Perdue Vetoes Bill That Ties Unemployment Benefits to Spending Cuts

In her veto message to the legislature, Perdue, a Democrat, wrote: “House Bill 383 irresponsibly took the financial lifelines for 37,000 North Carolina citizens and families and hitched them to a budget ploy that will wreck the lives of millions more.

“The General Assembly’s leadership needs to quickly send me a bill that will aid our fellow North Carolinians, free of these antics, and I will sign it.”

The News & Observer

According to Beverly E. Perdue, responsible spending and government living within its means will wreck the lives of millions of people.  Did you know that?  The fact of the matter is that both parties are playing chicken with unemployment benefits when they need to make a decision, the correct one being to not extend them.  The state is trying to plug a budget gap of $3 billion.  When you have that kind of debt you don’t pay people not to work.  It’s common sense and logic.

On Saturday, Robin Hayes, the state Republican Party chairman criticized Perdue for her impending veto, saying “It is a shame that Gov. Perdue would cut off the jobless benefits to 37,000 families to avoid cutting one cent from her big spending, big government budget proposal.”

Wait a minute.  I thought the Republican Party was all about eliminating the role of government and cutting back on the welfare nanny state.  Now they’re sticking up for it?

“If the Republican Party chooses to impoverish 37,000 of their neighbors, that reflects their inability to understand the magnitude of this economic slowdown,” Democratic Party Chairman David Parker said in an interview.

Except that isn’t what the Republicans chose.  They actually passed the benefits extension.  It was your Democratic governor who vetoed it because she didn’t like the strings attached that would force her to spend more responsibly.

So what have we learned here today, children?  We’ve learned that both parties are full of shit.

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