Employers, not taxpayers, should pay the $1,500 bonuses NC GOP wants to offer workers

GOP jobs plan

Regarding “GOP plan would pay unemployed in NC up to $1,500 to get a job,” (May 21)

If all it takes is a $1,500 bonus to get unemployed workers back to jobs, why are Republicans suggesting the taxpayer put up that money?

Let the employers pay the $1,500 as the cost of having a workforce. Otherwise, it’s corporate welfare and just subsidizing an employer’s payroll.

Any bonus will be a cost of doing business and employers can deduct it from their income as a business expense. If the state wants to “sweeten the pot,” make the bonus untaxed for the employees.

Hank Durkin, Charlotte

Council pay hike

I was not surprised to read that the Charlotte mayor and Democratic members of the City Council voted to give themselves a huge salary increase.

The mayor’s salary will increase by 41.5%. Throw in benefits and her total compensation rises to $59,868. Regarding council members, their package rises 50% to $52,444.

It would be nice if all working people could experience compensation increases like that.

When these people ran for office they knew what the salary was. Council member Julie Eiselt made me chuckle when she said that among other sacrifices council members miss family obligations. There are countless people with job responsibilities who miss family functions. That’s the cost of aiming high.

I do want to thank the two Republicans who voted against these raises.

Jim Beatty, Charlotte

Dunlap and CMS

I’m appalled by Mecklenburg County Commissioners’ Chairman George Dunlap’s attacks on CMS, and by County Manager Dena Diorio’s plan to withhold $56 million from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools next year.

CMS has a huge job ahead dealing with the excessive loss of in-school instructional time and other effects from COVID. For Dunlap to grandstand and threaten to withhold $56 million from CMS is unproductive.

There are complex factors that teachers can’t control that impact student outcomes: excessive absenteeism, lack of home guidance/support (often due to dire economic situations), lack of enough staff to counsel students, and more.

We need professional leadership from Dunlap and respect for CMS and its board. Perhaps mediation can help the county commission work collaboratively with the CMS board to make plans for success next year. Students and the entire community deserve no less.

Mary H. Murchison, Charlotte

Masks off cartoon

I find Jack Ohman’s May 21 editorial cartoon, “Masks are off, “ very offensive. With mixed messages from all leadership, to put the blame on the GOP is mean-spirited and will only cause more conflict among good people who are trying to do the right thing after being vaccinated.

Velva Woollen, Charlotte

GOP leaders

Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are trying to rewrite what we all saw on our TV screen on Jan. 6 and what the FBI is investigating.

The premise of Senate Minority Leader McConnell and House Minority Leader McCarthy is that we — the U.S. citizens, taxpayers, voters — do not need to find out the root cause of the Jan. 6 riot. One Republican has even suggested it was a “normal tourist visit.”

The facts we all saw are not what McConnell and McCarthy consider an advantageous political reality to enhance Republican elections in 2022. So they’re telling us: “Don’t believe what you saw on the screen. We have the script you need to know.”

George Garcia, Rolesville

Democracy

A nation unable to agree on provable facts and truth, where the pursuit of power trumps principle and truth, cannot survive as a democracy. While drafted in the midst of morally conflicted times, America’s founding documents lay out a worthy blueprint for a workable democracy. However, with the challenges of resistance to facts, truth and basic compassion, and a fear of loss of perceived status, the promise of these documents cannot be sustained. America’s current social and political state reflects a trend toward a future of authoritarianism. In a nation where a large percentage of the population refuses to acknowledge rational conversation and thought, there is no foundation for continuing democracy.

David Gilliam, Matthews

COVID vaccines

The NC Bioscience Organization is disappointed that the Biden administration supports waiving critical intellectual property protections for U.S. COVID-19 vaccines.

This decision breaks faith with American innovators, punishes our life sciences industry and will delay delivery of COVID vaccines around the globe. The president should follow through on his pledge to make the U.S. the world’s “arsenal of vaccines.” This policy leads in the opposite direction.

Intellectual property protections are the lifeblood any industry driven by innovation. North Carolina, home to many early stage and biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies, could see a particularly severe impact. We urge the president to protect American companies and avoid setting a precedent that undermines the U.S. innovation economy.

Laura Gunter, Durham

Executive vice president, NCBIO