Unemployed Man To Newt: Unemployment is NOT Welfare-"I Paid Into It For 35 Years"

[kpete]

Unemployed Man Reacts To Gingrich’s Accusation That ‘Welfare’ Is Making Him Lazy: I Paid Into It For 35 Years

Time and time again, conservatives have claimed that extending unemployment benefits for the unemployed is breeding laziness and lack of productivity. Newt Gingrich was the latest to adopt this meme. Writing in an e-mail to supporters, Gingrich cited a Wall Street Journal story where unemployed 52-year-old mechanic Michael Hatchell explained that he couldn’t afford to take jobs that wouldn’t pay enough to take care of his family. Gingrich claimed “welfare” was keeping Hatchell from working.

Last night, Hatchell and his wife Sarah appeared on MSNBC’s Countdown With Keith Olbermann to explain his family’s circumstances in his own words. The mechanic said “it’s really hard for someone like Mr. Gingrich” to understand the challenges his family faces. He explained that the jobs he was offered would not have paid enough to cover his home’s mortgage or support of his family, so he chose to stay on unemployment insurance. He also took offense at Gingrich’s use of the word “welfare” to slur his taking of unemployment insurance, pointing out that he worked for 35 years, paying into unemployment insurance, and that he was simply taking money out of a fund that he worked hard to pay into:

OLBERMANN: You’re a 52 years old now former law enforcement officer, used to have your own business as a mechanic, you were employed for 59 weeks <...> and Mr. Gingrich suggests you got used to being unproductive. If that’s not true why did you turn down so many job offers?

HATCHELL: Keith, it’s really hard for someone like Mr. Gingrich to understand the fact that when you have a mortgage, you have a family to support, car payments, insurance everything else <...> if you’re going out to look for a job, jobs that were going to pay half of what I was making, when they were offering me these jobs and <...> this is going to be a situation where we’re going to start you out at the entry level wage, I’ve got 32 years of experience, in the automotive business, it’s kinda hard for me to do that. Even at 40 hours at 7.75 an hour <...> With a mortgage and everything else, yes I was drawing unemployment 475 dollars a week, I paid into since I was a young man, 35 years I actually paid into it. It’s unemployment insurance, not welfare that Mr. Gingrich has spoken about. Until such time I can get a gainful job that will let me keep my house, keep my family fed, not necessarily anything expensive, I wasn’t going to take any other job.

OLBERMANN: He seemed to leave out the idea that it is insurance and you did pay into it. Pay now and don’t get it later! If you had taken those lower paying jobs your family would be consiederably worse now than it actually is.

HATCHELL: Yes sir, with the mortgage payments, if you don’t pay your mortgage, you’ll be out on the street <...> When I did find a situation where I did have it better off, I took it.

OLBERMANN: Sarah, let me ask you something. Can you weigh in on how you reacted when we brought Gingrich’s remarks to your attention today?

SARAH HATCHELL: I was appalled, frankly that he would consider welfare into unemployment insurance.

more + VIDEO
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/08/13/unemployed-man-gingrich/

[Demeter]

1. Don't Confuse Gingrich With the Facts

He can't handle them, or remember them, or honor them, or admit them, or anything.

[DBoon]

6. oh, he handles facts very well

He deliberately makes up new ones every time he speaks.

Don't ever think this is unintentional.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Or shiny objects.

[glitch]

26. To Gingrich welfare is anything his cronies can't get at. Yet. nt

[Raster]

28. Newt never met a microphone nor a lie he did not wrap his lips around.

And don't you just love hearing blah-blah-blahther about jobs, hard work and welfare from someone who has been sucking off of the public teat for most of his adult life? Gingrich wouldn't know where to begin to do an honest day's work.

Is this how decrepit the GOP has become that they have to drag out the Newtster to be one of their standard bearers? Puh-leeeze! Doesn't he have a wife dying of cancer somewhere to abandon?

[Missy Vixen]

2. Why is the Democratic Party allowing asses like Gingrich to dictate the debate?

Really. I have asked this question over and over, and I get NO answers.

