UNEMPLOYED? YOU'RE A SLACKER!!!

That seems to be the conservative and libertarian stance on unemployment insurance benefits and perhaps can be traced back to another horrid Austrian, Ludwig von Mises. The disgraced Tom Delay is the latest freak to make this argument. (h/t HuffPo) From CNN's State of the Union, 3/7/2010:

CROWLEY: But this particular time, you know, to halt peoples' jobs that were working on, public infrastructure jobs, to put in jeopardy peoples' unemployment benefits and their health care just was not exactly the right vehicle to make that stand. You don't think that's a PR problem at the very least?

DELAY: No, I really don't, if it's communicated properly. You know, there's -- there is an argument to be made that these extensions of these unemployment benefits keeps people from going and finding jobs. In fact, there's a study -- there's some studies that have been done that shows that people stay on unemployment compensation and they don't look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.

CROWLEY: Congressman, that's such a hard sell, isn't it?

(LAUGHTER)

It's -- you know, to say...

DELAY: It's the truth.

CROWLEY: ... well, people are unemployed because they want to be?

DELAY: Well, it is the truth. And people in the real world know it. And they have friends that -- and they know it. Sure, we ought to be helping people that are unemployed find a job, but we also have budget considerations that are incredibly important, especially now that Obama is spending monies that we don't even have.