U.S. Rep.-elect Glenn Grothman says the government is bribing single parents to stay unemployed and unmarried.

That wording even seemed to catch interviewer Mike Gousha off guard on the Sunday broadcast of the statewide TV news program "UpFront with Mike Gousha."

In his run for Congress, the Republican state senator from Campbellsport said welfare reform would be his top priority in Washington, and in the interview broadcast Sunday, he said educating the public is a first step.

"So your viewers are aware, a single parent with a couple kids can easily get $35,000 a year in total benefits between the health care and the earned income credit and the FoodShare and the low-income housing and what have you," Grothman said. "And that's after taxes. How many people make $35,000 a year after taxes? Most people don't.

"When you look at that amount of money, which is in essence a bribe not to work that hard or a bribe not to marry someone with a full-time job, people immediately realize you have a problem. Then as soon as you realize you have a problem and something has to be done, then you look at the generosity of the benefits and see what you can do to pare them back."