Return to Welfare; History, Results and Reform
Welfare Articles in the Press Today
<SNIP>
In the Press Today
3/26/11 (By Travis)
Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages
3/8/11 CNBC
Government payouts—including Social Security,
Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and
salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if
action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.
At the very least, we can take solace in the fact that we’re not quite at the state welfare levels of Europe. In the U.K., social welfare benefits make up 44 percent of wages and salaries, according to TrimTabs’ Schnapp.
11/21/10 (By Travis)
Blacks struggle with 72 percent unwed mothers rate
11/6/10 AP
17th paragraph down:
"...and welfare laws created a financial incentive for poor mothers to stay single."
4/21/10
Why work when I can get £42,000 in benefits a year AND drive a Mercedes?
4/13/10 dailymail
The Davey
family's £815-a-week state handouts pay for a four-bedroom home,
top-of-the-range mod cons and two vehicles including a Mercedes people carrier.
Father-of-seven Peter gave up work because he could make more living on
benefits.
Yet he and his wife Claire are still not happy with their lot.
With an eighth child on the way, they are demanding a bigger house, courtesy of
the taxpayer.
Mrs Davey has never had a full-time job while her 35-year-old husband gave up
his post in administration nine years ago after realising they would be better
off living off the state.
'It cost too much to carry on working as we were actually better off
unemployed,' said Mr Davey.
2/16/10
My Country ‘Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Dependency
2/12/10 BigGovernment
If you want to get depressed or angry, the New York Times has an article celebrating the effort by politicians at all levels of government to lure more people into the food stamp program. New York City is running ads in foreign languagues asking people to stick their snouts in the public trough. The City is even signing up prisoners when they get out of jail. The state of New York, meanwhile, actually set up quotas for enrolling new recipients. And on the federal level, there apparently is a program that gives states “bonuses” for putting more people on the dole. No wonder one out of every eight Americans is receiving food stamps.
10/19/09
Why Did 1 Of 8 Girls Get Pregnant At Robeson High?
10/15/09 cbs
LaDonna Denson and two other Robeson students say parents not talking to
teens and, in some cases, the pursuit of public assistance also factor
into the pregnancies. None of them thought they'd be moms at such a young age.
8/12/09
Back to school spree: Billionaire, feds give out $175M to aid neediest students
around the state
8/12/09 daily news
A $200 back-to-school giveaway for needy kids sparked a mad rush for money on
the streets of New York on Tuesday.
"It's free money!" said Alecia Rumph, 26, who waited in a Morris Park, Bronx,
line 300 people deep for the cash to buy uniforms and book bags for her two
kids.
"Thank God for Obama. He's looking out for us."
The no-strings-attached money went to families receiving food stamps or welfare.
When the people find
that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.
- Benjamin Franklin
6/11
California contemplates ultimate reform - no welfare
6/4/09 Sacramento Bee
Because of all the Federal programs and other state programs, it is not entirely true that getting rid of CalWorks would result in no welfare in California. But it would be a great first step and would probably result in the largest reduction of poverty in the state's history. Notice the remarks of the people running CalWorks. IMHO, I doubt the program is in any real jeopardy.
Posted 3/31/08 ( by Travis)
One
in 6 West Virginians is on food stamps
Charleston
Daily Mail ^ | 3/26/08 | Justin D. Anderson
Amid rising food and fuel costs, the assistance is becoming worth less and less.
And supplemental food programs for poor families are struggling to keep up with the added demand as donations are on the decline.
Nationally, more than 26 million Americans were on the food stamp program last year, according to the federal agriculture department.
"We never have enough food to totally give everybody what they really want," Nardella said.
IMO, these welfare agencies will never 'have enough' regardless of how many Americans are on welfare - the same welfare that is the very reason for their poverty. These agencies have already decimated Appalachia.
Posted 11/26/07 (By Travis)
Benton County: Hispanic moms often unmarried
Arkansaw
Democrat Gazette
Nearly half of the babies delivered by Hispanic mothers in
Benton County last year were born out of wedlock. That was double the rate for white, non-Hispanic
mothers in the county. The statistics mirror national trends that have the attention of advocates of
all persuasions. Immigration critics warn of looming consequences, from persistent poverty to
welfare dependency. The Bush administration also makes the connection:
As demonstrated, teen and out of wedlock marriage, along with child poverty, has plummeted since welfare reform was enacted in the late 90s. This article demonstrates welfarism has not been reduced enough; that it is still prevalent enough to cause these sorts of scourges in the Hispanic communities. Not because they are 'Hispanic', but because the newly arriving immigrants are poorer. This article does not mention any of this.
Preventing out-of wedlock pregnancies is a key to its $100 million “healthy marriage” strategy for curbing welfare.
A $100 million dollar 'healthy marriage' strategy? LOL This is the first I've heard of this. Of course, this sort of social engineering propaganda can only be doomed to failure, probably just as effective as the governments attempt to influence 'drug use'.
