Freedom of Expression
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Indian method to finance projects! Donations!
Given below is an excerpt from a US bulletin. It clearly shows that the unemployment compensation is recovered from the other employers by way of tax.
In these bad days US government should actually try something which British Imperial Government in India had successfully tried. During British raj Governor of Bombay Province would give parties to respectable citizens of erstwhile Bombay city and during the meet a request for free contributions was made. Contribution would flow freely to get special favor of the Governor and that fund would be used for the noble cause for which the request was made. That way without any extra taxes government was collecting considerable fund for worthy causes. Many hospitals, markets, roads and water tanks were built using these funds. This was not putting any burden for raising funds on ordinary poor people. At the same time there was no compulsion on the rich to contribute per force and so whatever was given was out of the free will of the contributors. Each donation was appreciated by a special “thanks giving” and that added to the respectability of the donors! This was one of the things that had made British rule popular amongst common people. And they ruled for more than a century!
I suggest we must revive this method of collecting funds for worthy causes and in that our Governor will host a party and invite, wealthy gentlemen (!) who have made money in this city, for the party and request for the contribution. It is recorded in the British chronicles that wealthy men were vying with each other for contributing the maximum and that way a lot of money was collected. The same thing will be possible now. One thing I must mention that these wealthy men would get special considerations for their applications for import, export or manufacturing licenses and government contracts. That way the British Governor would pay back for the contribution! Lord Hamilton has recorded in his chronicles, in that he justifies the special favors to the donors by the governor, “the worthy cause was primarily the responsibility of the government and thus such contributions by noble men was like a helping hand to the government and so that helping hand is appreciated by these special considerations.”
As for USA, the rich people are many more and if they decide to collect 1000 billion USD to help their government present crisis can be easily overcome. But here we see that the federal Government is not touching the overflowing purse of the rich and continues to tax poor employers (all employers are not rich even in America). This is American Justice! One must know that the wealth that has vanished due to recession is actually in the purse of multinational Corporations and so they can be asked to contribute for the noble cause and that way taxing people can be avoided.
As I studied more I came to know that this method of collecting funds is not originated by British but it was prevalent in India since early times. Ancient Hindu kings and later on Muslim and Maratha rulers practiced it frequently.
Below given is the excerpt from a US bulletin
“How many Americans who thought they would never need unemployment compensation now desperately need unemployment compensation? By the end of March, the U.S. unemployment rate had hit 8.5 percent. More than 13 million workers had lost their jobs and an average of 656,750 Americans a week were turning in their first-ever applications for unemployment compensation. So, how does unemployment compensation work and who pays for it? Where does the money to pay those benefits come from? How does unemployment compensation work?”
Defense against Economic Despair
The federal-state unemployment compensation (UC) program was created as part of the Social Security Act of 1935, in response to the Great Depression. Millions of people who had lost their jobs were unable to buy goods and services, which just led to more layoffs. Sound familiar? Today, unemployment compensation represents the first and perhaps last line of defense against the ripple effect of joblessness. Then intention of the program is to provide eligible, unemployed workers with a weekly income adequate to allow them to afford the necessities of life, including food, shelter and clothing while they look for new jobs.
Costs are truly Shared by Federal and State Government
Operating as a federal-state partnership, UC is based on federal law, but administered by the states. The UC program is unique among U.S. social insurance programs in that it is funded almost totally by either federal or state taxes paid by employers.
Currently, employers pay federal unemployment taxes of 6.2 percent on the first $7,000 earned by each of their employees during a calendar year. These federal taxes are used to cover the costs of administering the UC programs in all states. In addition, the federal UC taxes pay one-half of the cost of extended unemployment benefits (during periods of high unemployment) and provide for a fund from which states may borrow, if necessary, to pay benefits.
State UC tax rates vary from state-to-state. State UC taxes may be used only to pay benefits to unemployed workers. The state UC tax rate paid by employers is based on the state’s current unemployment rate. As their unemployment rates go up, the states are required by federal law to raise the UC tax rate paid by employers.
Almost all wage and salary workers are now covered by the federal-state UC program. Railroad workers are covered by a separate federal program. Ex-service members with recent service in the Armed Forces and civilian federal employees are covered by a federal program, with the states paying benefits from federal funds as agents of the federal government.
How Long Do UC Benefits Last?
Most states currently pay UC benefits to eligible unemployed workers for up to 26 weeks. In periods of very high and rising unemployment nationwide or in individual states, “extended benefits” may be paid for as long as 13 to 46 additional weeks, depending on state law. The cost of the “extended benefits” is paid equally from state and federal funds.
The 2009 economic stimulus bill – The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – provided for an extra 33 weeks of extended UC payments to workers whose benefits were scheduled to expire at the end of March 2009. The bill also increased the UC benefits paid to some 20 million jobless workers by $25 per week.
During the final quarter of 2008, the UC program paid about $34.9 billion in benefits to some 8 million unemployed workers.
In all states, only workers determined to have lost their jobs through no fault of their own are eligible to receive UC benefits. In other words in all states, if you are fired or quit voluntarily, you probably will not be eligible for UC benefits.
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