Paul Ryan Supports Plan to Let Unemployed Work for Free
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) isn't a fan of President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act, but he does like the idea of allowing people who are receiving unemployment benefits to work for free.
The plan is based on a program called Georgia Works which matches job seekers with employers. Under the plan, employers agree to provide up to eight weeks of on-the-job training. Workers, who can only work for 24 hours a week, continue to receive unemployment benefits instead of getting paid.
"The Georgia plan sounds pretty interesting," Ryan told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday. "I think that's something we are looking at, which is unemployment reform."
Ryan's remarks echo House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) support of the idea.
"We stand ready to work with [President Obama] if there is interest in implementing a similar program on the federal level," Cantor said.
According to data the Georgia Department of Labor provided to The Huffington Post's Arthur Delaney, the program isn't very successful.
Between 2003 and 2010, only 16.4 percent of people that participated in the program found work, about the same rate as those who were not participating. As of late August, there were only 19 trainees enrolled in Georgia Works.
The top weekly unemployment benefit in Georgia is about $330.



This is a great idea, that unemployed people can work for free in the morning and then look for non-existent jobs in the afternoon. I really hope the Democrats from this meatsack's district in Wisconsin can find any other person with a pulse to beat him.
...This is Wonderland where up is down and left is right and Alice doesn't have to worry about elder right wing senators making a pass at her; they're more interested in her brother in the stall next to them.
A complete disregard of logic and anti-intellectualism is the republican't platform. I should be sorry about the tawdry comment but today...I'm just not that into political correctness.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
ROFLMAO!
Thanks, that was good.
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
is to sustain a worker's earnings until he can get gainful employment.
This proposal sounds and smells like sharecropping, which is one step above SLAVERY. apparently, Ryan and Cantor cut history class on the day that Negro Sharecropping was being taught as a part of Reconstruction.
From the first link in David's post:
So on top of their unemployment bennies, the people who are in the program get paid an additional $10/hour.
I don't know about you, but when my unemployment bennies ran out, I was stuck with a job that paid $8.50/hour. Just $8.50/hour, no other unemployment benefits.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
white missionary liberal imperialism.
Hey, politcal junkie, tell the author of Georgia Works how you think his plan is one step above slavery.
http://www.mikethurmond2010.com/
And tell Jesse Jackson that as well. Bill Clinton while you are at it. You will have to remove your head from where it is currently located before they can hear you.
.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
My point, ricky, is that such an idea is profoundly unlikely to be implemented on a national basis... not as long as it is pragmatic, might just work, and doesn't make our President look bad.
And, as unlikely as it is to be implemented under this particular President, it's really not anywhere enough to cause a thinking person to vote for a Republican cadidate for the office... I mean, c'mon... have you seen the crew they're trotting out?
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
It was directed entirely at the stupidity of reacting to this post with accusations of slavery and sharecropping. White missionary liberal imperialism in its purest form.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
I know, my friend... and I probably responded to the wrong sub-thread... just thinking out loud with my fingers...
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
And, yes, my colleagues on the left can be quite capable of knee-jerk reactions... but, on balance, that is, on most issues pretty much a right-wing gig...
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
When I had the luxury of unemployment checks, they were paid bi-weekly, so that would make it $5 per hour for the privilege of working while you're looking for work. Not sure if that's the case here, though.
...look at how David wrote this:
Whether an extra $10/hour or $5/hour- over an 8-week period- it helps a lot.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Hey, every nickel helps toward the groceries... and, at the very least would get the right-wing to shut the hell up about we unemployed being lazy and living like kings on caviar and truffles...
Would shut them up at least abut this... the meme has ceased to be amusing; they need to have a new one.
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
but didn't we try that work for free thing in the south a couple of centuries back? If I remember right it didn't end very well.
They are not working for free. What these "small government" (never has republicans made government smaller) idiots want is for the government to pay the wages for corporations. Unbelievable!
Correct.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
and instead of training their already hired employees, they might as well fire them and train new employees for free! Why bother paying to train your own workforce when the government can do it for you.
small government, my ass.
NO. They are not going to train ANYONE. These people will be the "disposable workers" of capitalists' dreams.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
so corporations pay no taxes OR salaries. then workers are paid by the evil government in welfare and then get taxed on that income? where does all this money come from if no one has any money? he's not just advocating slavery he's advocating a slave state. a government that's only function is to maintain order among the slaves. plague, starvation, constant civil war, they call it freedom.
before the concept of workhouses come back.
