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Unemployed need help now, not later

The Gazette Opinion Staff

Dec. 15, 2009 11:37 pm

When I think of the unemployed, I am reminded of a remark about giving oats to horses in order to feed sparrows. The unemployed need help now, but without the layers of administrative inefficiencies that reduce each dollar to a dime in someone's pocket. Why don't we send dollars directly to the unemployed, perhaps as increased traditional unemployment benefits, or by any efficient method that could be put in place very quickly?

The unemployed, small businesses and the economy all will be helped when the unemployed can normalize their lives, by paying bills, maintaining their homes and buying essential goods and services. Think trickle up, not down.

Jean Bonner

Cedar Rapids

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