Conservatives Party Like It's 1992: "The Government Is Giving All Your Money to Welfare Recipients!"

Uh oh! Looks like the government is sneakily spending your hard-earned cash to shower welfare moms with Cadillacs again!

One of the GOP’s all-time favorite talking points — the racist, classist (and non-existent in real life) specter of welfare recipients living large on the government’s dime — appears to be making a comeback, this time inspired by a Massachusetts car ownership program for welfare recipients.

A Fox Nation headline proclaims in outrage:  “What?? Free Wheels for Welfare Recipients!”

Clicking through to the actual article, or course, reveals that the program’s beneficiaries are hardly awash in luxury. And, despite the fact that the article itself is laughably biased — one brief quote by an advocate of the program, sandwiched between three quotes by Republicans bloviating about government waste — it’s pretty easy to figure out that the program is not exactly a harbinger of socialism.

The state does not pay for the cars, but rather “... the car’s insurance, inspection, excise tax, title, registration, repairs and a AAA membership.” (The cars are supplied by non-profits.) Applicants have to show that they are either employed, or are actively looking for work. In order to get the cars, they have to prove that it is impossible for them to reach work using public transportation. Only families with children are eligible. And on and on.

You may have already surmised much of this, because you’re not an idiot. The same cannot be said for Fox Nation readers.

The comments that follow the headline are as racist, classist, and generally fucked up as one would expect. I feel gross re-posting samples, but it’s probably important to do so in order to get a true sense of the chilling vitriol and idiocy on display.