Tom Corbett is a major ass. If this is his view of Pennsylvania's labor force (the "working man"), just IMAGINE what he thinks about people relying on the safety net for survival.
From Capitol Ideas:
According to our podcasting pal, Scott Detrow, of Pennsylvania Public Radio,the two-term attorney general told reporters that "the jobs are there," but that many people are purposely remaining unemployed to to collect benefits.
According to Detrow's report, Corbett said he's heard a similar message from business owners across the state.
?One of the issues, and I hear it repeatedly ? one of the individuals said, ?I can?t get workers. People don?t want to come back to work while they still have unemployment.? They?re literally telling him, ?I?ll come back to work when unemployment runs out.? That?s becoming a problem.?
Corbett added, ?The jobs are there. But if we keep extending unemployment, people are just going to sit there ... I?ve literally had construction companies tell me, I can?t get people to come back to work until?they say, 'I?ll come back to work when unemployment runs out.'?
Capitol Ideas has links to soundbytes.
I don't know anyone who wants to be on unemployment. I interview probably 5-10 people per month and receive dozens more resumes from people who want to work. Unfortunately, most of them are not qualified for our jobs, but it is amazing to see the breadth of their backgrounds. Ironically, a LOT of folks are people who were laid off from a human services position and took up a laborer job to feed their families. They want back into their field (and probably want health insurance).
Would you make more from uninsurance than we can pay? In some cases, probably yes -- but I've yet to meet someone who sees it as a good tradeoff if for no other reason than they realize that the job might be gone when they are "ready".
Can you imagine what this man will do to human service funding if has this sort of contempt for Pennsylvania's workers?
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