The Republicans have been out in front with their bullshit "unemployment is welfare" meme now for quite some time. They're demanding drug testing of those on unemployment, for God's sake. After all, anyone who's not working is a criminal, aren't they? :sarcasm:

We hear this crap day after day after day, and do the Democrats speak up? Do they even attempt to counter this? NO!

WHY NOT?

I'm glad Olbermann is talking about this, but I'm wondering why the White House isn't. Plus, I'm wondering why Olbermann didn't ask Gingrich if he's ever actually held a private-sector job. I'm not sure he has.

[OHdem10]

4. A lot of Centrists and Blue Dogs agree with Newt. They have the

power in the Party. Therefore Liberals are not allowed on TV
because it might upset the ConservaDems Republican Constituency.

[old mark]

10. Because he's not a leftist Democrat - THEN they would yell at him...nt

[drmeow]

3. I could be wrong

But I don't think that employees pay into unemployment - don't only employers pay for unemployment insurance? That's why some employers try to deny the claims and make it really hard for former employees to collect - because it increases the cost they have to pay.

[shraby]

5. In some states I think they both pay, in some the employer pays.

[Hannah Bell]

8. employers' portion = part of employee compensation & contributions are deductible

from employers' income tax.

Pursuant to the provisions of the FUTA, a federal tax is levied on covered employers at a current rate of 6.2 percent on wages up to $7,000 a year paid to an employee. The law, however, provides a credit against federal tax liability of up to 5.4 percent to employers who pay state taxes timely under an approved state UC program. This credit is allowed regardless of the amount of the tax paid to the state by the employer. Accordingly, in states meeting the specified requirements, employers pay an effective federal tax of 0.8 percent, or a maximum $56 per covered employee, per year. Under current law, the 6.2 percent federal tax is scheduled to drop to 6.0 percent beginning with calendar year 2010, and the effective tax to 0.6 percent.


State Taxable Wage Base and Rates

Forty-six states have adopted a higher taxable wage base than the $7,000 now provided in FUTA. For 2010, Washington’s taxable wage base is the highest at $36,800. In all states, an employer pays a tax on wages paid to each worker within a calendar year up to the amount specified in state law. In addition, most of the states provide an automatic adjustment of the wage base if federal law is amended to apply to a higher wage base than that specified under state law.

As a result of the many variables in states taxable wage bases and rates, benefit formulas, and economic conditions, actual tax rates vary greatly among the states and among individual employers within a state. For the latest year available (2009), the preliminary estimated U.S. average tax rate is 0.6 percent of total wages, ranging from a high of 1.3 percent in Rhode Island (taxable wage base of $18,000) to a low of 0.08 percent in the Virgin Islands (taxable wage base of $22,100).

http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/partnership.pdf

[EC]

20. Both do... n/t

[blueworld]

21. In NJ, both pay. In VA, employers pay

What I find odd though, is that this gentleman is admitting he turned down work.

In NJ, you had to take any job offer up to 25% less than your previous pay - that may even be higher now - or they cut your unemployment period. And you had to prove you applied for at least 3 jobs per week. Weird.

Well, I wish the gentleman the best & I hope Newt gets festering boils on his ass for awhile (at least little ones).

[B Calm]

31. Labor costs to the employer are your real wages!!!@! In other words

your employer would be giving you that much more per hour for your work if there wasn't unemployment insurance!

[kestrel91316]

7. Unemployment compensation is just that - compensation paid to

INSURED PERSONS. We employers pay UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PREMIUMS into a fund year after year after year, based on our payroll amounts (it's a set percentage based on our individual track records of payouts). The UNEMPLOYMENT POLICY pays benefits to the insured if they meet the criteria.

It ain't welfare.

[old mark]

9. He should be carefull - I sent Gingrich a critical letter many years ago and

got audited by the IRS shortly therafter, the first and only time that has ever happened to me...(They determined I owed them $600, which I paid.)
Not saying there was a connection, but it has crossed my mind.

