[AGDee]

Not to mention, it isn't as though, on unemployment, you're receiving the kind of salary you would be making as an MBA or with a Masters in Health Administration. My ex got 50% of his pay as severance for 5 months and he just started unemployment this month. He's getting even less than that now. He worked continuously as an accountant and then a financial analyst for 23 years. He's paid his share of taxes over those years. He's anything but lazy but he's trying desperately to keep the house he's been paying for since 1992. My neighbor who lost her house had been paying on it for 20 years! It was auctioned for less than 1/3 of what she still owed on it. All the money she put into it, all the repairs, all the taxes she paid on it and all she has now is a bad credit rating to show for it. She would have gladly paid everything she owed, if they'd reduced her payment and extended the mortgage out 10 more years.

All of the people I know personally who are laid off are professionals with degrees. They aren't leaving the state because they have houses here, they have spouses who have jobs here and don't want to risk both of them not having jobs. Or, they are court ordered to stay within 100 miles of their ex-spouse because of custody arrangements. They are struggling and are desperate to be working. And obviously retailers are not going to hire someone with an MBA because they know they will be gone the minute they find a job in their career specialty.

People who think like Delay are simply out of touch with reality.

As for welfare, states make the majority of those decisions. There is no such thing as welfare in Michigan. There is Aid for Dependent Children, for people with children and it amounts to peanuts. Those who receive it have to attend job workshops, trainings, and prove that they've filled out a certain number of job applications a week. There is section 8 housing, most of which is barely above code and in really awful neighborhoods. There are food stamps (the bridge card, here), which amounts to something like $110 a month and can only be used for food, not toilet paper, not shampoo or soap, etc. There are food banks which are completely and totally overwhelmed. There are limits on how long you can be on ADC too. And yes, there are charitable organizations like Christ.net who have roaming homeless shelters in churches, but they too, are overwhelmed.

There are people who scam the system. There always will be. The majority, however, are desperately trying to get back on their feet and find jobs.

My ex has an interview a week from Monday. He's been in talks with this company since early January. He's among their top 3 candidates so we're praying hard and keeping our fingers crossed. I can't carry all of us much longer without going into massive debt myself. This situation sucks for everybody involved and to imply any differently is just crazy.