContrarian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', '
')American's have institutionalized the pleasures of eating out........................................
.................
Even while families are at dire financial ends they will still struggle to find the means to continue this gastronomic anachronism to an overweight society. It is what makes their life normal in the face of change.

[Novus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'I') gotta wonder though about spending 800 billion to create 2 million jobs... why not just pay 10 million people $40,000 each and you'd be helping 10 million instead of 2 million?

[copious.abundance]

Posted August 18.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilFinder2', 'I')f initial unemployment claims (SA) start to head steadily upward, and regularly start hitting the mid-400's by, say, October or November, that is my "doom signal."

Posted May 5 - SIX MONTHS AGO!!

STILL awaiting that double dip!!!!
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daniel_Plainview', '[')url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/double-dip-recession-is-now-undeniable-2011-05-05?reflink=MW_news_stmp]MarketWatch: Double-dip recession is now undeniable[/url]


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he ISM’s service-sector index dropped to 52.8 from 57.3 in March. New orders plunged to 52.7, the lowest reading since December 2009, from 64.1 in the prior month. And the employment index dropped to 51.9 from 53.7 a month earlier. First-time jobless claims surged by 43,000 to 474,000 in the week ending April 30th, which was the highest reading since August. And the four-week moving average rose to 431,250 from 409,000. But perhaps most importantly, more evidence of an official double dip in home prices was found in a report from Clear Capital. The report stated that its monthly index is now below the prior all-time low set in March 2009. ... Year-over-year national home prices are down 5%. Home prices have dropped 11.5% in the last nine months, a rate of decline not seen since 2008. The saddest news of all is the fact that over 25% of all homes with a mortgage are underwater on that loan.

MarketWatch

[Cog]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilFinder2', 'P')osted August 18.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('OilFinder2', 'I')f initial unemployment claims (SA) start to head steadily upward, and regularly start hitting the mid-400's by, say, October or November, that is my "doom signal."

[Plantagenet]

Actually, we aren't at stagnation. Every month the Obama administration shifts workers from the unemployed category into the "discouraged worker" category, so they no longer show up in the statistics even though they are still unemployed.

When you include the growing numbers of unemployed discouraged workers in with the regular old unemployed, the total number of unemployed is still growing and approaching 20% of all workers.

[copious.abundance]

^
That has nothing to do with initial jobless claims.