Imagine with me.  You have been on a wonderful vacation with your family.  You took a road trip and saw natural wonders, enjoyed good food, bought souvenirs, maybe even got a tan.  You get home on Sunday afternoon and get your car mostly unpacked.  Sunday evening you go to bed early because you're exhausted.

Monday morning comes.  Are you excited?  Can you wait to jump out of bed and get to work?  If you’re like me, Monday’s are usually an annoyance anyway, but after a vacation, even a short one, they are especially dreadful.  Even Tuesday’s after a fun vacation can be downright painful.  Our natural desire isn’t to get up and go to work.  After several days of relaxation, we’d much rather continue relaxing than have to refocus and jump back into the rat race.  There are, of course, those rare few who love to work simply because they have to stay busy.  I’m not talking about the weirdos among us, just average Americans.  We do get up, we do go to work, because we need to provide for our families.  We want food on the table and a roof over our heads.  As blue as Mondays are after a vacation, we knuckle down and get through.

Considering all of that, if your employer called you up on Monday morning and said, “Hey hope you had a nice vacation, you don’t have to come in if you don’t want to and we’ll still pay you,” would you go in?  Or would you jump at the opportunity?  That is exactly what is happening to all of those who are currently unemployed.  Their employer, Democrats in Congress, or by proxy, the federal government, is offering to continue to pay them unemployment.  Republicans, who usually go along with the benefits extension, have finally wised up and listened to their constituencies.  Paying people for not working when your budget is already in the red is simply stupid.  And whether Democrats will admit it or not, most of these people are not looking that hard for a job, but are instead enjoying their extended funemployment.  If you are hardworking and come back from vacation over the cries of your body to lay in bed on Monday morning, pick up the phone and let your representative know that you want  them to stop spending money we don’t have to spend.

And in case you were wondering, I did have a nice vacation exploring part of the Columbia River valley and basin in central Washington.  Even got to Lewis & Clark it across the river in a canoe.  Monday was hard, but I’m back at the grind.