That's the NEXT election cycle. The evolution of American democracy takes time.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
I guess in some places it's already arrived.
Nice.
I can hire hundreds of employees to do bullshit work, on the government's dime, pay no benefits and when they're time is up...just bring in more.
That's the entrepreneurial spirit!
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
This is the way it will work. I will fire all my workers. Hire they back and let the government pay their wages. Sounds like a great plan.
make businesses that have laid off workers collecting unemployment benefits ineligible to participate in the program. Like they do here.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
friends want is for those on UEB's to sit home watching reruns while collecting their checks.
Which is exactly what the Republicans accuse those on UEB of doing.
Or they believe those laid off by the employers will come back voluntarily while getting their UEB's
Or for the government agency running the program to allow the employer to do that in the first place. Because, you know, spouting shit is so much easier than dealing with a real problem.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
Forget your meds today?
far left loon >.<
me polite and mildly sassy.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
...golly gee that's over $1250 a month...I'm sure one could manage for themselves and/or a family on that while training for a new job that they may or may not get (because they are UNEMPLOYED!)...that should cover: rent/food/insurance/gas/payments for whatever...these people that just can't seem to MANAGE their monies...what's up with that? Why I'm sure Mr. Ryan could live like a KING on this plan.....
Pretty good wages, I think...
If one lives in rural India...
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
health insurance only costs $200-300 a month (snark)
Just as I've always suspected. The GOP is now the PRO-SLAVERY PARTY.
MyMy
'many people can't go there, and many would rather die'
If they would rather die, then they better do it, and decrease the surplus population*
Ebenezer Scrooge.
Ever get the feeling liberals have always looked to Charles Dickens's cautionary tales as warnings, and Conservative looked to those same tales as the blueprints for an ideal society?
i do get that feeling. they call it the good ol' days.
showed that Scrooge was redeemed in the end. Would that any Republicans could say the same.
Maybe Paul Ryan should try it. Cut his salary to unemployment levels and then that is what he works for. In this way he will be able to "feel the pain" of the people who voted for him.
After that he would get no income for the next 2 years. I think this plan would give him a true appreciation of what many people are going through. Oh yes, he should donate all his savings to the poor. Then he will be prepared to experience the Republican's version of the American dream.
Tell me that this son of a bitch did not get this term "unemployment reform" straight from that word twisting bastard Frank Luntz. These people are absolutely tone deaf and have not one ounce of shame. Someone should make Ryan drink a glass of powdered milk on national television.
crap just so they could get three meals and an address for awhile, back about 10-15 years ago. Nowadays, in SoCal anyway, unless you reoffend on probation or parole, it's tough to get the county to feed you this way-- just too crowded.
Maybe Ryan has room in his state's facilities? Of course, they probably ration winter clothes there...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Why does the Republican plan for employment reform sound like a return to slavery?
if participants would get forty acres and a mule when they were done
Typical liberal, always trying to get something for nothing.
Unlike the businesses that would get free serfs for a couple of years.
The workers still get paid, but they get paid their unemployment bennies AND, if it follows the Georgia plan, a bit more from the government.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
you have been stabbed in the back so often it just makes your head swim.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
So this guy supports slavery?!!!
When angry, count four, when very angry, swear.
-Mark Twain-
The markets have spoken, slavery is a good economic driving force. The whole barbaric treatment of slavery is way over blown with whiteman guilt, Most slaves were happy and were part of the family! The left have been twisting and worping slavery for ages. The bible condones slavery as a strong force for building a good economic work force, what once was a positive driving force that built many of the worlds wonders has been twisted to a dirty and filthy word.
I suppose you can simply call it indentured servitude again as there will undoubtably be some white people included in this.
When angry, count four, when very angry, swear.
-Mark Twain-
if the market and corporate "persons" aren't happy, then how can anyone else be happy?
Workers living underground and out of site are taken to the surface each day to work for the rich. For a film made in 1927 it sounds very much like 2011.
I would be working 24 hours a week for about $4 an hour and have to pay for gas to and from the job. No thanks. I wonder why drug dealing and robbery are climbing?
