Anyone switching to a credit union with what's going on?

[Hatta]

The problem with the social safety net is that it is very hard to craft a system that serves the intended purpose of helping people going through a temporary job transition without allowing people to game the system (either through long term unemployment or a on-again, off-again situation).

If you people were half as concerned about the super rich gaming the system as you are about the poor gaming the system we wouldn't have half the unemployed we have today. If you were honestly concerned about the costs of fraud, you would start with the most costly fraud, that which crashed the economy.

[o.pwuaioc]

The problem with the social safety net is that it is very hard to craft a system that serves the intended purpose of helping people going through a temporary job transition without allowing people to game the system (either through long term unemployment or a on-again, off-again situation).

If you people were half as concerned about the super rich gaming the system as you are about the poor gaming the system we wouldn't have half the unemployed we have today. If you were honestly concerned about the costs of fraud, you would start with the most costly fraud, that which crashed the economy.

^This.

[Flake]

So you assert that more money is lost to the wealthy for "gaming the system" than is lost to people on welfare who have not tried to get off of it? How do you come to that conclusion when our welfare state is as rampant as it is today? Where are you getting information to support this idea?

[mjmjr25]

(tries to get away from this debate that is just going know where, no one at this point is persuading either side through rhetoric, right now I think it futile to continue anything but JT's original question, sadly name-calling and uncited opinions presented as fact have derailed what could be an informative debate).

I've always belonged to a credit union, a couple of them. I also have accounts at 2 banks, I think it wise to keep monies diversified (for all the obvious reasons). I also invest in physical assets to have even greater control of MY finances. I actually have a coffee can, yes, buried in the backyard. It only has I think $200 in it. The idea was to slowly add $20 here, $50 there and one day have an emergency fund if crap went haywire and banks / cu's closed a la "its a wonderful life". Unfortunately, its much easier to direct deposit income into my accounts than it is to dig up a coffee can over and over.

[noiseredux]

I actually have a coffee can, yes, buried in the backyard. It only has I think $200 in it.

thank you google maps -- $200, here I come!

[Flake]

I actually have a coffee can, yes, buried in the backyard. It only has I think $200 in it.

thank you google maps -- $200, here I come!

Mjmjr25's house does not show up on google maps.

[noiseredux]

Mjmjr25's house does not show up on google maps.

I see you've already beat me to the $200. Nicely played, Flake. Nicely played.

[mjmjr25]

I actually have a coffee can, yes, buried in the backyard. It only has I think $200 in it. It is triggered with a guillotine trigger mechanism, so if anyone steps within 3' of the area and have not disabled it with the security key, they will be headed. This elaborate setup cost $201.

thank you google maps -- $200, here I come!

Edited my original post, sorry for the original brevity. Please, stop on by.

[J T]

So you assert that more money is lost to the wealthy for "gaming the system" than is lost to people on welfare who have not tried to get off of it? How do you come to that conclusion when our welfare state is as rampant as it is today? Where are you getting information to support this idea?

Unemployment costs about $150 billion in a year (very gross estimate). The financial bailout for the economic crash is estimated at 13 trillion. That's roughly 86 years of paying for unemployment (not accounting for inflation). Granted, I'm doing some pretty inexact science here. Large scale bailouts like that don't happen very often, but when they do, they are devastating (though they supposedly save us from something far worse). There are also a lot of large (but comparably smaller) bailouts that happen every decade (Remember Lockheed in the 70s, Savings & Loan in the 80s/90s, and the airline industry in 00's. Unemployment is a constant money drain, but it provides an important service to the people legitimately trying to get back on their feet. So many folks live paycheck to paycheck that without unemployment pay, they just crash and become homeless, which creates new costs as we have to deal with that.

Basically, I think Hatta makes a very good point because there is more money to be lost per person responsible by focusing on the super rich gaming the system, whereas there is much less money lost per person by focusing on the poor gaming the system. I say, go for the big bad. I think people don't like that though because they mistakenly equate money with respect, even when that money wasn't earned respectfully.

[MrPopo]

I actually have a coffee can, yes, buried in the backyard. It only has I think $200 in it. It is triggered with a guillotine trigger mechanism, so if anyone steps within 3' of the area and have not disabled it with the security key, they will be headed. This elaborate setup cost $201.

thank you google maps -- $200, here I come!

Edited my original post, sorry for the original brevity. Please, stop on by.

That reminds me of a story I heard on the radio this morning. Some idiot here in Seattle built a guillotine, tied a tourniquet around his arm, cut off his arm with the guillotine, then went to the hospital. They were unable to reattach his arm. His response: "I'd rather lose a part of my arm then a part of my soul."