Arizona Daily Star schools “out of touch” Senator Jon Kyl

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Better late than never. Thanks for reading the blog. Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl, thinks the unemployed are just lazy – Blog For Arizona

Today the Arizona Daily Star schools Senator Obstruction, Jon "let then eat cake" Kyl, on what it means to be unemployed in Arizona. Does Kyl know how difficult AZ economy really is?:

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl's remark on the Senate floor Monday that government unemployment benefits are a "disincentive" for people to seek work is galling on its face. But for Arizonans, his comments are particularly cruel and demonstrate how little the Republican leader knows about the people he is supposed to represent.

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Unemployment benefits vary around the country, but in Arizona:

• The maximum unemployment benefit is $265 per week. The state pays $240 of that and the feds kick in $25. The state benefit lasts about six months. Then federal benefits take over the cost, but recipients must keep requalifying for the aid.

• As of last Saturday, 172,502 Arizonans were receiving unemployment checks. Of those, 82,000 people were on the federal programs that begin only when a person's state aid runs out, according to state Department of Economic Security spokesman Steve Meissner.

• Two years ago only 25,000 to 28,000 Arizonans were on unemployment and the federal extension programs didn't even exist. The number of Kyl's constituents receiving jobless aid has shot up six-fold since December 2008.

• Unemployment in Arizona remained at 9.2 percent in January, according to state figures. It was 8 percent a year earlier.

• Arizona lost 50,500 jobs just between December and January.

• Overall, 348,000 fewer Arizonans were working in January than had jobs three years ago, when employment peaked.

A person can receive unemployment benefits – state and federal combined – for a maximum of 99 weeks, according to Meissner.

"Our problem is more severe, proportionally, than other states," he said. "Those 82,000 people on federal benefits, they've already burned through their savings and are probably on their last dime.

"It's the difference between having a roof over your head or sleeping in your car," he said.

Which brings us to exactly how far that $265 per week will stretch.

• Rent averaged $643 per month in Tucson for the third quarter of 2009, according to Star archives.

• It costs $116.20 per week to feed a family of four with two young children on a "thrifty" meal plan, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The cost goes up by $17 a week if the two children are 6 or older.

• Transportation costs average $800 per month for a family with the median income, about $39,000, for Pima and Pinal counties, according to a study by the Center for Neighborhood Technology for the University of Arizona. While a person who loses a job can sell his vehicle, and reduce some expenditures, some transportation costs remain.

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And finally, assuming Kyl accepts his full salary, he is paid $3,346 per week in our tax dollars, plus he receives health and retirement benefits. That's how much he is receiving for the privilege of standing on the Senate floor and offering the "expert" analysis that extending unemployment benefits to people who are out of work in the worst economy since the Great Depression would be a "disincentive" for them to find a job.

Now that's just too rich to ignore.