DN Editorial: FLUNKING THE TEST: That's what Gov. Corbett does, when it comes to the jobless, facts & sensitivity

"Pauperism is the consequence of willful error, of shameful indolence, of vicious habits. It is a misery of human creation, the pernicious work of man, the lamentable consequence of bad principles and morals."

YOU'D BE forgiven if you thought that the above quote was from Gov. Corbett as he expanded on his explanation Tuesday for the state's unemployment rate - that not enough people seeking jobs can pass a drug test.

In point of fact, the comment above came from the Rev. Charles Burroughs, a preacher in New Hampshire who was addressing a poorhouse in 1834, according to Michael Katz in his book The Undeserving Poor.

But in their demonizing of the poor, the struggling and the needy, Corbett and Burroughs seem to be ideological brothers. Unfortunately, it's a brotherhood that has plenty of members.

In a radio interview Tuesday that touched on Pennsylvania's lackluster employment performance, Corbett's comment that state employers are having a hard time hiring people who can pass a drug test echoes a comment that he made while campaigning in 2010 that many jobless would rather keep collecting unemployment than get a job.

Both suggest a stunning lack of awareness of the economic realities driving the job market - and of human suffering. And worse, it scapegoats the failure of his own policies on a supposed lazy, drug-taking population.

Corbett's disdain for the unemployed echoes a larger disdain for the poor that we see in lawmaking bodies across the country.

(We do recognize that there's a difference between "the poor" and "the unemployed," although the numbers suggest that that difference is slim. The $573 maximum weekly unemployment check in the state would put a family of four close to the federal poverty guideline.)

Strangely enough, much of the hosility plays out around drug testing.

Last year, Republicans succeeded in passing a federal law that would allow states to drug-test as a condition of receiving unemployment benefits, and many states have moved to enact such laws. This comes on the heels of measures requiring welfare recipients to submit to drug tests.

Just last month, the Arkansas Senate approved a law that would require random drug testing of those receiving unemployment benefits, and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a bill that would drug-test recipients of both welfare and unemployment benefits.

Those arguing that public money shouldn't go to support people's drug use should note that unemployment benefits are funded by employer payroll taxes.

Corbett, who is running for re-election, is naturally sensitive to the lackluster employment numbers in the state.

But had he bothered to back up his drug-taking jobless claim with data, he would have found a surprise. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, surveys the population on illicit drug use. Nationally, 8.82 percent reported using an illicit drug in the past month, compared with 7.79 percent in Pennsylvania.

Once again, Pennsylvania came in below the national average.