Food Stamps

[DC Al Fine]

Expand, but cut unemployment benefits.

So let them eat, but not pay the rent. That makes sense.

I would not have unemployment benefits for as long as we're having them, yes. If a person can't find a job in a year, they should probably get a job that's below their qualifications unfortunately.

There are those who can't find a job in a year even below their qualifications.

I do agree we need to ask whether continually extending unemployment benefits are the way to go, or we need to rethink the program to make it more conducive to people finding jobs, but I don't think just cutting the benefits makes sense with the long-term unemployment problem we have.

To add to what Shua, for a large portion of the long term unemployed, no amount of unemployment benefits is going to help with a long term solution. The dole is a good solution for people who live in a reasonably prosperous area and/or have in demand skills. Those people just need some cash for a few months until the next job comes along.

For people who live in an economically depressed area or are trained in a dying industry, there needs to be something more. "The next job" isn't going to come along once the worst of the recession is over. Retraining, subsidizing moves and economic development initiatives are all better options than just extending unemployment benefits for a few months for the long term unemployed.