Thread: Government as farce / $7.4 billion debt in state jobless

San Diego Union Tribune Editorial

Government as farce / $7.4 billion debt in state jobless fund is telling


Sunday, November 29, 2009 at midnight

With depressing regularity, stories emerge out of Sacramento that provide explicit proof of the striking incompetence of our state’s leaders. Here’s the back story on the latest.

In the summer of 2001, Democratic lawmakers and then-Gov. Gray Davis were pushing for a four-year, 96 percent increase in maximum unemployment benefits. Republicans strongly objected because they thought the big increase was unjustified and that the higher taxes to be imposed on employers to pay for it would be burdensome.

So what happened? Democrats forced through the benefit hike on a simple majority vote, but the accompanying bill to raise taxes on employers to fund the boost failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds support because of GOP objections.

The sheer stinking dumbness of this gets even worse. In 2002, the state bureaucrats running the jobless benefits program told The Sacramento Bee this wouldn’t be a problem.

Flash-forward seven years. The San Jose Mercury News recently reported that the never-resolved gap created by the unfunded boost in benefits had come back to haunt the state in a huge way. The jobless fund is expected to be $7.4 billion in the red by year’s end and is on track to have an $18.4 billion deficit by the end of 2010, thanks to a 12.5 percent unemployment rate.

The only reason this enormous problem didn’t blow up earlier this year during budget negotiations was because of an interest-free $4.7 billion loan from the federal government. If the loan isn’t repaid in its entirety by 2011, Washington will charge interest on the huge debt.

We’re skeptical that will ever happen, at least if Democrats still control the House and Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is still speaker. Instead, they’ll just print more money and continue adding to the national debt in obscene fashion.

But at some point, we can expect to see a coordinated push for massive new taxes on state employers to fund the benefits. If these taxes add a crushing new burden on business that keeps unemployment sky-high, so be it. We’re sure that some state bureaucrats somewhere will pop up to assure us this won’t be a problem.

Call this what it is: government as farce.

Nevertheless, despite the frequency with which we see such stories, the Sacramento political and media establishment remains resolute in its belief that the real problem with California is Californians – you know, the numskull voters who demand services but balk at paying for them.

As if voters wanted state employees to be among the highest paid in the nation with pension benefits most Californians would die for. As if voters wanted the number of workers paid by the state to increase by nearly 25 percent since 1997. As if voters wanted the state government to do something as apocalyptically stupid as increasing unemployment benefits by 96 percent without funding the gigantic increase.

The blame for all these brilliant decisions falls on state leaders and state leaders alone.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... bless-fun/

Do they bother to ask for proof of citizenship or legal residency before awarding unemployment benefits?

The blame for all these brilliant decisions falls on state leaders and state leaders alone.

No, I don't think so. There seems to be plenty of blame to go around, and the politicians are only a part of the problem.

Just watch American Idol or Oprah and you will get just what you deserve, politicians that look like traitors, thugs, idiots, scum sucking bottom feeders, commies, egomaniacs, or pick your term.

Abolish the Fed, lets take our country back. Let the parasites get a real job.

Originally Posted by vortex

Do they bother to ask for proof of citizenship or legal residency before awarding unemployment benefits?

Instead of just guessing I looked it up on the CA. Employment Development Department website.

What do I need to file a claim?

Individuals must be out of work (for any reason), or working less than full-time. In addition, you must provide the following information:

Your name and social security account number
Your mailing and residence address (if different)
Your telephone number

Last employer information, including:

- Name, address (mailing and physical location) and telephone number
Information on all employers you worked for during the 18 months prior to claim filing your claim, including:

- Name, period of employment, wages earned and how paid

Your driver’s license or ID card number, if you have either

Last date worked and the reason you are no longer working

Citizenship status (which may include your alien registration number)

If the Department needs to verify any of the information provided while filing a claim, additional forms will be sent by mail and additional information and/or documentation will be requested.

After the claim is filed, the Department will determine if you are eligible to receive benefits.

http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/FAQ_ ... quirements
===================================

This info says that LEGAL Aliens are eligible but ILLEGAL aliens are not.

VDARE.com: 12/16/04 - Immigration Moments That Changed A ...Dec 16, 2004 ... Illegal aliens are not eligible for unemployment insurance. ... (Also, at the time, California gave a renters' tax credit and so the filers ...
www.vdare.com/thom/041216_moments.htm - Cached

The Ticker - California Nightmarin': Unemployment Nearly Doubles ...Jan 23, 2009 ... How did California's unemployment rate double? ... only those who can collect unemployment insurance and therefore excludes illegal aliens. ...
www.voices.washingtonpost.com/.../calif ... mploy.html - Similar

Illegal immigrants again in the budget spotlight in California ...Jul 10, 2009 ... Those children are eligible for welfare benefits because they are US ... illegal immigrants are not eligible for unemployment . . . You want to bleed us even more to pay for illegal aliens? ...
www.latimesblogs.latimes.com/.../illega ... light.html - Cached - Similar