David Price: “in recent months, we have passed legislation to rebuild the communities ravaged by terrorism, to bring down the Taliban…”

“in recent months, we have passed legislation to rebuild the communities ravaged by terrorism, to bring down the Taliban and root out the al-Qaeda network, and to make our skies safer for the flying public. But there is one glaring omission, left out of the airline bailout bill, left out of the aviation security bill, and that is the workers laid off in the aftermath of these attacks. What we have known for weeks is now official: Our economy is spiraling downward in a recession worsened by the events of September 11. North Carolina's unemployment rate for last month was 5.4 percent, the highest it has been in almost 9 years. In this time of financial crisis, we need a recovery plan that includes all our citizens, not just the big corporations looking to benefit from a preexisting Republican tax cut agenda. Our Republican friends have found time to pass a 16-year refund of the alternative minimum tax for large corporations, but precious little for the working people who need extended unemployment benefits and reimbursement of their COBRA health care coverage. These priorities are way out of whack and we must reverse them now.”