1. Flexible work hours.
2. No taxes.
3. No regulations.
4. Unlimited income stream.
5. Loyal customer base.
The list goes on and on.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
Hmmm... that said, in these pre-legalization paranoid days, the risks of business are not those for the faint of heart...
Still, you'd think the right would approve... free enterprise at its finest!
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
aren't enough ... because not ALL american wealth has been redistributed to the one-percenters ... now they want free labor paid for by the working poor
why not just give the rethugs prison labor? that way taxpayer funds won't make their way to the local mom & pop market or the landlord living downstairs ... and employers could probably get away with forcing prisoners to work in unsafe conditions, maybe even score some sexual favors
While they're working for free they can:
Be paid their unemployment in scrip.
Be housed in barracks, paying rent in scrip.
Buy their food in company stores, which only accepts scrip.
Of course, the rent and food would cost more than they're paid, keeping them indebted to the state.
In order to keep anyone from running off, the state could come up with some sort of containment method, like, maybe, say,.... oh, chaining them onto a line, or a heavy iron ball. Make them easy to identify from regular, hard working job holders by forcing them to wear special clothes. How about striped uniforms.
Yeah, Ryan. Let's get back to the Good Old Days! Chop that cotton, boys! Tote that barge! Lift that bale! Fetch me another Toddy!
God, I Hate Republiscums!!
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/03/17/on-the-ri... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274...
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/fredo... http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-09-0...
http://www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/timeline/1921.html http://www.jstor.org/pss/30146766
PS: I thought we all pay them $0.25/ $0.50hr. to make their own uniforms, with a slight mark-up for the contractor? I believe all this stuff's covered pretty specifically in Leviticus and Deuteronomy? Lurn 'em to press turpentine, brush toxic waste oil onto roads, fight reactor fires, settle labor disputes, collect others' outstanding debts, manufacture munitions, air traffic control, inspect pipelines... pleasure congressmen?
Well, what about starting with Republican Freshman house members? I mean, we could have a program where they and their staffers get no pay for a year into their term... I mean, they are learning on the job... saves the tax payers money... What say you Ryan?
"There is a smart program in Georgia," said Obama on his rural bus tour earlier this month. "You're essentially earning a salary and getting your foot in the door into that company."
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/29/news/economy/...
the problem isn't that businesses cannot afford to hire workers, it's that they don't need to hire workers, because no one but the very rich can afford to buy anything ... unemployment "wages" won't put any more disposable income into anyone's pockets except, of course, those of the rich who will be getting free labor ... what they save on labor won't go into the economy, though ... the wealthy already have enough cars and boats and vacation homes ... the money will just go into the bank, like it has since 2001 and the bush tax cuts began
So, if this is the case, products get made, and services are prepared to be rendered...
but there will be no one to buy the products or receive said services...
Is my take on this accurate? If so, this delusional pol's drifted quite quickly into the never-never land of style over substance, words over deeds, and pandering to the least informed, least intelligent, and least willing to step out of their Faux box...
In other words, modern Republicanism conducting business as usual.... diddling while our home burns.
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
It is voluntary. The participating workers get to do something useful while collecting unemployment if they choose. They get to make contacts. They get an opportunity to get hired if their performance is satisfactory. Businesses get to try on workers, as it were, with little risk. The workers get something to put on their resume and they have a current employment contact that helps reduce the stigma of being unemployed. (How many posts have we had here bitching about companies that won't hire the unemployed?) The similar programs that my business has used do not permit participation if we have any workers currently collecting unemployment. So no games of musical chairs. The best thing about it is that congress can't block it if states choose to implement it. This is a very, very good idea and the opposition to it passes understanding.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Will they still be able to collect UI? I doubt that would pass the test of the right-wing's narrative... count on that particular line item being deleted in committee...
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
That was the whole point of the program in Georgia. They had a 35 percent placement rate of people under the program being hired. That's not freaking bad considering the state of the economy. The fact is this would be a progressive idea, if they had thought of it first.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Progressive idea or not, pardon my skepticism but this implemented on a national basis? With the current crop of folks in the House and the Senate, whose major stated priority is to make President Obama a one-term President? Taking this statement alone at face-value, its logical conclusion is that anything that works but doesn't make the guy in the White House look bad has very little chance of being implemented, good idea of not.
