What, Me Work?

 Wall Street Journal 

Notable & Quotable: Susan Collins on Work

‘We will not build a more prosperous, just, and equitable society characterized by opportunity, dignity, and meaning just by issuing government checks.

Oct. 1, 2021

From remarks by Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) delivered in the Senate Sept 28:

There were many temporary programs that were instituted to help as our economy shut down and people were laid off. I, along with three of my colleagues, authored one of them: the Paycheck Protection Program. . . . That program was successful—and temporary.

But that is not what this Administration is proposing. Rather, it is creating entitlement programs untethered to work that would fundamentally change incentives for our families, our communities, our society, and our economy, depriving people of their dignity and eroding their ability to provide for themselves and their families. Absent a pandemic or other crisis, Washington should not simply write monthly checks, creating dependency among those who could have a better life. The federal government’s obligation is not fulfilled by simply sending a check, washing its hands of any responsibility to actually help people achieve self-sufficiency.

It appears that this Administration is moving toward the left’s proposal for a guaranteed minimum income regardless of one’s ability to work. Never forget that the first version of the Green New Deal included a guaranteed income for those “unable or unwilling to work.” Mr. President, we must not go down that path.

We will not build a more prosperous, just, and equitable society characterized by opportunity, dignity, and meaning just by issuing government checks. The time-tested way to achieve those goals for American families is by supporting and rewarding work. It is by recognizing the dignity of work. And that is the tradition that we must continue to embrace.