Fired Up?
Maybe later...

mark

[Raster]

30. Gingrich does not have the access to power that he used to. He is a has-been.

BTW: Love your sig line. WWKRD. "What would Keith Richards do? Priceless!

[Carnage251]

11. I hope we won't be hearing about palin after her 15 minutes are over unlike newt

[taupe]

12. "paid unemployment insurance for 35 years"

The EMPLOYER pays the unemployment insurance, not the employee. I am an employer in Washington State and know this for a fact. Not sure about other states, but I highly doubt that the employee pays it.

[MindPilot]

13. Yes, but it's a component of the employee's pay.

Even though the actual premium is paid by the employer, Unemployment Insurance is still part of an employee's compensation package.

[Hannah Bell]

16. then you should know it part of employee compensation employers get federal tax deductions for it

NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY PAY IN.

"This credit is allowed regardless of the amount of the tax paid to the state by the employer"

[BlackHoleSon]

18. It is insurance

I think the take home point of all this is that it IS insurance. That conservatives try to muddy the waters shows, again, that there is no bottom, no low too low for them to go.

[exboyfil]

25. At least in Iowa the insuance is set up so that it is 26 weeks of

insurance. Any more comes from general funds. In that way it is welfare. Whether you or your employer pays into the fund is irrelevant. It could be argued that, just like Social Security, the money your employer spends on your behalf (or the risk of future spend by the employer to pay benefits) comes off your total compensation.

The same argument applies to Medicare, if what everyone pays into the system does not cover the benefits, then the shortfall has to come from somewhere (the general fund). It is a little different for Medicare because you are promised a certain amount of benefits (just like an underfunded pension). In the case of unemployment insurance you should know that it is for 26 weeks only. Additional time requires an executive or a legislative act to secure additional funds (usually general funds) to pay the additional benefits.

This does not mean I am arguing against the extension of unemployment insurance. What it does mean is that anymore than 26 weeks is beyond the original scope of the program.

What actually happens in many cases of unemployment is that individuals change their lifestyles to accomodate being on unemployment. A classic example is a working parent in a two parent family who loses their job. When you combine the unemployment insurance along with the need to no longer pay for child care, the family may actually do better than they would if the parent was working. The unemployment paperwork tries to root out this situation if I remember correctly.

[LanternWaste]

22. In many states, both employer and employee pay into it...

In many states, both employer and employee pay into the insurance fund.

"but I highly doubt that the employee pays it."
I imagine you highly doubt many things...

[SpiralHawk]

14. Why do republions so disdain hard-working Americans?

sheesh

[MindPilot]

19. because....

most wage-earning activities require some level of intelligence and education; two things conservatives fear most.

[Duke Newcombe]

17. THIS. This *freekin'* THIS.

Why the party hasn't been pounding away at this simple truth is bewildering. As in, "Hey everybody...the Republicans claim to be for giving the people's money back to the people. In reality, they only wanna give money back to their buddies, and keep YOUR money to themselves when you need it back most!"

Messaging this teh suck in our party, kids.

[Z_I_Peevey]

23. Everyone should see this interview

and spread it far and wide...The Hatchells are fantastic, and spoke the truth in such an affecting manner that it must be seen to be appreciated.

K&R

[roxiejules]

24. Newt refused to pay child support & alimony ....

"The most notorious incident in Gingrich's marriage ... was when he cornered Jackie in her hospital room where she was recovering from uterine cancer surgery and insisted on discussing the terms of the divorce he was seeking. Shortly after that infamous encounter, Gingrich refused to pay his alimony and child-support payments. The First Baptist Church in his hometown had to take up a collection to support the family Gingrich had deserted. Six months after divorcing Jackie, Gingrich married a younger woman, Marianne, with whom he had been having an affair."
Source: Stephen Talbot. "Newt's Glass House." Salon.com. 8/28/1998

[KakistocracyHater]

32. there's the Right's "family values"-& why I cringe in disgust/revulsion

whenever I hhear them utter that phrase. Some 'values', truly dishonorable.

[david13]

27. He is absolutely right. It is unemployment insurance. dc

[laughingliberal]

29. K & R nt