Right, saw that argument on another thread. Boggled the mind - and why was it that everyone should get food stamps again, regardless of income?? It's pretty much obvious that most who stand by the road with that sign just want handouts. Go watch Stossel's "Freeloaders" for more fun on that topic. As for the unemployment rate, it's already bogus - so that wouldn't change much. Er... ->
We already know, give people a chance to freeload and they will take it. America should have never allowed freeloading in the first place.
I don't "agree" that it's a sound economic solution. It's a short term solution to a long term problem, which like most social programs will catch up with us in the end. But instead of seeing on the news, "Many are going to soon lose their unemployment benefits, what will they do?" the headline would be, "Many are going to soon lose their unemployment benefits and will now have no choice but to go to the government make work office." "Now that welfare is being cut, many will have no choice but to go to the government make work office." "Many who use to get unemployment benefits, some of them Phd's now spend 8 hours a day raking leaves for the government." "Women who use to get welfare now are forced to work 8 hours a day in the government run day care center." "A police officer who's unemployment benefits ran out after he was laid off due to budget cuts, now works as a security guard at the government make work office."
Ah, so you're essentially talking about cutting all substitute welfare (except for food stamps which should go to everyone) and replacing it with a government work office. Ok, I'm in agreement that this would be a better alternative to the system we have now - with the exception of the food stamps nonsense. Thank you for clarifying your position. Of course, the work program would have to be funded with the elimination of the other welfare programs - but I don't see why that couldn't be the case. It would also eliminate a whole bunch of fraud. Unfortunately, you have to remember that moonbats like DB (whose original article topic we are discussing) want the work program AND the welfare.
ok, just remember, the government make work program was already tried in the old Soviet Union, and we all saw how that turned out. I think the unemployment rate in the Soviet Union was 0% for many years. Everybody had a government assigned job. And if you didn't show up for work they probably killed you or sent you to a prison camp in Siberia.