They're Helping Us Again - Hold Your Wallet.

FUTA and SUTA - sounds vaguely obscene. These acronyms stand, however, for Federal unemployment tax and state unemployment tax. The Feds keep extending unemployment benefits, which causes a ripple effect with SUTA too. In fact, although my firm hasn't had an unemployment claim in years, our SUTA rates keep going up and up to pay for these extensions. We pay thousands per year in SUTA for other people - money that could go for raises for our current employees, maybe hiring a part timer or, heaven forbid, to ourselves. But N-O-O-O-O! Change is definitely needed.

Today's WSJ has an article with a creative suggestion that would help both workers and the economy:

"Economist Martin Feldstein long ago proposed a better plan to create a self-insurance component of unemployment insurance with tax dollars going into an employee trust fund for each worker that could be drawn during a bout of unemployment. Workers could keep whatever money was left over at retirement, which would encourage workers to become re-employed more quickly after losing a job."

Not a bad idea. The problem, though, is that the politicians wouldn't get credit for "doing something" about unemployment and hence Feldstein's proposal has languished. Our economy could be fixed, but only if the American people demand it and start tossing people out of office until it gets done. 

online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303670804579233913327613176