Work Search Requirements

This has issue has gotten some traction now that the effects of  a rule change allows state unemployment benefits to be withheld if those collecting the benefits don’t register with a useless career site, are coming to fruition. Tom Corbett is using the same language in his Medicaid talk. 

The desire to of Republicans stems from a couple places. Skin deep it is an easy appeal to not just the party base, but really many independents and Democrats too who don’t know any better. They throw around the terms “Government Waste” and worry that poor people’s priorities aren’t straight. Deeper than that though I think the conversion of many non GOPers to this line of thinking has been a messaging victory for them.

The position that you should have to look for work while on unemployment, or Medicaid (even when you already have a job) stems from the feeling that people who are poor are poor because they don’t try hard enough. As in the people who are poor are not actually interested in looking on their own. This position ignores a startling amount of research to the contrary, and is downright cruel (I would go so far as to say psychically damaging) to the people living these realities. 

Yet from Ronald Reagan’s welfare queens to Mitt Romney 47% comment the message remains the same. Policy priorities like this should remind us all why we are affiliated Democrats. 

At a time when people are dropping out of the work force in droves maybe if the Republicans were really concerned with helping the unemployed they would stop cutting investment in and from the public sector.