Yeah. Thank you. Thank you all for screwing my buddy out of his benefits which were going to help him pay for his kid to eat,his car insurance,his rent,his wife.Thanks for screwing my mom out of her benefits. My folks are going to lose their home. Nice going. Thanks a lot.I could go on and on with examples of folks I know,good hard working folks who have been doing everything in their power to find gainful employment,with lackluster results,only to have the rug yanked out from under them with what was the only income coming in to barely keep their heads above water. Yep. Man I love seeing my mom cry every day because they have tried everything under the sun to keep our family home. Fuckin awesome. Thanks a bunch,assholes.

Just had to vent. Figured the dark side was a good place to air out my grievances.

The GOP does not have enough votes in either house to kill anything. The Democrats control everything. Be it noted, I am sympathetic your beef.

Yes, I am aware of the 60/40 thingy in the Senate.

Avid,
Sorry about your parents. Please do not take this personal, as each situation is unique and I really feel for anyone in their situation. Trust me, I have struggled myself. But this is a subject I brought up months earlier. How many extensions are enough and when does it turn into a form of welfare. Just saying. At some point it switches because the money paid in is used up. No one is screwing anyone out of their benefits, they just are not giving them more at a time when it may be smart to. I really am not sure how I feel about extending the benefits, as it may be benefical to the economy in general, but to say an extension is deserved or expected. Sorry, I cannot agree. As a self-employed person dealing with real estate and construction, many of the people I know are really suffering, but are not going to get a cent. Why should unemployed people continue to get benefits that are beyond earned? If they do, are you about to offer it to self employed construction workers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others whose industry collapsed?

So because congress (both sides)refused to piss away more of our money EXTENDING benefits it's the politicians fault? Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it already been extended to 80 weeks? Your telling me your friend and your parents couldn't find a job in over a year and a half? Sounds to me as though they have recieved enough help and need to take some personal responsibility here. While I feel for your parents, there are always jobs for those willing to work. Walmart, costco and home depot are almost always hiring.
If you want to be angry, that's fine, but be angry at the right people.

Things wouldnt be so bad for so many people if they werent so far in debt with CC's, and huge mortgages later in life. F*** the Joneses, happiness is owning everything you have and being able ride out the tough times on your own.

Like said above, there is less desirable jobs available for those with willing to work. It really pizzes me off everytime I hear of someone losing thier job and sitting in that big house doing nothing but stewing and collecting a check, when they should put a for sale sign up and hit the road looking for work.

Americans, both citizens AND politicians have completely forgotten how to utter the words...."I CAN'T AFFORD IT."

You know I see AA's point as most of the others. That said I view this as only the first of many of these things as we have borrowed ourselves into a hole that our kids will not get out of without a lot of pain.

Don't know the answer and the same old R & D blaming the each other will stop not that far down the road because sometime after 2014 the health care, medicare, soc sec, ( boomers retiring ) mess is something we can not barrow our way out of.

AA the hurting is just starting as we have as nation elected officials " who will help us " which is good until like a philosopher wrote, " democracy will fail when over 50% of the population learn they can vote themselves into the treasury" ( could have the quote verbiage off a little / been a while )


We are about there.

WRONG. These people have been doing the footwork. Maybe there are job opportunities in your area. I know too many people in California who are losing their homes. These are good hardworking people. They have been doing the footwork. The system has failed. But we're still overseas fighting a war aren't we. That costs money. Let's help Haiti. Oops major oil spill. Screw the American people. Meanwhile the politicians get their hookers and blow.

Are you insinuating that my folks are doing just that? They work and are still losing their home. Boy don't you just have it all figured out for everybody else! I knew this would get interesting. Go on HOOKUP tell me more about how fucked up my friends and families work ethic is.

AA, what's your answer? This situation is hitting you and your family hard. What's the answer?

not AA, but the answer is to not let politicians be so damn selective when it comes to giving a crap about the deficit.

we are in a major crisis where the government can help stimulate the economy by giving money directly to unemployed people who will then directly spend it... much like republicans like to talk about the effects of tax cuts. the only difference imo is that the recipients of this stimulus are out of work, not wealthy, and in republican think somehow deserve it because they are "spoiled" by getting unemployment checks.

but the "i got mine" party is blocking any real help for americans in hope of winning seats in november. it's despicable but god forbid we don't add anything to the deficit... unless it means reducing tax cuts to the wealthy or wars.

It is dinner time but.................... AA don't know your age but I am 62 and my 1st savings account paid 4% interest. My home mortgage was 12% and I got a deal as it was a 15 yr contract, ( 2nd house VA the 1st ) and what my wife and I could afford was dominated by the interest rates but my present home is 6% thanks to goverment policies but my CD pays 1.8% thanks to goverment policies. It was not always this way, in fact my mother had to barrow the down payment from and attorney ( sorta 2nd ) to finance the farm she and my step father bought. Bottom line is the government altered the economy at a basic level by feeding money to the banks with the federal reserve and created ever cheaper loans for housing as time went on................. until everyone top to bottom got greedy. Now we don't get 8 or 9 % on CD's and save we put it in IRA's or 401k's which do ok unless the stock market tanks, which it did AGAIN. Our monetary system is broke and it will get fixed one way or the other but it will be painful.

