Republican Governor Scott Walker has graced us with yet another example of “when conservative politicians prove they don’t understand average Americans.”

When discussing the phenomenon of Republican governors refusing to expand Medicaid in their states, Gov. Walker revealed his own take on the issue: not offering health coverage to low-income Americans helps them live the American Dream.

Gov. Walker actually claims that low-income Americans are in situations that require government assistance because of choices they’ve made and jobs they’ve refused to apply for, and it’s their responsibility to get themselves out of it.

But when you consider that the majority of people who would benefit from the Medicaid expansion that Gov. Walker criticized are part of families where people already are working–many of them in agricultural or service sectors that have histories of failing to provide health insurance to their workers–it seems that the problem isn’t the fact that these people aren’t working.

Many cashiers, cooks, nurses’ aids, wait staff and janitors aren’t offered health insurance through their jobs, but these positions are still clearly crucial to our economy.

Everyone deserves to have quality, affordable health care, but Gov. Walker seems to have a preconceived notion that needing a bit of help is contrary to the American Dream.

Regardless of the motive, the message was clear: relying on government assistance is un-American (even if half of us will find ourselves in that situation at some point in our lives).

Conservative politicians like Gov. Walker are not working for those who need them the most, and it continues to be those without enough as it is who suffer the consequences.