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Can Furloughed Workers Remain on Unemployment if Called Back | What You Must Know - YouTube
Channel: Dr. Nitin Chhoda - Ignition Time
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Hi everyone, this is Dr. Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time.
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In this video, I'm going to answer
the question, what if you were furloughed
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but your employer is now reopening
and has called you back?
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And can you remain on unemployment
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benefits or even should you
remain on unemployment benefits?
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I'll be answering that question
with specific guidance from the government
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with specific guidance
from the Department of Labor.
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Welcome to my channel, everybody.
My name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time.
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What I give you information on personal
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finance, on how to achieve financial
freedom and financial independence.
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Thank you so much for visiting my channel.
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Again, my name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda.
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I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American dream.
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If you don't know anything about me,
please check out my video on the home page
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of our channel YouTube.com/IgnitionTime.
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Let's jump right in.
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Now first of all, let's define exactly what
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a furlough means because there is
a difference between being furloughed
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and being laid off and having
lost your job completely.
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So let's define what furloughed means.
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A furlough is essentially
an unpaid leave of absence.
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Now being furloughed essentially
is an unpaid leave of absence.
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You're not let go.
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You have not been let go by your employer,
but you essentially furloughed.
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So furloughed employees still technically
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retain their jobs,
but the furlough itself means that they
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stop working for their employers
and they do not earn a salary.
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So in other words,
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an individual who's furloughed is still
technically on, you know, on their job.
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They haven't lost their job.
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But again, they have
an unpaid leave of absence.
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In other words, they're not getting
paid and they have not been let go.
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That's what furloughed means.
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Now, a lot of individuals
have been furloughed.
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Now, some of us have lost
our jobs permanently.
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And, you know, I'm going to be addressing
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furloughed individuals in this video
and again, this specific guidance
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from the Department of Labor about about
what happens to a furloughed individual if
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their employer calls
them back to their job.
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So let's get into those specific guidance.
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In fact, the there's a specific question
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on the Department of Labor website,
which reads as follows.
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And by the way, I provide you with a link
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in the description below to that specific
question, in fact, to a page with several
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questions and answers on the website
of the Department of Labor.
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So definitely make sure
you check that out.
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But the question reads,
I was furloughed by my employer,
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but they have now reopened
and asked me to return to my job.
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Can I remain on unemployment?
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Now, the short answer to the question is
no, you cannot remain on unemployment.
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And I'll read from the Department
of Labor and I'll help you.
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I'll help you understand what it means.
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As a general matter, individuals receiving
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unemployment compensation must act upon
any referral to suitable employment
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and must accept any offer
of suitable employment.
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Now, let's be clear.
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If you're furloughed and if your employer
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calls you back, that is considered,
and I quote,
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a referral to suitable employment
or an offer of suitable employment.
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That's what that means.
That's an offer of suitable employment.
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So in other words,
you have to essentially,
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if you don't accept it, you cannot
remain on unemployment benefits.
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Now, you don't have to accept the job.
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If you don't want to accept the job
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and you don't want to go back,
you don't have to go back.
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But let's be clear, if you get that offer
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of suitable employment,
you cannot continue to be you cannot
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continue to be eligible
for unemployment benefits.
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Those are the guidelines
from the Department of Labor.
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It also says,
barring unusual circumstances,
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a request that a furloughed employee
return to his or her job very likely
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constitutes an offer of suitable
employment that the employee must accept.
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In short, if your business if your
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employer calls you back to work,
that is considered an offer of suitable
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employment and therefore you cannot
remain on unemployment benefits.
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Now, as far as unusual circumstances are
concerned, the Department of Labor doesn't
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really provide specific guidelines about
barring barring unusual circumstances.
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But let's say your employer does
not have proper safety guidelines.
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Let's say that actually health concerns
about going back to work,
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that would be considered an unusual
circumstance because employers do have
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to comply with certain guidelines when it
comes to keeping their customers safe,
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when it comes to keeping
their employees safe.
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But let's be clear, just because you feel
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that you don't want to go back to work,
that's not considered your that is not
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considered a reason
for you to for you to continue accepting
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unemployment benefits because you cannot
reject an offer of suitable employment,
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according to the guidelines
from the Department of Labor.
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Keep in mind, I'm reading the guidelines
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from the Department of Labor
and you can read the guidelines yourself.
