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 The top House Republican said there were a "record number of
Americans stuck" and that government had an "obligation to help
provide tools for them to use to bring them into the mainstream of
American society."
The U.S. unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in August, down from 10
percent in October 2009.
Boehner's remarks were in response to a question following a speech
he delivered to the conservative-leaning American Enterprise
Institute in which he laid out broad ideas for improving the U.S.
economy.
The question was about plans that have been offered by politicians
ranging from Democratic President Barack Obama to Republican House
Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan to expand an earned-income tax
credit for the poor.
Boehner then lamented "this idea that has been born, maybe out of
the economy over the last couple years, that you know, I really
don't have to work. I don't really want to do this. I think I'd
rather just sit around. This is a very sick idea for our country."
As he has done many times in the past, Boehner talked about his
large family of 11 brothers and sisters, saying that as a youngster
he mopped floors in the bar his father owned, delivered newspapers,
cut grass and took other odd jobs.
"If you wanted something you worked for it," Boehner said, adding,
"Trust me, I did it all."
The House Speaker concluded his remarks on the subject by saying
that Ryan's ideas on expanding the tax credit for the poor "has an
awful lot of merit."
Ryan, a conservative who ran unsuccessfully for vice president in
2012 and is mentioned as a possible 2016 candidate for president,
angered some Democrats in Congress earlier this year when he talked
about the causes of inner-city poverty.
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During a talk-radio interview, the Wisconsin Republican spoke of a
"tailspin of culture in our inner cities in particular, of men not
working and just generations of men not even thinking about working
or learning the value of work."
Ryan later said his remarks were "inarticulate."
At the time, Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, said
Ryan's remarks were a "thinly veiled racial attack" in which
"inner-city" was a code word for "black."
Following Boehner's speech, a spokesman said he was not saying
jobless Americans are unemployed because of laziness.
"He talked about the problem of record unemployment and made the
case that too many government programs don’t do enough to encourage
a culture of work, rather than dependency," said spokesman Kevin
Smith.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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