As the Polk County Republican women sipped their cups of Christmas tea and enjoyed the delicacies provided by Joan Puma, Senator Ralph Hise shared his philosophy of freedom and responsibility this Dec. 11.

“Some of my counties have 15 percent unemployment, and I am not willing to wait to take on this issue,” Hise declared.

Hise explained the decision that led to the federal government slicing all extended benefits for unemployment from the state of North Carolina.

“Our state had a $3 billion deficit, and it was going to continue to grow. We made the tough decisions, and cut the maximum payment from $550 a week to $350,” Hise said. “The federal government said we couldn’t do that, and we said, it’s our money, so we can. The feds said they’d cut all extended benefits, and we said, you got to do what you got to do.”

As a result, unemployed people in North Carolina can  receive benefits for only six months of unemployment, unlike the two and a half years that could be received before this decision.

“I will not stand by and watch the creation of a generation dependent on government,” Hise said. “Our full debt will be paid by 2016. We’re about creating jobs, not creating dependence.”

As chair of the health and human services committee, Hise had definite thoughts on Medicaid.

“Medicaid is like a fishing lure, a shiny object. The feds say they will pay a 100 percent in the first years, but it will drop bit by bit. The federal government wanted us to go from 1.6 million people on Medicaid to 2.3 million people, and we said no,” he said.  “The state costs could grow. I wasn’t willing to take that kind of risk. All these things have been made out to show that we hate poor people, or want to increase the uninsured population, but it isn’t so.”

He cited his long-term goals as eliminating corporate tax and personal income tax.

“The loudest scream about how we’re doing is that we cut education,” he said. “I care about education, but we can’t continue on the same path. I believe the Department of Education has a role. They should sign 50 checks and then they should go home.”

The states, in turn, could set a few standards, sign a 100 checks and then go home, he said, leaving the local boards of education to determine educational policies in their own regions.

One standard felt particularly significant, Hise said.

“We made a common sense requirement,” he said. “If a child can’t read by the end of third grade, he can’t move on. He can do a remedial program in the summer or repeat a year.”

Hise said he felt most proud of the fact that he had done what he said he would do in government, and he planned to continue to live by his principles.

Hise’s far-ranging speech met with enthusiastic applause from the assembled group.