And, FWIW, if it is implemented in the way you state, I think it's a pretty good idea... and I, unlike your swipe at Progressives, will not snark at the man presenting the idea, however much I may disagree with his politics on other issues.
(edited due to apostrophe having sneaked away from my keyboard)
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
and I take a lot of them these days, is directed principally at "progressives" of the sort that think anything that smacks of compromise is evil. There are many true progressives of the pragmatic sort I admire a great deal and that includes our host, Nicole Bell and Karoli and Howie Klein and David Neiwert and Steve Benen and P.M. Carpenter and many more. That also includes many of the people who comment here even when I disagree with their opinions on certain issues. It takes a little more in my estimation to truly qualify as a progressive than an acute sense of grievance. You have to be willing to do the things that actually make progress.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Yes, Peter, indeed you do. And while I tend to be one that has little patience with those of my particular aisle of the political spectrum when it comes to knee-jerk reactions to certain topics (I would use as an example, pretty much any post having anything to do with any form of spirituality or religion... (FWIW, I'm speaking as a Master Mason and soon to be 32d degree Scottish Rite... organizations that have as our tenet the profound separation of church and state, the promotion of public education and literacy, etc.... and as an ordained minister, soon to be priest of Wicca), even a cursory glance across the web will show such an overwhelmingly un/undereducated, bigoted and bitter group of people that the mind boggles... and overwhelming being those adhering to the right-wing reactionary memes and narrative.
A good idea does not have to have a political label applied, and should not... I see this idea as quite pragmatic, if applied as proposed... yes, indeed! I speak as one that has been unemployed for quite a while, and, without some networking with friends in the IT biz, am increasingly unlikely to be employed --- 1 1/2 years unemployed, mid-50's... you do the math.
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
on your resume?
If so you are clearly over qualified for any job other than one for 'The Knights Templar.'
I hear they need a good sax-man.
First they ignore us..then they ridicule us..now they are feeding us chicken crap- sign my petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/fda-stop-feed...
www.ickenittlepost.com
"Between 2003 and 2010, only 16.4 percent of people that participated in the program found work, about the same rate as those who were not participating."
A progressive idea? Having the government pay the wages of employees of businesses?
IF there were any kind of mandate for the companies involved (like you have to hire at least 50% of the workers you get for free), then it might be something.
As it is, it's a right-wing wet dream. For low-skilled or unskilled positions, why in the world would a business owner hire someone when the government will pay the wages of a new employee? Doesn't make business sense.
Businesses are not having trouble finding workers. PEOPLE are having trouble finding jobs.
This doesn't have a record of addressing the problem.
Funny how those who substitute guns for courage can't seem to find either when it all goes wrong.
that Ms Madrak put up quoted a success rate of thirty five percent. If that is in error than it is her source material that is in error.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
...you'll see this:
That's a nearly 50% increase.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
placement rate have ever linked to a credible source in Georgia government which documents any statistic I have seen used. Nor, for that matter, can you find one easily if you go to the Georgia Department of Labor.
http://www.dol.state.ga.us/
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
Scour the prog-o-sphere for posts about Obama's infrastructure improvement proposal in his jobs speech and see how many there are, and compare that to the quantity of posts about the Georgia program, to which the POTUS gave an entire 30 seconds of props in his speech.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Sounds like the kind of job you could only get through Georgia Works.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
glovewear.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
So, what you're describing is a "volunteer job training" program, where the workers "volunteer" to work, and companies offer them "volunteer" opportunities.
In what way is this any more helpful than just volunteering? Are we just creating a list of places you can go f'ck around all day, because you have nothing better to do?
Even better, do these "job opportunities" have childcare?
This isn't a jobs program! It's a way to shift blame for the economic condition of this country to the unemployed. It's another way to make people with NO POWER over the economy feel bad. It's as dumb as making people feel bad for taking long showers, when municipalities are facing water shortages. That is to say, this is NOT a situation that "individual gumption" can resolve.
