The Democratic Party, long known as the party for working people, is now for freeloaders. Democrats want taxpayers to support people who refuse to get off the couch and get a job.
That’s the major reason Democrats and Republicans in Washington were locked in a stalemate for weeks over hiking the debt ceiling. The biggest sticking point was whether people should be allowed to collect government assistance indefinitely to finance their nonworking lifestyle.
For everyone who toils for a living, the idea of paying taxes to support healthy people who won’t work feels like a slap in the face.
House Republicans proposed requiring food stamp recipients and people on Medicaid to work 20 hours a week or participate in some job-readiness activity such as training, high school equivalency courses or substance abuse treatment. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy explained that government assistance programs are supposed to be “temporary, not permanent” and “a bridge to independence” rather than a lifestyle.
This isn’t about denying benefits to children and their mothers, or the disabled, or pregnant women. This is about childless adults who are do-nothings. “Remember what we’re talking about: able-bodied people with no dependents,” McCarthy said.
On Sunday, the two parties struck a compromise, giving Republicans a small victory. Food stamp recipients up to age 55 will have to work or participate in work readiness for 20 hours a week. Veterans and the homeless are exempt.
Democrats held firm against any work requirement for Medicaid. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a “nonstarter.” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) bashed the work requirement as “just cruel.”
But count on Republicans to fight for it another time. About half of all Americans — 156 million — get their health insurance through a job. They or someone in their family has to work for it, and many stay in jobs largely for the health coverage. Why should able-bodied adults who choose not to work be handed Medicaid? It makes people who punch a clock for their coverage look like saps.
The new Democratic Party is repudiating its own history and the work ethic that has made America a land of opportunity even for people who start out poor.
In 1996, Democratic President Bill Clinton signed a reform that required welfare recipients to work or participate in work readiness. Then-Sen. Joe Biden voted for it. That reform slashed poverty among single-parent households by a staggering 62% by 2016. Childhood poverty was slashed more than 75%, proving that the best anti-poverty program for children isn’t a handout. It’s a working parent.
But in recent years, Democrats watered down Clinton’s reforms, making it easy to collect cash assistance, housing subsidies, food benefits and healthcare that add up to more than what many unskilled jobs pay. A nonworking parent with two kids can get $24,000 or more in federal benefits. Work doesn’t pay.
In 2021, Democrats pushed for the Build Back Better bill, which would have made monthly checks to parents — $300 per child — a benefit with no strings.
Thanks to holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), it didn’t pass. Manchin objected that “there’s no work requirement whatsoever.” Rep. Gwen Moore ( D-Wis.) denounced Manchin’s emphasis on “the so-called dignity of work — that’s like hearing a fingernail on a chalkboard.”
Millions of migrants are coming across the southern border looking for a chance to work, not freeload. But how long will their work ethic last? New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other Democratic mayors are offering them free hotel rooms, meal service, healthcare and legal assistance for up to four months.
That’s sending these newcomers the wrong message, that there are in fact two American ways: work hard for success, or join the moochers and live off the welfare-industrial complex the Democrats are erecting.
Democrats argue that all human beings deserve dignity. Of course they do, but that shouldn’t mean a lifetime seat on the taxpayer-funded gravy train.
Democratic mayors in dozens of cities are pushing for just that — a guaranteed monthly income for the nonworking poor. Literally sending out checks to people for merely breathing.
The debt-limit showdown is a preview of a bigger fight to come.
Tell Democratic politicians that working people deserve respect, too.
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.
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Look at me.
i Sit on the couch all day and do nothing.
My Father told my Brother and Me – You don’t work, You don’t eat, Period!
There are jobs everywhere. Even when businesses fail you just have to start over.
Working people and the disabled are the only ones deserving of respect. Lazy people are not. That’s not to say that a housewife with kids is not a working person, she is. However, that person does not get paid!
There is nothing in which Democrats get involved that is not worse for most of the people because of their involvement.
This a bad deal. Families budget their money to avoid bankruptcy, the government needs to do the same. Stop spending what we do not have. Democrats want to spend us into bankruptcy.