When I was young you rented or bought a fixer upper and slowly as you got older worked up in the quality of housing you could afford. Always aware you HAD to make your payment in hard times. Well that 30 year ride is over and despite what politicians say is not coming back. I was reading tonight that the real unemployment rate is over 17% when you factor the long term unemployed. As a people we have went from a thrifty and very conservative financial method borne out of the great depression, to a nation that literally lives on credit. Which is not good but what is killing us is the fact that government has been doing the same X10 and the jig is up. Sometime after 2015 all the taxes presently collected will just cover the interest on the national debt. As a song in the 70's by Ten Years After said " tax the rich, feed the poor, till their is no rich no more " ................. oh yes the next verse was I' d love change world.............

Argue this, argue that, blame the R's, blame the D's which you see on this BB, but all bs aside we as a people at a very basic level altered how we live our lives. The damn problem is it was on borrowed money ........................ I am a boomer and most of us boomers are doing ok. The problem is one, we are leaving one hell of a debt for our grand kids as many of the things we did as a society WAS ON BARROWED MONEY, two we or our bloody kids have never really known super bad times as our grand parents did in the depression and you know what we do not know how to deal with it. The sad thing is I think we are about to learn the hard way.....................

This doesn't mean that you are going to share your goats with KK, does it?

AA, there are plenty of cases of good people going through tough times right now. People caught up in the "I can make those payments" hype have sunk their own ship. "Keeping up with the Joneses" is a dangerous game. I own so damn little new stuff that it is pathetic, but it has kept us pretty much out of the strangle hold of indebtedness. I'm just like most folks.....always want "more, better, or different"......and it's not easy to say "No, I really don't need that."

I have been without, really without, only once.....it was not fun and downright scary. I don't want to go back there. Most of my dilemma was brought on by my own choices.

I hope you find an answer that works for you.

My my Lester just what have the over 50 generation done? Well we ended segregation, advanced the rights of women, broke the concept that it is my country right or wrong and got us out of a war that should have never been, made the concept that race or religion should not disqualify anyone from education opportunities a reality, and advanced beyond intervention the right of free speech and right of a citizen to protest the central government.

Our parents did WWII to preserve democracy, my generation advanced across the board the concept that equality and justice apply to all citizens regardless of race, sex, or religion as never seen before. We advanced economic opportunity for all citizens as never before.

Yup Lester we aren't perfect but the boomers are one hell of run a head of the two generations following.

Aunty,
you bring up a good point about the younger generation being just as stupid with their finances. I guess, the truth is, I have a lot of disdain for the way my own generation is acting. The difference is what salmosalar eluded to. My generation is not in the position that the boomers are. We do not have the wealth or political capital to really change things. We will be judged by our children, just as you are being judged by us. I think the biggest point I would have to make is that your generation is probably the first in the history of the world to leave their children a world with less potentail and hope than when they entered. Having been left with a world full of potential and wealth, they leave it bankrupt and polluted, the entire time blaming someone else. Will our generation leave it worse? That is yet to be seen. At present, we while seem to be starting down that path in some areas, in others we are seeing great strides. My guess is that when I leave this world, we will see great strides made in taking down dams, using alternative fuel sources, feeding the world, and cleaning up the enviroment. In no way, we will be messing it up in the way our parents did. Perhaps we will do it in our own way. That, however, is a chapter no yet written.

Very interesting.....

I will be 50 this year and have no debt (outside of a house payment for 2 more years) and a TON of cool toys...

I have never collected a single dime of unemployment or any other type of assistance.

I worked hard all thru High School and full time since the day I graduated from College.

Scorn away...............

Enjoy your "Cup of Noodles"

BTW......this comment has nothing to do with the OP of this topic.

I feel for Avid and his family....

It is simply a response to the above quoted.

We are looking into solutions ,I'm all for living in the solution not the problem. I have always been taken care of,I have a strong faith that things will turn around for this country. I myself,am doing pretty well with work right now. I just wish I could bail my mom and dad out of their dilemma ,but I just cant.

I am 38 years old. My generation is a bunch of dumbasses. I have always avoided borrowing of any kind. Everything I own,I bought with cold hard cash. I don't own much .

You know what this has actually been a blessing in disguise for me in my own life. I am grateful to have what I have,and I don't take anything for granted anymore. I used to think the world owed me something,I had a bad attitude,well I still can have a bad attitude,but I see light at the end of the tunnel. My folks are putting their house up on the market and hopefully they come out ahead. I'm sure they will.

Thank you BD. I'm not looking for sympathy,we stand tall in my family. We have been through a lot,and always come out of it for the better.