This one is prolly going to get me yelled at. Meh, oh well.

So many of these blogs are done with the express intent of peeving people off or making people go WTF is this man going on and on about. I tend to try to look at things that I think are silly, crazy or downright stupid and try to make people understand exactly how messed up things can be. I am rarely kind or gentle in my words so people tend to get annoyed if not downright angry with me. I make no apologies for this and will continue to do so in the future as I see fit. You don't name a blog, Sometimes Its Okay To Be An Ass with the goal of making sunshine and daisies.

Now having said that, what I am about to put in front of you all is not really intended to make you angry or mock other people. In no way am I expressing disdain for the Unemployed or those who have the misfortune to be on any sort of public assistance. This is just a blog to cover one of the many odd thoughts that often occur to me. Please do not take insult because, in the case anyway, no insult was meant.

Usually I preface these rants with “Well I just read an article about...” after which I go on (And on and on and on...) about how stupid the article was or about the sheer idiocy shown in the comments section. Gods I could do entire books on the ignorant comments shown after so many articles, but that is another story. This time, I was innocently fixing dinner for my wife and I (Pancake battered chicken, mixed veggies and corn bread for the foodies out there.) when a thought struck me. I struck it back and a lively fight ensued. Once we had exhausted each other, I decided to put the thoughts down for your perusal.

You hear a lot these days about Welfare and the So-Called Nanny State wherein loads and loads of people are receiving some form of assistance from the US Government (SNAP, WIC etc). The talks range from “Leeches sucking off the Government Teat” to “People who are down on their luck who just need a hand.” Please feel free to pick the one that best suits your temperament and continue the blog. Ready? Okay, on we go!

So my mind quickly snagged on this string of thought and ran with it like a kitten on steroids. (Wow now there is a disturbing image.) It asked in all innocence, “Well, what about extended unemployment benefits?” To which I answered “What the what?” However, after some long minutes of standing in the kitchen with drool hanging from my mouth, I actually stopped and pondered what the idea might actually mean.

During the Great Recession, millions upon millions of people lost their jobs due the massive economic downturn. During this period, these millions applied for Unemployment benefits as was their due. As time passed some were lucky enough to find new jobs and get off the Unemployment line and back to work. Many more remain to this day unable to find gainful unemployment. According to some figures, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people have simply given up looking for jobs that simply aren't there.

Since the very beginning, long after Standard Unemployment Benefits would have been exhausted, the Government has voted time and again to keep extending the benefits to the unemployed so that they can keep paying their bills and feeding their families. This is all well and good and I fully support it, but the question has to be asked, “How long do we keep doing it?”

One of the main, if somewhat inaccurate, arguments people make against Welfare is that it encourages people who are on it to simply allow the Government to take care of them. After all, if there is no real incentive to find work and earn your own money, then why do it. Why not keep sucking on that teat for all time? I mean hey when you are living high on the hog on SNAP and WIC (Insert sarcasm font here.) why actually work for a living? Old Uncle Sam will take care of you, right?

Well, if you can think that about Welfare, then how far do we go for the Unemployed? I mean, how long do we as a people and a Government keep handing out money to people just to keep them going? Especially given the huge number of people who have stopped looking for work at all, aren't we in danger of becoming a Nanny State for them too? Anti-Welfare Advocates argue that “Hey yeah it sucks that a family of four can't afford to feed themselves, but why should the government have to do it? Let the local charities take care of them!” (As a side note here, it should be noted that, despite what a lot of people believe, not every every Welfare recipient is a Crack Head with 14 children. A depressingly large number of Government Assistance recipients are actively serving in our Nation's Armed Forces.)

Unemployment benefits for those who lost their jobs during the GR have long since been exhausted. The US Government has kept funding flowing to the jobless from other sources for years. So how long do we keep giving them money? How long before the “Nanny State” grows and becomes permanent for those who cannot find work? As usual, I have no real answers and only have questions which have no real answers.

End of Rant