Republican lawmakers have long championed work requirements for social programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and housing assistance. These policies are framed as promoting self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, but a deeper analysis show psychological and rhetorical strategies to advance broader political and economic goals. A deliberate use of psychological and rhetorical strategies intended to blow smoke up your ass.
Republicans consistently frame work requirements as a way to restore dignity and encourage self reliance echoing America's cultural emphasis on individualism. Republicans define welfare as a handout that must be earned.
Bill Clinton's Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act imposed strict work requirements for welfare. Bill shifted the Overton window and Republican Propaganda became Democratic Party Propaganda. He significantly changed the way the Democratic Party was funded by modernizing its fundraising strategy and embracing large-scale, corporate-style donor operations that had previously been more associated with the Republican Party. I leave it to you to connect the dots.
Ending welfare as we know it played into narratives about lazy welfare queens, a racially charged stereotype popularized by Ronald Reagan involving several Cadillac cars, a fat woman, and lots of kids. None of the stereotype was true. Most welfare recipients already worked, but the law led to deep cuts in assistance without significantly improving any employment outcome due to a paperwork trap that made benefits hard to get.
Republican lawmakers argue that Medicaid expansion under the ACA discourages work, despite studies showing 92% of Medicaid recipients who can work already do. They simply can't afford private insurance. They do not make enough money. Framing the issue as moral rather than economic, Republicans bait and switch. The switch avoids any talk of stagnant wages, lack of childcare, and the realities of gig work, which does not at the end of the day, pay.
Work requirements exploit deep-seated cognitive biases to make asshole policies seem reasonable. It is done to make shit smell good.
If someone looses benefits, it's assumed they did something wrong. The system is rigged so people loose benefits in a red tape paperwork trap. Low wages, disabilities, no fucking jobs, are considerations that are not talked about. With the onus of responsibility moved, it is assumed that everyone can easily comply with work requirements.
The Arkansas' Medicaid Work Requirement (2018) shows otherwise. The state imposed a 20-hour a week work requirement for Medicaid. 18,000 people lost coverage for failing to report their hours. People working could not jump through the hoops. Sick people could not do the paperwork.
Republicans do not care. They just say everybody dies.