Jobless benefits for Nebraskans will soon require a plan to get off them

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Paul Hammel

LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts unveiled a plan Tuesday to require Nebraskans who are receiving unemployment benefits to participate in a “re-employment” plan or lose those benefits.

Ricketts, in a press release, said Nebraska’s program will be unique in the nation. He said it should help workers find new jobs more quickly and help employers fill jobs in a state that has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

“This program provides the one-on-one assistance that workers need as they look to transition off unemployment benefits and into good jobs that fit their skills and experience,” the Republican governor said.

“Providing Nebraskans with an individualized plan as they seek new employment opportunities will aid them in expeditiously re-entering the workforce,” he said.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/jobless-benefits-for-nebraskans-will-soon-require-a-plan-to/article_38ced081-9449-5fd9-97ae-638e7efe2721.html

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They should ALL vote DEMOCRAT is a plan!

[Thinkingabout]

1. This is good, if I was without a job and got an opportunity to retrain to obtain employment I would

think I was going to be able to provide for myself.

[Recursion]

2. This could be good if done well

Or very bad if done poorly

[mrmpa]

4. Mostly done badly............

I've been there sort of. Back in 2008 I broke my hip at work. A botched surgery left me in severe pain. I couldn't stand or sit for any period of time without crying because of the pain. A "plan" to get me off of workers comp was to get me a job assembling electronics at $10 an hour & standing for 8 hours. Mind you I have a Master's degree and was making $50,000 a year before the injury and I have no expertise in electronics.

So my take on this, is that there will be little training & it will just be a plan to fill the lower paid ranks & just add to the economic disparity in the US.

[Thinkingabout]

7. I thought the post was taking about unemployment benefits?

[mrmpa]

14. it is.........

and I thought that my go around in another instance where there was "training" involved would show how badly it was offered in one program & it could be translated into the way it might be utilized in another program.

[Thinkingabout]

16. Did you benefit from the training?

[mrmpa]

17. No..........

because there was no training, it was just a way to bump me off workers comp and into any job at 65% less than I was making. The 'trainers" would just find jobs they thought you might be able to do . There was no thought into whether or not you could do the job or if you had any interest in it.

[Thinkingabout]

6. I am an optimistic, my glass is half full. Getting a new skill for employment is better and gives a

way to provide for myself. Why all the negative thoughts, we say we want to give a better opportunities for hard working people and when it happens it is met with negativity.

[Thor_MN]

5. There's no retraining involved with this

It's to "find you a job that fits your skills."

Since it is so rare to find a Republican to do more than talk about jobs (notice that they are not even doing that lately) I am skeptical. My guess is that it would be to find you a job that pays less than your old job. More of a shopping center for businesses to find "motivated" labor willing to accept any offer.

[mrmpa]

15. Bingo.....

we have a winner.

[Drahthaardogs]

52. Rickets is a tea bagger.

I would expect the worst.

[Orrex]

3. It's always nice to see an additional burden dumped on the downtrodden

[Thinkingabout]

8. So are you saying no help would be better? How

[Orrex]

9. No, that's not what I'm saying.

[Thinkingabout]

12. I guess I do not understand your statement about an addition burden.

[LanternWaste]

20. That's very surprising, indeed.

"I guess I do not understand..."


That's very surprising, indeed.

[Human101948]

26. These things are usually designed to make the politicians look good and punish the unemployed...

It's a little more obvious with welfare and food stamps, but this is another version of the cynical and sadistic approach to those who need some type of assistance.

[Thinkingabout]

27. Guess some people would rather remain the same than try to better themselves.

[Human101948]

29. If these programs were effectuive I would be with you all the way...

but as many others here with firsthand experience have pointed out, they are not.

Take out a loan and get trained by a for-profit school. Time after time those guys have been busted because their objective is to get their hands on federal dollars and they provide useless training.

Screw U: How For-Profit Colleges Rip You Off
The for-profit college industry makes a killing while handing out expensive degrees that fizzle in the real world
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/for-profit-college-student-debt

[Thinkingabout]

30. A program is only as strong as he weakest link. Do you look at every offer as failure even before

you try? Become optimistic, the tomorrows can be the best days of your life.

[Thinkingabout]

43. Excuses does not produce rewarding outcomes. What do you think could assist you to find

Gainful employment?