The reason this isn't a good idea have nothing to do with how easy it is to implement. It's just a goddam slap in the face. I'm not unemployed, and I can see that.
and, if that was part of a federal program, it would help reduce any abuse-potential. say, like using the long-term unemployed for the allotted time, getting the tax breaks, and then, instead of hiring, bringing in a new crop of long-term unemployed, rinse, repeat.
also, i wonder, how this will help the economy--and thus, decrease employment. its not like the unemployed are short on skills (of course, some are, but that is not the systemic issue we are facing), or that they just need a little training (of course, some do, but that is not the systemic issue we are facing), the problem seems to be more a lack of demand, as consumers continue to deleverage--due to falling wages, shorter hours, unemployment, housing issues, etc. and, a better solution is to get $$ to those who need it most, and thus will spend it, spurring the economy, sales, etc. which, hopefully would lead to more hiring, as the customer base starts to build.
I volunteered at my office for 4 1/2 months. When a position opened up, it was mine. The company knew me, trusted me and knew my work ethic.
Had I not volunteered, I wouldn't have stood a chance for the job I ended up getting.
"Better." It's what we should ask of ourselves and of our leaders.
It is voluntary.
Yes, it appears it is voluntary now. In the current political climate, how long until it becomes mandatory? (And you know that Republicans would do that.) That would be my concern.
far left loon >.<
Or, if you were a real douchebag Republican, you could make people eligible for unlimited unemployment benefits, but only spot them the first six weeks worth up front, then tell them to put it in the market and live of the proceeds of their investment.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
is that "job training" is worthless. JOBS are the problem, not "trained" individuals.
Got more than 20 years experience in my field... and continue to seek training on my own... got the training, thankssomuch.
In the marketplace of ideas, too many people shop in the bargain basement.
-- Thunder BlueRose
Why, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU
http://saxman.bravepages.com
that even working for free wouldn't solve the problem. Why would a business hire (or just take on) another mouth to feed (there are other costs besides salary when employing someone), when there is no demand for the product they sell? If I have a need for more employees because of increased demand, I wouldn't think twice about hiring them. But just to have a bunch of people sitting around the office with nothing to do makes no sense at all. Why would I expend resources to train them?
Just make sure they get their unemployment (without the intern requirement) and let them continue to search for a real job. Invest in our infrastructure. There are tens of thousands of projects available that could use skilled carpenters, bricklayers, engineers while making us more secure economically. Real jobs create real demand. Demand creates jobs. Jobs create income. Income creates additional tax revenue and a more stable economy. With demand, businesses make money, reduce their inventory, and profit from the increased need for their product.
Simple math, simple concept. It's too bad "simple-minded" people can't see it.
Unless the labor market has changed drastically this month, demand is only high for doctors, pharmaceutical researchers and software programmers. I don't think eight weeks is enough training.
Which Lets Unemployed Get OJT Training While Collecting Enhanced Benefits.
See, I can write a misleading headline too.
"Georgia Works should be deployed on a national basis. It is a proven, effective approach to helping the jobless get back to work.”
-- The Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of the Rainbow Push Coalition
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
Jesse Jackson, like Barak Obama, also won the South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary.
h/t Former President Bill Clinton*
* Former President Bill Clinton was wrong, of course. Jackson won a caucus based election, not a primary. Clinton won the primary in 1992. He also supports Georgia Works.
"That's fu*#ing retarded."
Big City Mayor
Why hasn't anyone thought of this sooner? SLAVERY would solve so many problems! We could actually have a NEGATIVE unemployment rate - more people working than want jobs! Ryan is brilliant and makes me so proud to be from Wisconsin. Where do I sign up for one of these jobs that don't pay any wages?
find a way to get fired from whatever job you get after you qualify for unemployment benefits and you too can qualify to keep getting those benefits and collect a transportation subsidy while you prove your worth to a prospective employer. And maybe learn something useful.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Come over heah... Gal! Potential employers: http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/201... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8zNsUTWsOc
Hope you do better than I: https://www.facebook.com/propublica?sk=app_16...
"Whites Only" and "Colored Only" signs still floating around in old barns that could be put to good use as well...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
to get his best ideas. Next he'll be suggesting poor houses and debtor prisons.
Jeanne
That's the ticket, first the prison population and next the homeless and unemployed working for a bowl of rice a day. When will the dumbed-down 30% realize they've been had. They will always be low class, no lottery or rich Uncle will change their lot. Voting Republican is not in their best interest, but who can fix stupid.
I would consider doing some time just for the opportunity to beat the ever living pansy piss out of this big eared ass hole hair parting piss ant.
Comments are closed on this entry