Michele Bachmann sums it up precisely:
“Self reliance means, if anyone will not work, neither should he eat.”
The Republicans assume that millions of Americans have simply decided to be lazy and collect unemployment. Then they suggest, Hey! Go get a job, you lazy bastards you! And if you can't do it, then eff you. You're on your own.
What they don't say is that there are 11 million more workers seeking employment than there are available jobs. So it's not as easy as walking out the door with a briefcase and skipping into Globocorp -- or even Walmart -- where there are jobs waiting that pay enough to finance a mortgage and a family. The jobs aren't there.
Why? Three reasons. Corporations aren't spending money on jobs and, in fact, are sitting on $2 trillion in cash. Corporations have figured out ways to make workers do more for less pay, thus boosting profits. And the Republicans are sabotaging the president's ability to help create jobs by filibustering stimulus spending and the American Jobs Act.
Yet the Republicans are suggesting it's about lazy people.
It's a trap.