[libdem4life]

41. Perhaps you're missing at least one of the points. Let's say a teacher gets laid off. She is

scurried off to the State Employment Office. They suggest she work as a telemarketer...what with all her verbal skills and all. Or a daycare center for minimum wage. No? OK, then guess you don't want to work.

That's hardly bettering yourself. Or, a manufacturing job goes at say $18 an hour (?) and rather than unemployment s/he is offered a job at a retail store...clerking.

There is very seldom an "uptick"...training costs too much and is usually not even available.

That's the real world.

[Thinkingabout]

44. What is the result if retraining is refused and the unemployment benefits end?

[libdem4life]

46. This is the other missed point...there used to be training schools...mostly for computers.

Just curious as to what area of the US provides real retraining facilities for a real job for decent pay. And no $5 an hour isn't acceptable...with gas, and work clothes, and daycare, and lunch, etc. You'd go in the hole...is that OK for the wonderful experience of going to slave labor every day...leaving your kids with other, etc?

I think you're a bit behind the times.

Peace out.

[Thinkingabout]

48. My question is what is the plan after the unemployment benefits cease?

Do you have a better plan than retraining. BTW, my job ended because of technology, I retrained, no I am not behind the times, I know the one who is in the best position to help me is myself. I did not allow this to end my work.

[libdem4life]

49. Then I misunderstood. During unemployment is the time to shake the trees and rattle the bushes.

There are always sales jobs. That's what I do, other than teach school, and I can get a job any time I want and you can bet it's not teach school.

Some pay better than others. But to assume everyone can do what I did, or find something and be trained...not so much. I'd guess that you had to learn computer technology of some kind if it ended your job. That's still around some. But others, not so much.

Blue collar training is either terribly expensive...i.e. DeVry et al, just like college tuition, or non-existent. But it's surely a tricky thing these days and every situation is different.

[Orrex]

33. I would have responded sooner, but you replied to yourself instead of me.

So I didn't see your post.


I already explained what I mean by "additional burden," but I'll spell it out again:

It is "an additional burden" to require an unemployed person to jump through hoops to obtain benefits to which they are already entitled. As was already noted, this is a stunt wholly and purely intended to make politicians look better, earning them political capital on the backs of the most vulnerable.

Your statement about "bettering yourself" is patronizing bullshit. I know people with advanced degrees who've suffered though months--and in some cases years--of unemployment because no jobs were available. These people have already spend years and many thousands of dollars to educate themselves in their chosen fields, an you would require them to take a course in basketweaving in order to qualify for money to which they are entitled. Can you really claim that the remedial course offered by the state will improve the engineer's chances at finding suitable employment, if he's facing $1200 per month in student loan debt?

Your statements about "optimism" and "a brighter tomorrow" are also patronizing bullshit, spoken like someone who imagines that they've suffered through far worse life experiences than they have. Tell the single mother who just lost her job and will soon lose her house that she should be "optimistic" and that "a brighter tomorrow" is on the way. I'm sure she'll be receptive to your pollyanna platitudes.

Your statements are exactly in line with GOP attitudes toward the poor and the downtrodden. Why?

[Thinkingabout]

34. No, I have participated in retraining programs, it was to makeme better, had nothing to do with who

Was suggesting the retraining programs. I knew my job was ending and I still needed to remain in the work force for a few more years. My statement is completely in line with a working American and your statement of being in line with the GOP is not true about everyone, you can speak for yourself but not everyone else.

[Orrex]

35. I would venture to say that I speak for more than you do

Also, since 85% of the new jobs available are in service or retail, exactly what.useful training do you envision for these unemployed engineers?

Was your unemployment compensation contingent upon jumping through those hoops? When? In what state? If it was not contingent, then your experience is irrelevant to the proposal now at issue.

[Thinkingabout]

36. Even if the pay was $5 an hour it is $5 more than nothing.

[Orrex]

37. And Americans need to work longer hours, right?

Even if the pay was $5 an hour it is $5 more than nothing.

Tell you what--find me that single mother I mentioned above, the one who's lost her job and is losing her house, and ask her to tell you how much better than nothing $5 really is.

I notice that you failed to answer my direct and relevant questions, replying with nothing more than a vapid subject line. Typically that means either that you've realized that you have no argument, or else you're so lazy that you can't be bothered to support your claims.

