Bait and Switch: Unemployment Debauchery in Colorado

 

So here is a couple of stories I found amusing.  The first, that Colorado overpaid  128 million in unemployment benefits last year.

Colorado Asks Unemployed To Pay Back $128 Million In Jobless Benefits

And now they are seeking a return on their um…  investment.   The unemployed folks who received the money are being held accountable for the clerical errors.

But wait.. there is more.  It’s not bad enough that these people are having a hard time finding a job and the state is not doing them any favors…

Springs Unemployment rate jumps to 9.7 percent in July

So not only can these people not find work, they now have a bill hanging over their head that I am sure is freaking them out.  On top of that, if they are unable to pay the bill, the state will be happy to garnish your wages when you do find employment.
Something stinks about all of this.  Look, I am not saying that these people are entitled to the overpaid benefits.  In fact, IF they received extra checks and knew they were cashing them, then that is damn near stealing.  However, if these people were being paid to much by the state and the oversight was a clerical error in the calculation, then you are simply kicking people when they are down.

The whole Unemployment Insurance assistance is a mess, just like a lot of other government run programs.   Last year, across the United States, we overpaid 5.1 billion in unemployment benefits.  That’s BILLION with a B.   But for Colorado this seems like an alarming trend.  Last year, it recovered $73 million in unemployment benefits it over paid.  So Colorado has an amazing track record on unemployment.
It’s track record on employment is not much better either.  These people who are still unemployed are unable to find work.  Let’s put this in perspective.  Colorado Springs, which is now nearly as large as Denver is unable to employ some of these same citizens that the Unemployment Department is demanding money from.

The area’s unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in July 2011. The July 2012 rate was just 0.2 percentage points below the record 9.9 percent reached in October 2010.

And the forecast is not positive either.  People in the “know” are finally noticing what the unemployed have been trying to say since May, when Colorado unexpectedly  decided that Unemployment was better and cut State Extended benefits.  

The Colorado Springs economy seems to be “toying” with a recession, said Tom Binnings, a senior partner of Summit Economics, a Colorado Springs economic research and consulting firm.

“The local economy is weakening,” Binnings said. “I anticipate continued weakness this year and a significant hit next year” if automatic cuts take effect in January under deficit reduction legislation passed by Congress last year.

We have known this for a while now.  So where does that leave us?  Well, with elections coming in November, just keep this in mind when thinking about where we’re at and where we’re going.  Because I will say this much, where we’re at sucks and it sure doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better.