Winston-Salem Journal LTE SA 01/26/13

Broke and broken

North Carolina currently faces a more than $2 billion debt to the federal government for loans used to fund the state’s share of unemployment compensation benefits – the third largest unemployment insurance (UI) debt in the U.S. The UI crisis has rightfully been characterized as our own fiscal cliff. It is the largest single drag on job creation and retention in our state.

North Carolina’s unemployment insurance system is not only broke but also broken. The state agency responsible for unemployment benefits has allowed $556 million in improper jobless benefits payouts from 2008-2011, of which millions involved allegations of fraud. An investigation uncovered serious problems that contribute to UI fraud going back 15 years.

It gets worse. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, North Carolina had the worst scores in the U.S. on important quality control measures in the last quarter. In fact, of 120 quality checks performed on our state’s unemployment agency since 1997, it has passed only twice.

While fraud is a serious detriment to the solvency and integrity of the UI system, North Carolina’s UI system is facing significant challenges that need to be addressed with a balanced approach. Our own Rep. Julia Howard has led the N.C. House’s initiative to fix the UI system.

The Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce has joined a Reemployment Coalition of businesses, local chambers and allied business organizations to address the state’s UI system and advocate for reforms that put the focus back on creating jobs for North Carolinians.

GAYLE N. ANDERSON

PRESIDENT AND CEO

GREATER WINSTON-SALEM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Winston-Salem

Banning churches?

The writer of the Jan. 16 letter “Transforming America” reveals the paranoia at the heart of many gun-rights advocates.

He writes of people who “do not want a free America,” and “want a society where the government controls the people, rather than the other way around.”

I certainly want to live in a nation that has a strong government and strong laws, especially when the alternative is Somalia, but the conclusions he draws from that – that someone wants to ban and take away all guns, then private property, then churches – I’m sorry, but that’s just madness. No one wants that. Who would? Why?

I read and listen to messages from prominent atheists and humanists, likely among the groups he finds suspect. I’ve never heard any of them say they want to ban private property or churches. Rather than trying to ban religion, I’ve heard their spokespeople stand up for everyone’s right to believe whatever they choose, including religion.

I even Googled “ban churches America,” and though there were around 126 million “hits,” none in the first 10 pages (where I stopped browsing) were about banning churches in America. The closest, ironically, was about Christians who want to ban mosques in America.

Where in the world does this letter writer get his ideas? Whatever he’s reading, listening to or watching, it is distorting the truth badly and madly. The question to ask is, why? What do they hope to gain?

I’ll bet it involves money.

JAMES T. FULLER

Winston-Salem

Crafting legislation

It is incredibly difficult to craft "common-sense" legislation about gun control when the people involved in the legislation have no common sense.

PETER BRICKEY

Winston-Salem

A frightful mistake

Regarding the serious problem of cars illegally passing stopped school buses, we should consider the question, "Are drivers doing this on purpose or by accident?" If we don't know the answer, we should do some research.

I would never pass a stopped school bus on purpose, but I could do it by mistake. Prosecuting me more effectively and vigorously for that mistake is not the best solution to the problem.

People will think, "How could you possibly not see a school bus?" Those people are not the people we need to worry about. We need to worry about conscientious, law-abiding drivers who might have work or family issues on their minds - who might be listening to music or the news, solving a problem, or entertaining their children - and who could make the frightful mistake of passing a stopped school bus.

I never fail to be sharply aware of a police car, ambulance, or fire truck when they have their lights blazing and sirens screaming. School buses are designed to draw far less attention, and they do.

DAVE KING

Kernersville

Finish the Thought

Briefly complete the sentence below and sent it to us at letters@wsjournal.com. We’ll print some of the results in a few days. Only signed entries, please -- no anonymous ones.

“Drilling off the North Carolina coast would …”