“Sending millionaires unemployment checks is a case study in out-of control spending. Providing welfare to the wealthy undermines the program for those who need it most while burdening future generations with senseless debt.”-Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator for Oklahoma
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report revealed that 2,362 people in the same class as Mitt Romney (millionaires), who publicly decry government help, actually got unemployment money from the government in 2009!
Even more the year before that: 2,840 millionaires got unemployment money in 2008!
But wait there’s more!
People with incomes between $100,000 USD and one million dollars also got unemployment money; 954,000 in 2009 and 816,700 in 2008!!!
Lets put this in a better perspective. Middle and lower class unemployed persons get an average of $300 per week for 37 weeks (if they’re approved, for some reason the state of Idaho always finds some excuse to deny my unemployment claims. The last excuse was that I didn’t make enough income during the “reporting period”. The reporting period didn’t even cover all the months I was employed with my last employer).
Here’s what millionaires get for unemployment (according to a Bloomberg article): Income between $1 million and $5 million averaged $11,113 per week for 37 weeks of unemployment!
Income between $5 million and $10 million averaged $18,351 per week of unemployment!
Income more than $10 million averaged $12,333 per week!
But wait, there’s more!
Unemployment compensation is paid for by federal and state taxes (here in Idaho the state taxes come from the employers, who actually get part of that refunded based on number of unemployment claims made against their companies. Several Idaho Job Service employees have confided to me that the system is set up to favor the employers, because Job Service is mainly funded by those employer taxes).
The Library of Congress CRS report shows that the majority of unemployed (middle and lower classes) make up the lion’s share of tax filers yet get the pauper’s pittance in unemployment help. The report shows that the higher the income the smaller the share of tax filings.
In 2009, unemployed people who had incomes between one dollar and $100,000 made up 91.07% of tax filers.
Unemployed people who had incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 made up only 7.3%!
Incomes between $200,000 and $500,000 only 1.06%!!
Incomes between $500,000 and $1 million only 0.07%!!!
Unemployed people who had incomes more than $1 million made up only 0.02% of tax filers in the United States!!!!
The CRS report, titled Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by
Higher-Income Unemployed Workers (“Millionaires”), was released back in August, but is only now hitting the mainstream media!
What was that about the rich bastards and bitches getting richer and richer?