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And if you have any questions,
you can get in touch with your state
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agency and then and then
come to a decision yourself.
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Now, this also goes on why
this continues as follows.
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While eligibility for PUA,
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which is a pandemic,
unemployment assistance does not depend
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on whether an individual
is actively seeking work.
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So keep in mind, if you're receiving PUA,
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that does not depend on an active
on you having a work such requirement.
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But this does require that the individual
be unemployed, partially employed.
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Or unavailable or unable to work due
to certain circumstances that are a direct
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result of the pandemic
or the public health emergency.
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So basically what this is saying is
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let's say you're let's say
you're on PUA right now.
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The work such requirement
may not be the same, but
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if you if as a direct result
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of the pandemic, you are, I quote,
unemployed, partially employed or unable
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or unavailable to work,
that that then becomes a criteria where
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you know, where it becomes
a legitimate reason to get the PUA.
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But again, if your employer calls you
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back, if you were followed and your
employer calls you back to work,
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and if there is, I quote,
an offer of suitable employment,
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you cannot just turn it down for for a
reason that is unrelated to the pandemic.
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That is what this Department
of Labor guideline is saying.
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That is my interpretation of it.
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Feel free to read this on your own.
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Feel free to address any questions
to the state or to an attorney.
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But I'm trying to help you as a citizen
who's leading the Department of Labor
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website for my for my viewers
and for my subscribers.
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It says here in the situation outlined
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here, which, by the way, again,
let me repeat what the situation is.
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You were followed by your employer,
but you have now reopened.
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The employers now reopen and is asking
the employee to return back to their job.
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So the Department of Labor says
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in the situation outlined here,
an employee who had been furloughed
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because his or her employer had closed
the place of employment
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would potentially be eligible for PUA
while the employer remained closed.
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Now, this is important.
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When employers closed, do you have
an offer of suitable employment?
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You do not.
Right?
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So therefore, while the employer is
closed, you're fine and you can you know,
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you can remain on PUA pandemic
unemployment assistance.
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And it also says you're assuming
the closure was a direct result
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of the pandemic and other qualifying
conditions are satisfied.
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So, again, if your employer was closed as
a result of the pandemic and other
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conditions are satisfied,
you qualify for PUA.
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But now as soon as the business reopens
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and the employee is recalled for work,
so there are two conditions.
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One, the business reopens and do
the employees recall for work?
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As in the example above,
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the eligibility for PUA would cease unless
and this is the key word, unless
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the individual could identify some other
qualifying circumstance outlined
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in the case act so that they are going
to be exceptions to this situation.
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There could be safety reasons.
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There could be other reasons.
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But here's the bottom line.
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If your employer opens and you've been
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followed, your employer opens
and then calls you back to work.
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You are no longer eligible
for pandemic unemployment assistance.
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The whole idea is for the economy to open
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and the government wants
us to get back to work.
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Now it is up to you to decide
what you want to do.
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It makes sense to go back to work if it's
safe to go back to work,
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if it's not safe to go back to work, that
then becomes an unusual circumstance.
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Or or and by the way,
I'll read this again.
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Barring unusual circumstances,
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I request that a furloughed employee
return to his or her job very likely
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constitutes an offer of suitable
employment that the employee must accept.
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The idea is not to just say, hey,
I don't feel like going back to work or
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oh, I'd rather collect and collect
unemployment benefits because, you know,
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I'm earning maybe the same amount
or more on unemployment benefits.
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I just like not working.
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The idea is to prevent that from happening
and the idea is to essentially get
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individuals back on their feet,
get the economy back on track and get
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individuals back
to to their employers again.
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You are free to make your own decisions.
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My goal with this was simply to give you
the guidelines from the Department
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of Labor so that you are
an informed citizen.
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Thank you so much for watching.
My name is Dr.
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Nitin Chhoda.
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I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American Dream.
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Once again, that is my introductory
video on our channel.
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Check out my video so you
get an idea of who I am.
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I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American dream.
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I am I am a symbol
of American exceptionalism.
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I am a beneficiary of the generosity
of the American spirit.
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And I want to help you
achieve your American dream.
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Once again, thank you
so much for watching.
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My name is Dr.
Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time.
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I look forward to seeing you soon
in the next episode of Ignition Time.
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