Normally the things that Piney says on here do nothing but totally p**s me off. However, on this subject (even though this is painfull to say) I have to agree. The point behind my original reply to this string was this: This is the United States of America, a nation founded on freedom and the right to pursue something better. The government granted an extension to the unemployment benefits since the economy WAS so bad and jobs WERE hard to find in some parts of the country, however that has changed. That was something that they did not have to do nor was it something that any of us were "owed". Notice also that no other workgroup in this country has EVER gotten the kind of preferential treatment that laid off airline workers are getting. There has never been an instance when mass layoffs led to an extension of unemployment benefits, government led training efforts, and governement led job locating efforts. Perhaps not all areas of the country were as lucky as some, but where I am the feds and state government did provide those opportunities for us, but to help us, not because it was owed to us. The only thing we are guaranteed is freedom, anything else you have to earn.
To hit on another reply to this string... I normally agree with UAL777, but in this instance I disagree. You can tell a big difference between Republicans and Democrats. I realize that this is not a political forum, however I can with upmost certainity state that the Democrats are the ones yelling "write our congressional reps and our Senators for we are owed more for this, it's not our fault". Also, all Republicans are not "big business". That was very evident after the votes to give help to the laid off workers.
Keep in mind as well, that any tax breaks given to laid off or "furloughed" airline employees will not be received well by the rest of the country, or by some airline employees either. Any reduction in fiscal responsibilty in the form of tax cuts to one group will have to be made up in the form of tax hikes to individuals and corporations.