RALEIGH – On Thursday the U.S. Labor Department reported the latest change in new jobless claims – and the news was good.
For the third straight week, new claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell, by nearly 4 percent, and the number has now reached a six-month low. Unfortunately, North Carolina is going in precisely the opposite direction – leading the nation in increased joblessness with about 39,000 new unemployment claims. That’s more people (forget in percentage terms) than made jobless claims in California during the same period.
Coupled with yesterday’s revelations that the state budget deficit in North Carolina for the current fiscal year is edging towards the high-bound estimate of $900 million, the news should jolt our political leaders and end any pretense that it is possible to sustain business-as-usual in Raleigh. State lawmakers are still speaking gingerly about shifting money around to fill budget gaps, and can scarcely utter the term “state employee layoff” with choking.
Folks, North Carolina’s fiscal management is embarrassing, and its economic development policy is moribund. We need dramatic action to reduce bureaucracy and duplication, to slash our excessive rates of taxation and regulation, and to set better priorities in state programs. The John Locke Foundation just released the outline of such a plan that would repeal last year’s tax increases while retaining state expenditures on core governmental functions. (Click here for more details on budget-savings ideas from last year’s alternative budget report.)
I get the impression that Gov. Mike Easley and legislative leaders are still trying to wish our fiscal problems away. It’s not going to work. As the rest of the country recovers from recession in the coming year, North Carolina is likely to lag behind. Strictly as a political matter, I’d hate to have to run for reelection on such a dismal record. The time to change course in North Carolina state government is now.