Policy lesson!

What the Senator lays out here is known as the the "principle of least eligibility." Dating back at least to the English Poor Law of 1834 (and cruel even then), it basically says any public assistance should be worse than the worst job. https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1252584394356858880

It says the life of someone getting aid "on the whole shall not be made really or apparently so eligible as the situation of the independent laborer of the lowest class."

In 1834, aid was through the workhouse, a quasi-prison. Now, the shadow of jail looms over inadequate aid.

I'm a nerd who likes to talk about this stuff. But a concept from nearly 200 years ago keeps popping up in the current crisis.

Less than a month ago, least eligibility came up up in this thread from @jacremes, responding to the other Senator from SC. https://twitter.com/jacremes/status/1242902897580552199