Rail Road

Misconceptions about Unemployment Insurance

November 23, 2010

I posted this as a reply to all those Facebook posters who seem to think that Unemployment Insurance is funded by employees.  They are wrong.  It is also an encouragement to those who won't take the minimum wage position because it won't pay what they used to make or even what Unemployment Insurance pays.  I see that as a moot point given the current situation regarding federal extensions.  Zero income is trumped by any income and the employed have a much easier time finding other work, even if it means multiple part time positions.

re-post:
Two things that need correcting...
1. Employers pay for unemployment insurance not workers. First person to say, "we pay it by having lower wages" gets a virtual cookie. First one to recognize that without it 12% of your neighbors would be destitute, but those working might make an extra couple bucks a week, gets a larger virtual cookie.
2. The extensions are not coming out of some fund somewhere. The Feds are increasing the deficit to pay people to do nothing except look for work.
The best thing for the economy is to get people back to work. Am I sorry that it happened during Christmas time, kinda. But, when I think back to my most beloved Christmas ever, I think back to the year we received muffin mix from the neighbors and built a tree out of a dowel and a few saplings. Hardship builds character. Hardship builds strength. Hardship builds a better nation. We must compete to live, but we must win to thrive. Competing only guarantees the barest minimum of survival. Remember, we have the right to pursue happiness and not the right to attain it. So get up off your butts and do something. Take the part time job, but excel at it. Climb the ladder again. Bring glory to God through hard work. You can do it, but only if you try.

 

 

Recessionary Statistics

November 5, 2010

Okay, so there have been 13 recessions since the “Great Depression”.  By my calculations from Wikipedia’s data (I know, questionable veracity), the recent recession was statistically significant.  By that, I mean it was extraordinarily long.  The average recession length for the past 13 recessions was 11.23 months.  The recent recession (it officially ended in June 2009) was 18 months.  From our sample group, we can calculate that 99% of recessions are between 11.22 and 11.24 months lon...


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Don't Touch That...Because I Said So

September 8, 2010
Last night’s Bible reading ended with Romans chapter 7 and, not unusually, it had me thinking.  It had me thinking about the way we grow from childhood to adulthood and how parental warnings become rules and rules become boundaries and boundaries become the things we need to break.  Yes, you read that right, but you may want to read that sentence all over again to make it absolutely clear.  Or, you can continue reading. 

Not many of remember our obedient childhood beginnings, but that is nor...

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Who the heck am I?


Brian Cooper Here's the scoop. I'm in this class at college, you see, and I have to write because it's required. I love to write so I think no problem. I can write enough in fourteen weeks to hopefully surpass the total amount of words necessary. Then, I think, wow, why not build a blog around the writing, well, why not? I've wanted to blog, but I've never had eough impetus to sustain a blog. After 14 weeks, I think I will have built up enough inertia that I'll just keep posting.