There is really nothing the federal government gets its nose into that it does not make worse. The latest example is extending unemployment benefits, which incentivizes people not to work but rather just to sit in their basements collecting a government check. But you cannot fault Biden too much on this. Sitting in his basement and doing nothing won him the presidency.
If you ask business owners, they are frustrated that workers will not show up to work. The workers are sitting at home collecting a check which pays them more than working. For that check, all they have to do is vote for Democrats once or twice every election cycle. Unfortunately for the economy, restaurants can’t fully serve customers, and untold numbers of small businesses are hurting.
There is nothing noble about what Congress did with this government handout of money it did not have, and which massively increased the deficit. It would be like someone stealing your credit card and buying you dinner, then expecting to be thanked.
Companies now have to raise wages to get workers, and that cost is passed on to the consumer. Wendy’s, Subway and Burger King said they would have to increase wages to fight the work slowdown caused by government disincentives. Last year, under Trump, we paid tribute to front-line health care workers. This year under Biden we honor McDonald’s employees who just show up to work.
When we perhaps needed it during the depths of the COVID outbreak, Pelosi, Schumer and political media hack support apparatus would not pass the legislation for fear it would help Trump. They delayed it to the point where Trump got a vaccine out with Operation Warp Speed and allowed the economy to get going again, but now the government incentive for workers to sit at home has stalled that recovery.
Congress and government workers never needed to worry about being paid during the pandemic. Their work is so bad that no one notices when they don’t show up. In fact, it is preferred. Their pay is protected under the Americans With No Abilities Act.
I do not fault workers who sit at home being paid more than they would make at work. Economics are the underpinnings of all incentives and disincentives. According to The Cato Institute, “37% of workers currently make more unemployed than work.”
And the only folks who cannot work if they want to are home robbers and bank robbers. Everyone is at home, so burglars can’t work. Bank robbers are the real victims of this pandemic. When they come into the bank, no one takes them seriously any more.
In extra-stupid blue states like Massachusetts, a low-income worker previously earning $535 a week would have received $257 a week in pre-pandemic unemployment benefits. That same worker now makes 104% of his or her working salary, $557 a week, just sitting at home watching “Judge Judy.”
The only people who are showing up to work are those allowed to call us on our cellphones to sell us car warranties. Even many of the national parks were closed and had a hard time reopening. It seems the bears were making more money sitting in their caves than coming out to work.
In very short order, the Biden/Harris socialist agenda has us facing gas lines, inflation, citizens paid to sit at home, children held hostage by the teachers’ unions and civil unrest in big cities. The Capitol is surrounded with barbed wire barricades to keep protesters out. Is it just me, or is America growing disenchanted with this three-month free trial of communism?
Contact Ron Hart, a syndicated op-ed satirist, at Ron@RonaldHart.com, or visit www.RonaldHart.com.