Guest Cartoon: The Highwayman: "Arbeit Macht Frei: GOP Work Requirements Must Die"

<"Arbeit Macht Frei (GOP Style)": The Highwayman

...click on the image to get the full effect!>

We all knew it couldn't last, here at Ramen Noodle Nation HQ: Michigan lawmakers can never rest until they make sure the Wolverine State becomes the butt of a new joke. In this case, it's Senate Bill 897, the creation of one Mike Shirkey, who apparently won't rest until he pries those people with disabilities and shiftless multiple job-holders (including yours truly) off their newly-minted, yet hard-won, Healthy Michigan Medicaid coverage.

In brief, Shirkey's bill would make recipients show they're working 29 hours per week, going to school, or getting job training, to keep their coverage. Otherwise, they're bounced off the rolls (or locked out for a year if they don't report their hours). A lot of ink has already been expended on this topic, but rather than rehash it, we urge you to check out the links below, and see how much havoc Mad Mike's creation would wreak, if it's passed as written.

You must have seen the ground 

where we upheld the Law

I was a young man then, 

I was a young man then

Spending time on the killing floor

Do as you would want to be

Joy of labour, sets you free

Motörhead, "Joy Of Labour"

Of course, this is the usual fuzzily-conceived GOP creation, one that harks back to a totally different era...when folks a) worked 40 hours, b) didn't need to take a second or third job to stay afloat, and c) had employer-provided health insurance -- in other words, features that have evaporated for the great majority. Nor does it fund trifles like assistance with daycare or transportation, two things that lower-income residents often lack. Without them, this bill is just a pipe dream.

And that's before we get to the shockingly racist aspect, in which counties with jobless rates of 8.5 percent or higher are exempt. This little twist leaves residents in mostly white counties off the hook, but not their minority counterparts in high unemployment cities like Detroit, or Flint, whose poisoned water represents a toxic legacy, in its most literal sense. Can we say 1916, anyone?

So far, these issues don't seem to faze Mad Mike and his cohorts, though Governor Rick Snyder's office is apparently prodding them to negotiate on some of the details...like the 29-hour requirement, which -- if it stands -- would be the most stringent in America. Ah, well, as The Highwayman and I would agree...it's good to see Michigan excel at something. Oh, and crank up "The Joy Of Labour," while you're at it. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
Before Your Coverage Disappears):

Bridge.com: Racial Accuations
Embroil Michigan Medicaid Debate
https://www.bridgemi.com/public-sector/racial-accusations-embroil-michigan-medicaid-reform-debate

Motorhead: The Joy Of Labour (w/lyrics):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3H8klclUFI

The Macomb Daily:
Michigan Lawmakers
Move Toward Work Requirements
For Medicaid Recipients:
http://www.macombdaily.com/article/MD/20180507/NEWS/180509823

The Michigan Daily:
Republicans Medicaid Madness
https://www.michigandaily.com/section/columns/republicans-medicaid-madness

Do you even know what the devil does

He drives a man 'til he can't take no more

I was a young man then, 

I was a young man then

Spending time on the killing floor

Motörhead, "Joy Of Labour"