The Republican Party causes -and punishes- unemployment

The political party that is known for telling us to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps has been taking away our bootstraps.

I recently learned that Republicans are planning to add a work requirement for people on Medicaid. Many (if not most) people on Medicaid have disabilities that impair their ability to work. What’s more, Republican policies tend to make jobs more scarce.

That’s intentional, because when jobs are scarce, workers settle for lower salaries and fewer benefits.

Republican politicians and their propagandists would have you believe that the main cause of unemployment is laziness. I suppose they think that the Great Depression of 1929 occurred because half of the people in the world woke up one morning and suddenly decided to be lazy.

I’ve seen this victim-blaming bullshit propagated on bumper stickers. I can quote some of these from memory:

“I’M A REPUBLICAN: BECAUSE WE CAN’T ALL BE ON WELFARE”

“WORK HARD: MILLIONS ON WELFARE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU”

“YOU’RE NOT ENTITLED TO WHAT I’VE EARNED”

Of course, when a Republican voter is out of work, it’s never because of laziness but because a scapegoat took their job.

But I digress. My main point is that Republican policies cause more people to be out of work; and the same Republicans who implemented those policies will punish people for being out of work. It’s like taking away your winter jacket and then penalizing you for catching pneumonia.