Legal Loan Sharking in a Pandemic
The state's abominable unemployment system hits a new low.
Ohio’s unemployment system is a sham, which is just how our Republican leaders want it. Heaven forbid a laid-off workers would have a breeze earning the money to which they’re legally entitled.
Our already underfunded employment system wasn’t prepared for record layoffs in the wake of COVID-19. Our state he already paid out more unemployment benefits in the first six months of the year than in any previous year.
The result of the underfunding will be the state having to pay back a massive loan, with interest.
From Jason Scott and Chris Rivera of fox19.com:
More than two weeks ago the state asked the federal government for a $3.1 billion loan, to make sure everyone who is approved, gets paid. When it comes time to pay that loan back, the state may need more than $3.1 billion, because Ohio does not meet the federal requirements needed to borrow money without interest.
U.S. Department of Labor statistics show Ohio’s Unemployment Trust Fund did not have enough money in it to be able to pay benefits for a year should an economic downturn happen. It’s called the “solvency rate” and is the criteria used to decide whether a state can borrow without interest.
During the great recession, Ohio borrowed $3.4 billion from the federal government, then had to pay it back along with $258 million in interest. Department of Labor statistics show Ohio has the fourth-lowest solvency rate in the U.S.
Ohio has been unable to process millions of unemployment claims. Somehow we still have the resources to demand repayment from BW3’s employees who aren’t even accused of fraud!
From Cid Standifer of cincinnati.com:
Marnie Behan got a surprising message last month from Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services about her ongoing unemployment payments. Instead of sending her next unemployment payment, they said she needed to pay the department.
The bill was almost $3,000. She had 45 days to repay it, or the case would be sent to the Ohio Attorney General.
Since March 15, new claims have inundated the unemployment system at a level not seen since the Great Depression. People waited weeks and months to have their claims processed and money disbursed.
Here is where the evil really manifests: If a judgment is entered against you, you have to pay it back within 30 days from the date of the administrative decision or 14% interest is compounded against you monthly on the aggregate total.
Folks, there are loan sharks in the world that wish they had that kind of rocket.
So now the state will spend resources to harass unemployed workers to pay back thousands of dollars they already likely spent on things like food, rent, energy bills, etc.
These diabolical machinations will only cause further pain and turmoil on people whose only crime is wrongly filling out the intricate forms that they are encountering for the first time in their lives.
The primary responsibility of government is to protect its people. Our state government can’t even do that. They learned nothing from the Great Recession and will further cost us $280 million because we didn’t properly fund our unemployment system in the first place.
And that’s after COVID-19 sends our state budget off a cliff in the next fiscal year!
It should be mystifying how any Republican holds a statewide job in a state like Ohio when they clearly detest people who have to work for a living. However, it’s really not that surprising considering Ohio’s top Democrat is spending his time painting godawful portraits and promoting his Russiagate porno novella on Facebook:
I’m a firm believer in organization’s culture mirroring those at the top, and frankly I have yet to see any proof that David Pepper wants to win an election.
AMERICA MEETS MY LIL BUDDY
When I ran for Statehouse, Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) ran on the ticket a slot above me for State Senator against Paul Bradley (D-Dayton).
Needling Huffman at public candidate forums and calling him “lil buddy” (he’s like 6’6” 280 lbs) on Twitter was a guilty pleasure of mine. At the opening in the Piqua Forum, Huffman went into a diatribe about how “Mr. Byrnes keeps saying that Republicans are taking money from the corporations.” I did say that, but Huffman quickly realized that he wasn’t running against Mr. Byrnes — he was running against Mr. Bradley.
I still can’t believe Huffman won, but such was the power of Trump-loving rural voters, energized by Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed to the Supreme Court, overwhelming the Dayton Democrats. Four years later, this is the result:
From Laura A. Bischoff of daytondailynews.com:
“My point is I understand African Americans have a higher incidence of chronic conditions and it makes them more susceptible to death from COVID. But why it doesn’t make them more susceptible to just get COVID. Could it just be that African Americans or the colored population do not wash their hands as well as other groups or wear a mask or do not socially distance themselves? That could be the explanation of the higher incidence?” he said.
Color me shocked that a man from Tipp City, a city that openly shuns black people, is still referring to the “colored population” in 2020 and insinuating they was their hands less than other (read: whiter) populations.
Huffman is a physician by trade, and he clearly doesn’t understand the systemic racism within our healthcare system that has led to black people being more susceptible to COVID. As it always is with racists, the blame falls squarely on the blacks who simply can’t help themselves.
If he had an decency, he would resign. He won’t, though, because this comment will only gain him more voters in his neck of the woods.
Such is the name of the game in Columbus, where our legislators don’t even have the constitution to ban the flag of dead traitors from County Fairs:
Last I checked, Ohio fought for the Union. Not that that makes us a progressive racial bastion — far from it, actually. It does mean I fail to see why the flag of a “country” that killed 27,000 Ohioans should ever be flown in this state. It’s basically the PC version of a Nazi flag in this day and age.
Hey, at least the Ohio House passed a bill to make the sale of to-go cocktails from bars and restaurants final. We’ll see what the draconian ghouls have to say, but it’s clear I’m going to need more access to mind-numbing substances if I’m going to be condemned to life in this state.
THOSE WMDs. Cops across America have been exposed for posting racist and violent things online… Confessions of a former bastard cop… Miami will be underwater soon, but its drinking water could go first… It’s time to be honest about seafood… LeBron James and other NBA stars to form a voting rights group.