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David Freddoso of The Washington Examiner weighs in on the job market and unemployment benefits.
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More than 40% of the nearly five million Americans who receive unemployment insurance benefits.
Are set to lose those if federal programmes expire as scheduled at the end of the year up.
David to -- and so is the editorial page editor for the Washington examiner joining us now from the nation's capital.
Is now a good time to let them expire David.
Well you know this there there really is no good solution now because this has been handled so poorly since the beginning of the Obama's stimulus package when.
Benefits were extended and and this is a very 99 weeks is what it was and that such a long time to lengthen benefits.
You put people in a position where.
They -- they'll keep looking and they'll hold out for jobs that are way better than anything that's available and in this economy right now.
There is nothing.
At any there's nothing decent available especially people.
In the age 25 to 54 age bracket.
They're not getting any of the jobs back that they lost in the -- crash -- if you look at the numbers that age group -- staggering all the growth is an old people so.
You know you.
You basically put a whole generation people's careers on hold and they think they can hold out.
They don't have to move to another town to find a job that they don't have to settle for a job that's worse than it is and any it you know.
You've you've basically two years of unemployment benefits you you're giving people too much time to decide what level they had to be employed -- These benefits could you mentioned the not a not weeks they have been street shrinking like.
The longest benefits now at -- are in New York State in every -- three weeks 73 weeks and other states like Nevada and California.
So they had been slowly.
Lessening is that the right way to go instead of letting these disappear for.
These millions of Americans.
You know it's it's marginally better you don't want it all the happen at once that's for you -- 40% of the people on unemployment out like war as what happened at the end of the year nothing's done.
And yeah that's that's a disaster -- this has been healed so badly from the beginning.
-- you're now at the point where you've got all all these people already who are forced to take part time jobs the job market is is just terrible you can't throw everyone out there all once.
Blatant you know we got into this mess by a creating it for ourselves once again by making the benefits too long to begin with.
We've we've created -- situation -- now everybody is suddenly being.
Either you're gonna have everywhere and suddenly weaned off of them or gorgeous.
Ripped off of them or you're gonna have this huge huge fall off over time do you.
Think though the economy is then.
You you let these people if these unemployment benefits expire.
Given what we're dealing with -- automatic tax increases in spending cuts.
US AMT the Alternative Minimum Tax it could hit 33 million households.
For -- twelve and that's for this current tax year.
That the congress once again has not fixed.
Given the state of the tax code an unemployment benefits you name it are we doomed to have a very slow economy if not a recession.
Next year.
Well you know I am not an economic forecaster -- it really all sounds -- every trend we're seeing right now looks pretty bad to me.
Did we have this data six mocking this -- oil and gas boom it's basically keeping the economy on life support right now you look at how many jobs -- sustaining about.
I think it's one point seven million right now -- one point eight million.
-- absent that I don't even know where we.
David is great talk to thank you so much -- -- we will these billionaires and I've got a great holiday.
Are we're gonna talk.
