Letter: Nassau layoffs a bad direction
Photo: Nassau Executive Edward Mangano revealed details of his budget plan on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 but the real document was submitted at 11:48 p.m. Thursday, minutes before the deadline. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The Grant Thornton accounting firm report contends that laying off 1,596 working people in Nassau County makes sense because personnel expenses are the "most readily available for reduction" .
Let's look at the reality of this for a moment. In the very short term, it would have a positive impact on our county's financial situation, no question. But what about the longer term? Is taking jobs from more than a thousand taxpayers/consumers and placing them on public assistance (unemployment) in our best interests? Isn't that economic cannibalism?
Sooner or later, there won't be anyone left to pay taxes and create demand for products. With the dismal state of the private sector job market, these workers will be supported by taxpayers through unemployment benefits and food stamps. And when they get sick after their COBRA health insurance runs out, guess who pays their medical bills?
The way out of this mess isn't to put more people out of work. The way out is to create jobs. We need to have a tax break system that rewards companies that hire new employees, not one that simply throws money at them, hoping they create new jobs, and if they do, for American workers.
Doug Otto, Massapequa
'It's difficult for us to find any skilled labor' A new poll blames Long Island's ever-rising cost of living, shortage of affordable homes and other factors for making it hard for employers to hire and retain employees. Newsday TV's Doug Geed reports.
