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Has anyone heard of the term people have given to the unemployed population in the United States who have been on the unemployment benefit system for more than 99 weeks? I guess they are calling them the 99ers. I saw this video and I found it to be quite shocking:

YouTube - Unemployment Benefits: The 99ers!

What do you guys think? Should we give the banksters a few more trillion to bailout the "mortgage industry" or have we finally had enough in this country?

In less than 6 months she used up all her savings and lost her house?? She's an idiot.

All these people - hell the whole society - bought into the myth that hard times were only a subject for history books and lived beyond their means without emergency savings, and now instead of banding together to build a business, as did the man & his son who bought a franchise, they band together to moan that they can't find a "suitable" job.

This recession/depression is doing us a world of good, longterm, if we can keep Washington from screwing it up. If we can keep Washington from screwing it up, we will again become a nation of savers, who don't take the future for granted.

As for the banks ... yeh, we'd be well on our way back if Washington - BOTH administrations! - had taken that couple trillion dollars they gave to rich people so that they would be able to afford that big campaign contribution next election time, and instead given a check to every citizen. We'd also be well on our way if they had done nothing at all.

I agree with AC on all his points. Thank heavens me and my wife have a little sense. I'm not making a lot of money and we still manage to save a little every month. I look for little victories and learn to wait for things. I just repaired my 14 year old 36 in TV. I had to replace the power supply capacitor on the main board, it took 2 weeks to find the problem, find and order the part and install it. Cost? $16. Cost of a new TV? 500 to 2000.

We really need to get back to the basics and get a lot smarter.

Oh, I guess you could consider me a 99er. No decent employment for going on 2 years now. I spent 4 months on the dole and went to work for a temp service before I went crazy. It suits me well as we do have a small business on the side. We make it.

Two of the best things that happened to me since I moved to San Antonio happened because I was unemployed or "underemployed." I volunteered to work for 4 months with the Red Cross during the Katrina evacuation, which some of the old-timers will remember is documented here. I also took a temp job to keep from going crazy & worked with a cabinet installer for $7 an hour. Learned tons of useful skills that saved me thousands since, and I made some lasting friendships to boot.