It’s like they wake up every morning and ask, “How can we be complete assholes today?” Seriously, this rhetoric about paid family leave is cartoon villain grade stupidity (boldface mine):

That quote was courtesy of a “Messaging Points” memo aimed at Republicans in the state House, apparently written by a spokeswoman for the caucus, The Messenger reports. ”Lansing Democrats want to take money out of your paychecks with a new tax to pay for summer break for adults,” the talking point reads. “It’s a ridiculous idea that people just can’t afford.”

Yeah, giving birth and taking care of a newborn is just like summer break. Recovering from surgery, same. Taking a loved one to chemo and then caring for them through the ensuing misery? A day at the beach.

Michigan House Republicans do support paid family and medical leave, another spokesman insisted to The Messenger, just … not in any way that would work as a state policy. As they put it, they oppose “burdening workers and businesses needlessly” or a “system that is going to let fraudulent payouts just go by without dealing with them.” But Republicans aren’t trying to work with Democrats to ensure that fraud doesn’t happen; they’re just opposing the policy on the insistence that it would.

Happy Labor Day!