There’s a lot of controversy, and some small areas of agreement, concerning government programs that provide financial assistance to those living in hardship (welfare, foodstamps, etc). One thing most people across the political spectrum would agree on is that, whenever possible, it’s better to get people off of welfare rolls and onto a payroll. But there’s not always universal agreement about what kind of assistance should be provided to make it more feasible for people to work (child care, training, etc.). There is also some disagreement about what kinds of jobs people can be required to take. This may be carried to an extreme in Germany, where women may find themselves screwed out of unemployment benefits – literally:
A Telegraph article reports that a waitress (and former IT professional) in Berlin faces cuts in her unemployment benefits for turning down a job providing “sexual services” at a brothel, which is a legal occupation in Germany.
It would be interesting to see what Republicans in this country would think of this. Their infamous “moral values” often take a back seat to their stinginess. If legalizing prostitution meant they could make poor women work as hookers instead of collecting unemployment, they might suddenly find something in the Bible that supported it. But I’ll bet they still wouldn’t want to provide them with birth control.