WaPo on Rollins: The “Let Them Eat Want Ads” Caucus

Let’s call it the “Let Them Eat Want Ads” Caucus — those candidates and public officials who argue that unemployment benefits are problematic because they discourage people from seeking jobs.

And let’s add another Republican to that caucus: Candidate Michele Rollins, who’s running for Mike Castle’s open House seat in Delaware.

Rollins, who’s running in a contested race against green technology exec John Carney, was asked by a constituent if she would have voted to extend unemployment benefits. She suggested she wouldn’t, claiming that “for someone who hasn’t worked in two years” it’s “pretty hard to get energized to go back and look for a job.”

She added:

“I know this is a bad market and a very bad time. But you just cannot keep paying people, cannot keep taxing us to pay people to do nothing, because they will continue to do nothing for a very long time.”

The exchange was captured on audio recorded by a tracker for the DCCC.

In an interview with me, Rollins clarified that she was not by any means suggesting the unemployed were “lazy.”

“I didn’t mean that unemployment benefits discourage people from working,” Rollins said. She added that she does support “continuation” of benefits, though she said it was also crucial to “find the money” to pay for it. She claimed that all she meant to say was that “jobs aren’t out there.”

But Rollins did tell her constituent that giving people benefits risks ensuring that people “will continue to do nothing.” And she’s only the latest to make this claim. Sharron Angle suggested that the unemployed were getting “spoiled” by benefits, though she later backtracked. Senators Richard Burr and GOP Senate candidate Ron Johnson, who’s challenging Russ Feingold, have also argued that unemployment benefits discourage job-seeking. If I’ve missed others, let me know.

To be clear, this is not the official position of the GOP leadership, which says it favors extending unemployment benefits if the cost of them is offset elsewhere and doesn’t add to the deficit.

And that’s why we need a special caucus for those who do see benefits as problematic: The “Let Them Eat Want Ads” Caucus. Any takers?