Cutting jobless benefits the wrong thing to do

Here we are a few months after Gov. Nikki Haley reduced time for unemployment benefits from 26 to 20 weeks.

South Carolina, as she well knows, ranks third in the country for unemployment. Thefts are on the rise; people are getting robbed on the streets and in parking lots. I can hardly go into a convenience store without someone asking for not just pocket change, but real green. People at gas pumps are asking to add a few dollars to their cars before I turn my pump off. What's next? I can't imagine. I can see cutting benefits in areas where there are more jobs than in South Carolina, but we have the third worst unemployment rate.

I am not saying that the extra six weeks will turn it around for some people, but it can't hurt. Haley should consider reinstating the extra six weeks. Employers can absorb their part better than the unemployed.

I always say someone should be in the other person's shoes at least once before they make such a decision. It's only going to get worse with the prospect of yet another recession looming.

Don Rocco

Sun City Hilton Head

This story was originally published August 27, 2011 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Cutting jobless benefits the wrong thing to do."