After reading another of John Balentine’s columns, wherein he plays fast and loose with the truth, I find myself once again urging you to hire a conservative columnist who doesn’t just make things up.
Balentine’s column from the May 19 edition (“Panic’s over, get back to work,” May 19), asserts that people who are unemployed are receiving $600 per week from the federal government on top of any state unemployment benefits. However, this provision expired last December. Since January 2021, the amount coming from the federal government has been only half that: $300 a week.
According to the short bio at the end of his column, Balentine used to be a newspaper editor. If so, that’s scary, given how often he misrepresents basic facts to make his point.
Scott Harriman
Lewiston
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