Republicans' 'YouCut' gimmick leads them to propose ending successful jobs program

Last week, House Republicans launched a gimmicky website called "YouCut," which asked visitors to vote on which item out of a pre-chosen set they would like to see axed from the federal budget. Republicans promised to bring a bill to the House floor nixing the item that received the most votes. The problem with this is two-fold. For starters, eliminating every single one of the proposed YouCut items would amount to cutting 0.017 percent of the federal budget. This highlights the fundamental unseriousness of Republican claims that you can significantly reduce the federal budget deficit by targeting small-ball spending programs. But second, the ultimate "winner" of the contest is a successful jobs program that was fundamentally mischaracterized and misunderstood by the GOP. With about 29 percent of the 280,000 votes cast, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund led the pack. House Republicans called the fund a "backdoor way to undo" welfare reform that "incentivizes states to increase their welfare caseloads." Of course, phrased that way, the program sounds absolutely awful!