I'm going to be largely offline for two days. If you can't do better than reciting the GOP's playbook, don't expect another response from me.

I hope for your sake that you never have to face unemployment under the strictures that you would impose upon others.

[libdem4life]

42. I sense there is an generation gap here...just a thought.

[hibbing]

10. Ahhh, inherited billionaire seeks to help the unemployed

In his own special way. This nutjob is going to do a lot of damage to the state I love so much. He has some consultant he is paying who holds some weird non official position, he is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars out of his own deep pockets to try get the death penalty on the ballot since the legislature overrode his veto abolishing it. I wonder what is up his slimy sleeve next.

Peace

[catrose]

11. Um, most employed people I know have a plan

It's called "Get another job because unemployed benefits cover food or rent but not both." And they spend days sending resumes, making calls, attending training. Does Governor Ricketts know if there are jobs to be had in Nebraska? How does he intend to help people over 50, freshouts with little experience, and felons, all of who have difficulties in finding employment? (And that's not an exhaustive list.)

So the plan could be great, but the tone sounds like it puts the burden on the worker.

[Thinkingabout]

13. If the person is unemployed and is getting benefits they can get training for other jobs while

they are not working.

[mrmpa]

18. Training.........

once back in the early '90's I was unemployed. I tried to get into a training program that was offered by the State. It was for certification in (I forget exactly, but it was associated with computers). Something I have an interest in. I went to the informative session & was told that since my unemployment benefits would be exhausted in 3 weeks and the training started in 4 weeks, I would have to pay for the training which was approximately $5,000. Which I didn't have.

I am totally cynical and apprehensive about any type of "training programs" that the States would like to use. I agree with the other posters who wonder if Nebraska has the jobs available for people or not. I would think they may not & this is the way just to fill the fodder of companies who will underpay & undervalue Nebraska

[Thinkingabout]

21. Are you still unemployed?

[mrmpa]

22. Sort of........

I'm driving for Lyft and Uber. It's income, but nowhere what I was making. Every day I'm sending out resumes and responding to emails.

[Thinkingabout]

23. Maybe a little layout perhaps in a student loan would have really helped you to secure decent

employment. You could have paid the student loans back and provided yourself a better income.

[mrmpa]

28. I have a BA in

History and a Masters in Teaching. Broke the hip while teaching. Three years of rehab, they couldn't hold my job & I can't find a teaching job. Looking elsewhere.

[Thor_MN]

19. Again, the only training involved with this is how to use the state's job search tool.

There is no job training or retraining in this legislation.

[Sunlei]

25. I thought persons on unemployment had to report on jobs they apply for?

[Doctor Who]

40. In PA that's how it works.

In PA unless you have a verified re-hire date, you have to register and participate in their job finder program. ( post a resume, show that you have been applying for jobs. )

[restorefreedom]

31. call me skeptical

i would be more optimistic if it involved real training or retraining for trade or paraprofessional positions. sounds like they want to push people into crappy wage jobs so their business friends make more money and they get the tax revenue.

this is what did it for me "...help employers fill jobs in a state that has the lowest employment rate in the country."

this is about getting workers for the 1% not about improving the quality of life of out of work people.

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. wow.makes assumption unemployed are sitting on their asses

[Orrex]

38. Sadly, that's a common assumption even in this thread.

[Live and Learn]

53. +1 And it is disheartneing to see. nt

[I_Like_Hammers]

39. People need MONEY, not a “re-employment plan!!!"

[libdem4life]

45. Do they still sell encyclopedias door to door? ... or vacuum cleaners? ...how about cable?

[olddots]

47. this scum muffin should be hosbitalized

before he hurts himself .

WHAT A DUMB SUB HUMAN MORON .

[Bradical79]

50. I don't mind the idea...

But I have little confidence the implementation won't end up screwing people. How often does a Republican plan concerning benefits not end up being a clusterfuck?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. How about a statistic.

Because the government has shut down basic research in biomedicine, 80% of the Ph.D.s who formerly worked in basic research are now unemployed.

They don't want educated people or anyone over 35 that might have skills. Some years ago I looked for a legal assistant job (I have a Juris Doctor and also was a court reporter and legal secretary for 25 years combined). I went through my law school's job placement office. That was a joke.

In two years of looking I got one interview.

Oh hey but I got a large nice looking piece of paper that says "Doctor of Jurisprudence" on it and my name.