There is a new virus in America. This time, it didn’t come from China. It’s a deadly disease that originated in the swamp – Washington D.C.
It’s a government-created virus of unemployment. And it has infected every corner of the country.
Healthy, working-age adults are turning down open jobs and sitting on the sidelines in staggering numbers. Why? Maybe because their government is paying them to stay home.
Congressional Democrats and Joe Biden have doubled down on socialism and given an extra $300 per week on top of state unemployment benefits.
Paired with expansions in Medicaid and food stamps, someone can earn more sitting at home and watching Netflix than by going to work.
Just as vaccines were injected into tens of millions of arms and the American economy was growing healthier and needed more workers, the government has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into making unemployment more lucrative. It was a cure in search of an illness. And it’s made us all worse off.
The whole unemployment program has been flipped on its head. It isn’t just helping the unemployed. It’s actually creating unemployment—and by the millions.
No doubt you have seen the “now hiring” signs up and down business storefronts all across town.
You may have even seen long lines or closed restaurants that just didn’t have enough workers to open like this Dunkin Donuts in North Carolina.
Have you needed a fridge repaired or HVAC servicing in the last few months? Good luck! Short-staffed industries are still trying to hire the needed staff.
Further up the supply chain, factories are struggling to keep up with the demand for parts and equipment, creating new jobs by the tens of thousands. Who’s filling them? Nobody.
Companies like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are offering nearly double the minimum wage and paying people just to show up for job interviews.
This isn’t happening because Americans are lazy. It’s happening because Democrats are crazy. Lockdowns aren’t closing businesses anymore. Unemployment checks are. This isn’t just a new phase in the pandemic. This is a new phase in the government’s mission to dominate our economy and society.
We know that if Congress stops this madness, people will go back to work. Under President Trump, Congress allowed the $600 per week unemployment bonus to expire last year, and new unemployment claims fell 35 percent when it expired.
In the meantime, serious concerns are growing among economists, business owners, and citizens alike.
Unemployed people are less happy and have 30 percent more negative emotions. The country set another new record for drug overdose deaths, with another 87,000 lives lost last year. There is an entire body of research that ties substance abuse deaths to unemployment. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”, as the saying goes.
We are substituting federal checks for the well-being of a nation and paying a sick patient to get sicker.
Thankfully for the country, at least a few states are showing real leadership and doing what they can to end these no-work bonuses themselves. South Dakota governor Kristie Noem led the way by keeping her state from ever implementing the program when it first started in 2020. Now her state leads America with the lowest unemployment rate.
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster also just announced that his state will end its participation in federal pandemic-related unemployment programs. He is doing so specifically to address “workforce shortages.” Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has made a similar move. But more needs to be done.
American businesses are ready to ride in and save the day by hiring millions of unemployed Americans.
If President Biden and Congress really want to unify and heal the nation, they should cancel the unemployment bonuses.
And if they continue to provide failed leadership, even more states need to join South Dakota, South Carolina, and Montana in rejecting this calamitous policy, get people back to work and let the real American rescue plan begin.