This is definitely not the democrat party of Truman and Kennedy.
I figure if your definitely disabled then yes but if you can and you no wanna workie, then you no eatie eh. Freeloaders can starve!
“Vote buying” in various ways has long been a democratic policy. In the distant past it wasn’t much of a factor since the base it was used on was small, but over the years has become more of an issue with legislative “give-away” programs becoming more widespread and reaching further into the above poverty level population until today most everyone is eligible for some kind of government money or program.
“When the people find they can vote themself money, that will herald the end of the Republic”
Benjamin Franklin
People can’t directly vote themself money, but they can and do vote for the politicians who promise them freebies.
Betsy McCaughey, I enjoy your common sense. No wonder the free loaders gravitate to socialism. They have none of the self respect that comes from being productive.
According to the Democrats, all human beings deserve dignity, except for the unborn. The Apostle Paul had it right when he told Timothy that if a man will not work then neither should he eat.
I remember when my son got his first job. He was 15 1/2 old enough to get a work permit from school. He applied to several places and was hired to do telemarketing for a local workout facility. When he got his first paycheck he came home very upset and confused. He said mom they shorted me on my paycheck. I know how many hours I worked and what they pay me per hour and it’s not correct. I looked at his paycheck and asked him where’s the stub that was attached to it. He pulled it out of his pocket and I said is the number at the top correct? He said yes it is, and I said well see all the numbers below that? That’s what they are taking out of your paycheck to pay for the lazy people who don’t want to work. He was shocked and appalled!! He worked all through high school and college, and earns a fine living as an engine performance mechanic. for his family of five children. He’s never voted for a democrat in his lifetime! Lesson learned.
Somethings got to give and most likely it will be in the way of our livelihood. Everything disguised with another agenda attached to it when it comes to Democrats. Nothing here is intended to make life easier her for Americans or the unlawful acts being presented as “humanitarian”!?! If you really believe the why then you are blinded to what is coming. Total control, communism, government funding, financial ruin, and poor becoming poorer, uneducated, and weapons confiscated, this is the world order not the America that I’ve known. Be careful who you vote for and can we get new voting machines.
We are witnessing the fear of the Founding Fathers. They all worried about the people being bribed to vote for the candidate who promised to shovel out the taxpayer’s money.
A few years ago a study found that 47% of the wage earners paid no Federal Taxes. I don’t think that this figure decreased. The Point? If you don’t contribute to the tax revenue to fund the Federal budget, you have zero incentive to vote for the Republican candidate who even mentions the national debt.
Consider the voting groups that usually vote for the Democrat candidates.
1) The mentally defective liberals
2) The taxsuckers
3) The minority groups, especially the Blacks, and Hispanics
4) The Jews
5) The illegal aliens*
6) The dead voters, (even the ones who were Republicans while still alive)
7) The low wage/ no wage healthy adults
8) Those who vote multiple times in one election cycle
The real wonder is that ANY non-Democrat candidates even win their elections. By the way I didn’t list the mail-in ballot votes, or the voting districts that report over 110% of the registered voters who voted exclusively for the Democrats. How do you end up with a vote count that is over 100% of the registered voters? Joe Biden received 10-million more votes than did Donald Trump in 2020. How many of those votes were mail-in ballots?
A voter ID rule is long past due in the 50-states. The voter registration journals help, but their use alone, enables ways to facilitate voter fraud.
All you cradle catholics out there will recall the seven capitol sins. The dem party is the party that advocates those sins. In this case its sloth, but they’re also big on envy, anger and murder to name a few.
Been doing this since Clinton era to date
You Work, you Eat , have a roof over your head, cloths, etc. DONOT want to Work ? That’s Y-O-U-R. Problem NOT Mine. Don’t expect me to support You !!!!!
Surprise, surprise, surprise. The Democrats abandoned the working class ages ago. They kept up their false narratives to keep the uneducated on the hook, which has led to the demise that the country is going through at this time. There is no improvement ahead since the Dems will cement their agenda before the Biden regime is removed.
