Not really a choice
So the plan is to starve those pesky workers into going back.
As states begin to reopen their economies after weeks of stay-at-home orders, some are warning employees that they will lose unemployment benefits if they refuse to return to their jobs, according to The Hill — even if they fear contracting the coronavirus.
In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds (R) said failing to return to work would be considered a “voluntary quit,” which would terminate an employee’s benefits.
Starve and be evicted and die or get the virus and die – your choice!
“If you’re an employer and you offer to bring your employee back to work and they decide not to, that’s a voluntary quit,” Reynolds said Friday. “Therefore, they would not be eligible for the unemployment money.”
Even during a pandemic. Even as new clusters keep being found. Even as testing remains drastically inadequate.
A similar situation is playing out in Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott announced that businesses can reopen on Friday.
Cisco Gamez, a Texas Workforce Commission spokesman, told the Texas Tribune that employees who choose not to return to work will become ineligible for unemployment benefits.
They call it “choose” to make it sound free and voluntary and defiant, as opposed to a safety measure forced by the worst pandemic in the past century.
I had a look at the map tonight; it’s fucking exploding in Texas (and not just in the nice parts). Will be “fun” to see if Texas gets taker state status out of this mess.
BKiSA, Texas has always been a taker state, getting more than they pay. So has my state, which is deep red and insists they do everything by the sweat of their brow, never taking anything from anybody (in spite of the fact that a significant part of our economy here is agriculture, which probably gets more of its money from subsidies than sales – yes, they work hard, but no, they are not getting everything from their hard work. Without the government, they would likely fail to thrive). In fact, most of the deep red states have been in that situation for a long time, while the despised states of New York and California have always gotten less back from the feds than they pay in, making them a giver state.
In short, Trumpistas have no concept of reality, statistics, politics, or economics. Color me surprised (not).
Hmm… must be misinformed on my end. Was pretty sure Texas was the only non-taker red state (presumably due to a large economy and a number of productive cities). Maybe it’s just that it’s an edge case…