John White: Patriots or prostitutes?

I found Rob Christensen’s Aug. 26 column “Legislature to laid-off: Get off your duffs” enlightening.

I have volunteered for more than five years with a group that helps unemployed people with resumes and interviews. Based on my experience, the unemployed work hard to find employment. I absolutely reject the conservatives’ viewpoint “that unemployment insurance is ... paying people not to work.” Christensen is correct that “most Americans just want a chance to earn a decent living.”

So why did the General Assembly reduce unemployment compensation to such pathetic levels? It had previously provided businesses with the lowest unemployment insurance rate in the country.

Christensen opined that, “Businesses bankroll most of the legislators’ campaigns and finance a battery of lobbyists on Jones Street.”

So about those legislators who voted to reduce the unemployment insurance rate and then voted to reduce unemployment compensation for the unemployed, are they patriots? Or, are they simply prostitutes?

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "John White: Patriots or prostitutes?."