As a result of the coronavirus outbreak that’s rapidly spreading across the United States, people are worried. And rightfully so. The virus itself is terrifying. More and more deaths are reported every single day. It’s been determined that many people are asymptomatic yet still spreading the illness with every breath and touch, meaning no one can actually know with certainty that they’ve not been exposed, leading just about everyone to play the waiting game and watch for coughs, fevers, and shortness of breath.
But to make an already terrifying situation that much worse, thousands of Americans are now faced with the very real prospect of not being able to feed their children or pay their bills as this virus continues to wreak havoc and more and more businesses indefinitely close their doors to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
While some of us are lucky enough to able to work from home, millions of Americans simply don’t have that luxury. When restaurants close up shop, wait and cook staff is out of work for the foreseeable future. And the very same goes for hundreds and thousands of other professions.
Millions of people are literally not going to get paid, many of whom were already living paycheck to paycheck. Something like this will literally destroy them as they’re faced with choosing between feeding their family for another week or paying the light bill.
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As a result of this, the Democratic House has passed legislation offering paid leave for some employees should their position be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Frankly, it’s the least this nation can do for its people.
However, a few GOPers aren’t very happy with the idea — claiming that coronavirus financial relief will just lead to a bunch of lazy people that don’t want to go back to work.
In comments made to USA Today, GOP Senator Ron Johnson said he’s worried that the legislation will risk “incentivizing people to not show up for work.”
“You have to think this thing through in terms of what are the unintended consequences of good intentions,” he stated.
And evidently, Johnson isn’t the only Conservative hack job that thinks this way.
Today, a group of conservative economists released a statement in the same vein, stating that these benefits afforded to the American people during this time of crisis would ultimately “discourage work.”
Joint statement by conservatives Stephen Moore, Art Laffer, Steve Forbes: “Don’t expand welfare and other income redistribution benefits like paid leave and unemployment benefits that will inhibit growth and discourage work”
— Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 17, 2020
I guess we’re all just supposed to die instead. Would that be cheaper?
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
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