Dents and differences

Once again I am disgusted by the actions of the General Assembly. They seem to have decided to snub their noses at a federally funded unemployment compensation extension in favor of a substantial cut in benefits to the unemployed. The federal benefit puts $25 million per week into the hands of people who in turn put almost all of it back into the N.C .economy.

If any outside corporate entity offered to put this amount of money into our economy, legislators would jump through hoops to get it.

The excuse they use to reduce benefits is the amount of debt owed to the federal government for past loans. In order to pay it off earlier, benefits must be reduced, and businesses in N.C. would have to fork over a whopping $21 per employee per year in addition to their current unemployment insurance premium. This would cost a 20-employee firm $420, hardly a dent in a company that should be grossing $1 million to $2 million per year.

Do you really believe this $21 will make a difference to any business? I don’t, but I do believe that reduced unemployment benefits will make a huge difference in the lives of many thousands families.

Sam Worley

Raleigh