33 States Out of Money to Fund Jobless Benefits

Unemployment benefits are part of what little us Americans have when it comes to a social safety net, which is steadily ripping away more all the time. But in order to fund these benefits, the states must now borrow from the federal government, which is quite broke themselves. Something has to give eventually.

This passage from the article made me laugh though:

Financing experts suggest that states build up their jobless benefit coffers during strong economic times so that they can draw from them during downturns.

Since when does one need to be a "financing expert" to offer that piece of wisdom? Sounds like mere common sense to me, something that the financial movers-and-shakers in many of our state governments appear to lack.

And, BTW, ten of the thirteen states who seem to be able to fund jobless benefits without borrowing from the feds, followed that simple recipe described above. Too bad mine (NY) isn't one of them; in fact, it's one of the biggest offenders, tied with Michigan and only behind California.