North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 4 limiting North Carolina unemployment insurance to twenty weeks and capping the  maximum benefit to $350 dollars a week in the name of responsible government. 

Interesting, because responsible government is surely an illusive creature in Raleigh these days.

Wouldn’t it have been prudent and somewhat more responsible to have delivered a jobs bill to the Governor before the unemployment insurance was cut?

A responsible Governor would have done a certain amount of due diligence in making sure the North Carolina legislature wasn’t snatching the safety net  out from under our citizens in need.

For two years, the Republicans/Teapublicans have controlled the NC House and Senate and have passed a host of conservative measures in an effort to feather their own nest while setting up districts assuring their reelection.

Not one, not one of those bills passed had anything to do with job growth or job creation in North Carolina.

McCrory campaigned on jobs and he campaigned on fiscal responsibility.  He says he will work tirelessly on fixing the state’s broken economy.

But, as Randy Voller, newly elected chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party said, “where’s the beef?”

My question now is that it’s not only a matter of “where’s the beef” but who can afford the beef?

The problems facing North Carolina can not be fixed by breaking the backs of hard working, well meaning North Carolinians living paycheck to paycheck.

How we treat the most vulnerable among us is not only a matter of where we put our priorities: it’s a matter of how we plan to move North Carolina forward.

If, in fact, Pat McCrory is driving the economic train that will deliver  prosperity to North Carolina, how many of our people is he willing to sacrifice along to the way?

By signing HB4, McCrory didn’t do anything to bring about a brighter tomorrow in North Carolina.  What he did was pull the life support plug on families who have no where else to turn.