Compare the two following responses, Democratic vs Republican. The contrast is so dramatic, that I had to feature it here.
Deceptive Work Requirement Referendum: No surprise...
Wisconsin voters supported in an advisory referendum a work requirement for recipients of taxpayer-funded benefits.But Republicans want you to think it has something to do with cuts to unemployment benefits. Unemployment is an insurance program that's set up just like SS and Medicare, paid for by hard working employees and employers. It is NOT a taxpayer-funded "welfare" program. So, it's not part of the referendum.
Point: GOP Punishment...4 Job Searches a Week = Ghosting: That's the case I'm making here. State Rep. Jerry O'Connor (R) highlights the problem below, oblivious to the job search requirement that made "ghosting" a huge problem. Having been a blue-collar worker myself, I've been on unemployment a bunch of times, and you will eventually run out of places for your skill set. Sure, employers are angry about the cost of setting up interviews that never happen, but that's a newer GOP created problem:
Counter Point: While Rep. O'Connor struggles to identify a failed GOP job search requirement, Democratic Rep. Katrina Shankland points out how this is really an attack on workers, ignoring what unemployment insurance was designed to do. The difference in actual governing is shocking:
Shankland: "This is an insurance program you earned, because you worked...what my colleagues across the aisle intended to do with this legislation is one missed interview, one car breaking down, one losing your childcare slot for the day or week, and you would lose unemployment for that week as well."Bottom line? Republican would rather punish workers than have to deal with the complexities of the insurance program itself. Oh, and more importantly, Republican want to lower the cost to employers for the insurance program. See how they did it below the video...
From February 2016: Here's how Republicans help businesses, but then screws and punishes workers...and taxpayers:
The Dirty Little Funding Secret: Republicans and employers hate putting money into the state's unemployment fund so much that they conceived the scam below. This is corporate welfare on steroids, from a posted I wrote July 11, 2013:
jsonline: Under changes to the state's unemployment insurance system adopted by the Legislature's budget committee Wednesday, taxpayers would spend $26 million over two years to prop up the unemployment fund, To avoid having employers face new assessments this year, the committee voted to use $26 million in general tax dollars to pay down interest on that loan.
Think that’s bad? Taxpayers will be used to scam the federal government. Republican will borrow our hard-earned taxpayer dollars to shore up the unemployment fund, so the fed won’t raise taxes on EMPLOYERS, the ones who actually fund the account.
Additionally, the committee proposal would allow the state Department of Administration to lend up to $50 million in taxpayer money to the unemployment insurance fund. That loan would help the state ensure that the unemployment fund has a positive balance in 2014, which in turn would keep the federal government from raising taxes on employers by $191 million in 2015.
Instead of employers taking responsibility for funding their own insurance program, Walker Republicans have shifted that liability over to taxpayers. All is well in "Stand with Walker" land.