George Will thinks the GOP is doing a great thing for the economy by cutting off unemployment benefits to Americans who can't find a job.
Why does he think that? Because, he says, unemployment benefits "subsidize" unemployment.
Transcript:
TAPPER: George, why can't they pass this unemployment extension? I don't understand. The Republicans say spending cuts should pay for this, the Democrats know it's emergency spending. It seems like this is something where there could be a compromise.
WILL: Well, partly because they believe that when you subsidize something, you get more of it. And we're subsidizing unemployment, that is the long-term unemployment, those unemployed more than six months, is it at an all-time high and they do not think it's stimulative because what stimulates is the consumer and savers' sense of permanent income. And everyone knows that unemployment benefits are not permanent income.
This week alone, 1.2 million Americans will lose unemployment benefits as a result of the ongoing Republican filibuster.
In their crazy world, cutting off Americans from the unemployment insurance in the middle of a recession is great news, because the only thing standing between them and a job was their unemployment insurance. Now that their lifeline is gone, they won't be able to afford to be lazy anymore, and they'll finally go back to work.
That insane theory encapsulates the lunacy of the GOP economic vision. In the middle of a recession, they think the only problem with the economy is that workers don't want to work. So their solution is to throw them on the street. They like call this "tough love," but it's anything but love. It's cruel, it's heartless, and most of all, it's stupid. Cutting off the sole source of income for millions of Americans won't make the economy better -- it will make it worse, for all of us.