The Middle Class Opposes. 2004 set a grim record for the number of unemployed Americans who used up all their unemployment benefits before finding a job. Unemployment insurance is an enormously successful program that provides a vital safety net, not only for those who are out of work, but also for local businesses in hard-hit communities. Indeed, studies conclude that the nation sees $2.15 in economic growth for every $1.00 spent on traditional unemployment insurance. But rather than allowing a vote on the much-needed extension of this efficient program, Congress proposed experimenting with Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs). Based on the misguided view that the most effective government programs should be replaced by market mechanisms, these accounts do nothing for people who have exhausted their benefits. They replace unlimited access to career centers with a $3,000 cap that may not be adequate to purchase needed training for many displaced workers. This bill would also place the burden of administering PRAs and protecting individuals from job training scams onto the states, creating a new unfunded mandate. Perhaps most troubling, the reemployment bonus provision gives workers money for finding a new job quickly, presuming that unemployment is high because displaced workers are refusing to take jobs. The fact is that as U.S. jobs are increasingly shifted overseas and the pace of new job creation at home remains sluggish, middle-class workers’ prospects for finding new employment quickly are bleak. The Personal Retirement Account program fails to address the most pressing needs of the unemployed.