In California, fraudsters stole more than $30B in unemployment benefits in 2020 alone. How could that same amount have helped the state’s

Stimulus payments were income limited based on AGI from tax returns. What other type of limit do you propose? And what do you mean by checking on those who received the payments? Is that even feasible given the US population?

So, let's say your income last year was $50,000.  You would be entitled to a stimulus payment.  But, you are still employed and earning $50,000 this year, perhaps more if you got a raise.  You aren't the one who needs a stimulus payment.  The guy/gal whose hours have been cut or who has been laid off is the one who needs both unemployment and the stimulus.  Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home are still getting paid our salaries.  The second stimulus check is still based on the same criteria.  There are reports that the restaurant industry here in NYC is having a difficult time finding employees because they are making more money on unemployment and getting the stimulus checks than if they went back to work.  

That is not all there is too it. A person with kids may still have a job and perhaps making the same money.  But they suddenly had children at home for school.  That costs extra time and money. Perhaps more data on their internet bill per month. Perhaps now they need a babysitter. They have to pay that babysitter buy food for lunches. Spend more on gas to drive them to the babysitter.   Many people had to have one parent quit their job to watch the kids. 
Businesses shut down temporarily....cannot make up that lost time and income.  Then there are late payment fees caused by shutdowns.  

Reps tried to fix the UE issue by putting in a limit on unemployment payments that would cap out at whatever the person would make working. 

Valid points, but let me ask you this.  What would these people have done if there was no pandemic and no stimulus payments?  How would they have managed?  I understand that these are exceptional circumstances, but when you have children, you need to have an alternate way of caring for them in case your usual method doesn't work.

You can't base decisions on what-ifs such as no pandemic. The pandemic is real, and it probably factors into people's decisions not to work in crowded places like restaurants, where they might be putting their health at risk.

I read an article about the fuel trucking industry that said the trucking companies that ship gasoline to gas stations is facing a shortage of drivers, many of whom quit or retired when demand plummeted last year. They are raising the rate of pay offered in order to recruit more drivers. Obviously, as we learned in Economics 101, when there is a shortage of supply (drivers) relative to demand, the price of the good or service must rise to equalize supply and demand.

If food service businesses cannot find enough people to work, then they should increase pay being offered relative to unemployment insurance compensation to incentivize people to choose those jobs over not working. This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at April 28, 2021 10:08 AM MDT

I agree that the pandemic has caused many people to have to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do, but I'm willing to bet that there are any number of people who got stimulus money who don't really need it.  Perhaps the answer is to look at the problems the pandemic has caused and see if they can be remediated before another pandemic or disaster strikes.  Child care is one of those things.  Maybe the pandemic creating higher wages is not such a bad thing.  I don't know how anyone can live on $15 an hour, especially if they have a family.  

Which is why most people who received stimulus checks needed the money. And unless we can come up with concrete criteria other than AGI and specifically define the difference between needing it and not, the whole argument is pointless.

So, we will stop arguing.

Sure it would be nice if people had a reliable backup for their children. Many do not. Their backup is not being able to work that day.
Many would have lost their housing. 

They shut me down for a month and half. I was not allowed to open. The month of April I sold $40. (Over the phone) My bills run much more than that. I missed 2 months of mortgage payments. The stimulus caught that up. 
Yes, people figure it out. But sometimes they can't. I know a young couple who the husband became an over the road trucker. He did not get unemployment with the bonus because the state coded it wrong.  So they could keep their home and car. The wife had to cut back her hours to watch the kids and do the home school stuff. Yes they figured it out.  I know their stimulus caught some things up for them as well. 

 

  It turns out that California is one of the few states in this country that does not cross-reference social security numbers to verify eligibility for unemployment benefits. A large percentage of the fraudulently paid monies went to prison inmates, foreign scammers, people using others’ identities, people using false identities, etc. Yes, oversight was and still is lacking. Suggestions were made to address those issues previously, but the governor determined it was a violation of prisoner’s prisoners’ rights to have their social security numbers investigated like that. An antiquated computer system from the 1970s or 1980s or 1990s is a large part of the problem, too. It’s ironic, seeing that “Silicon Valley” has existed in California since its inception, and innovative systems are produced there on a continual basis.

  Your second point about those who are more willing to receive the handouts than to work due to making more by staying home is absolutely correct. 

[Edited for incorrect placement of apostrophe.]

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This post was edited by Randy D at April 28, 2021 7:51 AM MDT

Perhaps too long in coming, I'm beginning to realize that America believes throwing money at a problem is always the solution rather than finding the underlying reasons why something happens and trying to resolve it at a more basic level.  Treating symptoms is easier than finding the cause of the disease.