Ever read Callahan, the disabled cartoonist? He was on TV hawking his books and collecting benefits at one point. B*llsy move. But the tip jar guy cracks me up. It's pure capitalism--tell a good story, score $9k! I luv it.

Actually according to the article he's not in as much trouble for accepting $9000 in donations, according to the quoted source this is allowable, as he is in trouble for not trying to find a job. When you are on unemployment you are supposed to be actively looking for work.

Well, here in WA you just have to provide "three job related contacts per week" or undergo a rigorous hour of job training. The three contacts can be anyone you emailed about a job, a resume you sent out, anything. So you can do all that in an hour or two, and have the rest of the week free. I don't see how they can complain that he's not looking for a job if he's meeting their requirements.

At the least, they shouldn't make him pay back the $3K until he gets a job.

i agree. It's not like unemployment checks are that much. In fact, I don't know how anyone can survive on them. i couldn't. I still have to do freelance. Plus you only get those checks for 6 months and then they cut you off anyway.

There was a discussion of this on NetSlaves a day or two ago and according to the story there his problem was calling the donations 'tip jar' instead of 'donations.'

He was supposed to report his income while he was collecting benefits. But was that really income?
If it's only the difference bw. tip jar and donations, he will be able to fix that problem. But slashdot.org people discussing this case are not too kind either.

http://www.neuroprosthesis.org