If you don’t work you don’t eat. My grandparents were from the old country and if you didn’t work you didn’t eat. Who is going to feed the freeloaders when all the workers are dead and gone? The only reason I am entitled to anything is because I worked to get it. There is no such thing as a free ride. And if there is , there is a catch! Have a little pride—accomplish something—WORK!!!
I don’t believe that “millions of migrants are coming across the southern border looking for a chance to work, not freeload.” I think they got the message loud and clear and are coming here specifically to freeload.
In order to make ends meet,so to speak,I had to “unretire”myself at 83 years old. I’m now helping to support all these lazy bastards who won’t get off their fat backsides.IF THEY ARE PHYSICALLY FIT THEY SHOULD WORK.OF COURSE THEY WILL VOTE FOR HAKEEM JEFFRIES.
Just had this discussion with my daughter who lives in Florida. The Democrats like to give the illusion that they are taking care of the people, while they are merely buying support for themselves. As the article mentions, welfare benefits are not permanent benefits, but part of a support system to enable one to get to the point of self-sufficiency. It doesn’t help that overall costs to be self-sufficient are rising faster than wages earned, BUT it should never be better to stay permanently on welfare because the one receiving the benefits never has to be obligated to pay in some form for the benefits, especially if one is not disabled or way under in age 54. Not feeling obligated to work or not interested in working should never be an acceptable excuse to not work. That 80 hours/month is not hard and should not limit the person to continue on to limit their availability to work more hours because they might “lose benefits” either. Perhaps change the work required to a yearly minimum total of 1500 hours/per year which is what equals the current number of hours needed to earn Social Security benefits and increase the evaluation process that is supposed to occur to monitor income status which should be on computer scanning program, not reliance on human only honor system monitoring so there no way to hide income earned on the books.
The only problem I see will be the cash-only earnings and there are not that many jobs in that sector that will be long-range permanent jobs that will be around in the future.
California in the 1990s, Mexicans which majority were illegals and couldn’t speak any English were 4th generation on welfare. Their 10 yr old daughters were getting pregnant and that just added another generation to the welfare rolls. Oh, and English is a second language taught in schools. Guess majority of California no comprende English so teachers are only hired that speak Spanish. Democrats only want one thing and that is your vote and you will be rewarded with unlimited welfare, medicaid and foodstamps. Never have to work a day for the rest of your life.
This is why the democrats are pushing so hard to tax the wealthy. So, they can take care of all their freeloading Low Lifes and the Illegals for their votes to keep them in power. If this isn’t bad enough just wait until the United Nations puts their One World Government Agenda in motion. The target starting date will be 2035 when the United Nations will become the head Government over all the countries worldwide. The countries will become like states and answer to and pay taxes to the U.N who will in turn take care of all the under-privilege countries which the U.N claims will make everyone equal. Google, United Nations, One World Government and there is one link that explains everything in detail and I’m not the only one that heard and read about it.
We need to send out people to visit questionable people on taxpayer funded benefits. If they’re legit, then give them the assistance they need. If they are freeloaders, kick them off the system and figure out some sort of repayment if they don’t immediately go to work. The democrats have already created a lot of lazy people that would rather sit on their a$$e$ than go to work. It’s a disgrace. Hey, they could send the 40,000 new IRS agents that are supposed to be saving the government and the people money. Why not? They’re armed with brand new firearms, because, you know, IRS agents NEED to be armed!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Let them start there and let’s see if they have the balls to go into certain neighborhoods and verify benefits.
Working people DO deserve respect! Can’t understand why illegal immigrants get a nice hotel room and free food etc instead of 1 free meal, then turned right back around and deported. We could set up a system people could apply for, like what they did during the potato famine and the Irish had to have a sponsor to agree and vouch to take them in and provide a place to stay and food. Then the sponsors also helped them find jobs. We can’t afford or handle this overload of illegal aliens, yet the Dems are totally delighted. Guess what they are going for? “Destroy America and all it’s glory just so long as I get the money!”
Where can you get more loyal voters than those that live on the dole. It has nothing to do with helping these people. The GOP wants to make these people productive to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But the left sees them as voters and plays them as such.