An easier strategy to strengthen marriage would be to eliminate socialism in the United States, and further cut welfare. Incidentally, it might even lessen some of the immigration angst percolating out there.
Posted 11/2/05
10/30/05 Ottawa Sun Just like our own Native American Indian reservations, Canadian reservations are plagued by similar conditions with have similar causes of poverty. Kashechawan, where the water that flows from the taps is so filthy and contaminated it's not fit for bathing, let alone drinking. Where residents, many of whom are on welfare, say they often spend $300 to $400 for about five days worth of groceries. <.> Nothing short of a crisis, it seems, can spur the Department of Indian Affairs into action. And even then the government seems inclined to do only what is necessary to end the controversy instead of finding long-term solutions.
They still ignore the fact that the reserve system isn't working. That sending billions of dollars to band councils is not improving living conditions on the reserves. That under the Indian Act, most families are denied the simple right to own their homes.
Denied the right to own their homes? This is a good follow-up on the Hernando De Soto post below (11/2/05), see archives. In 'Native Americans and Welfare' I wrote:
"Like Native Americans on reservations throughout
Welfare experiment in Sweden failing
6/12/06 Investor's Business Daily
Poverty
Up as Welfare Enrollment Declines / Nation's Social Saftey Net in Tatters As More People Loose Their
Jobs
Washington Post 9/26/2004 - This liberal reporter
writes a long piece that leaves the reader clueless as to the benefits from Welfare Reform and
completely misleads any reader attempting to understand poverty and welfare. The reporter cites
liberal think tanks without saying they are liberal and incorporates Democratic talking points
throughout the whole story.
36 Million Americans Live in Poverty
Associated Press
8/26/2004 - An election year hit piece on President Bush, this reporter suggests Conservative
policies resulted in the poverty increase and an increase in those without health insurance.
Decline In Unwed Birthrate
Attributed
Washington Post
8/22/2004 - This story suggests shifting demographics and government programs caused the drop
in out-of-wedlock births. Welfare Reform is not even suggested as a possible cause.
Teenage
Birthrate Hit a Record Low in 2002, Report Says
LA Times 7/16/2004 - This reporter credits
government programs with reducing the teenage birth rate. Not a mention of Welfare Reform.
Number
of welfare recipients declines
Associated
Press 9/3/2003 - This liberal reporter quotes or states the concerns of the Children Defense Fund,
Democratic Senators, and 'critics'. Makes no mention of the success of Welfare Reform or why they
are quoting the people who have demonstrated time and time again that they are the least
knowledgeable in this area.
U.S.
Births to Young Teens Drops
Associated Press Mon, 11/15/04 - The birth rate among American
girls ages 10 to 14 has fallen to its lowest level since 1946, the government reported Monday. What
gets the credit for this drop? CDC
researchers attributed the decline to sex education. Interestingly, the
city with the highest percentage of it's citizens on welfare, Washington,
D.C., had the highest [rate], at two
births per 1,000 girls. I'd be interested to see this drop broken down
by race...
Jerusalem
still Israel's poorest city
Jerusalem
Post 11/23/2003 - Compare these political battles in Israel to those we have discussed in the United
States. Ben-Shalom is director of the NII - National Insurance Institute, which is best described as
a combination of the Children's Defense Fund and Social Workers groups.
New York's New Beggars
New York Post 9/18/2003 - A interesting look at the incentives and subsidy of the homeless in New
York City.
German
Unification Poses Problems
BBC 9/20/2004 - Contrast this with what we've learned about Welfare. See the similarities?
German
jobless face cut in welfare
Al-Jazeera 1/4/2005 - Dealing with the whole of Germany, some more shrill predictions and threatened
protests etc... etc...
Brown
wipes £80m Mozambique debt
BBC 1/15/2005 - Under
the plan, which will cost Britain £1bn, developing countries must promise to spend the money they
save on education, health and welfare. On Friday, he signed a
debt-relief deal with Tanzania and promised similar deals for 70 other developing nations. The
BBC celebrates, but how will the money
be spent? Exporting socialism will just result in the ruin of African countries, not their
prosperity. Recall that money spent in the United States on Welfare would have been better to have
been burned then spent. Is that the case here? A
Canadian author has the correct viewpoint.
Living
on a dollar and a prayer
BBC 1/18/05 Amazing story on the poverty in Zambia. They interview the finance minister who says, In
most of our Zambian communities, particularly in rural areas, people do not pay for water, lighting,
housing and energy so it is true that many of them live on less than $1 a day. Sounds
like the Pine Ridge Indian reservation! An organization then talks
about food baskets they give to the population. Despite the obvious socialization of Zambia the BBC
says (of the finance minister): He conceded that privatisation had
brought some poverty, but felt we were making too much of an issue of living on less than a dollar a
day. Privitisation!!!!! 'Conceded' sounds like the BBC got him
to grudgingly admit the truth - which is the opposite of the real truth! The worst part is the
'victim hood' and condescension the BBC paints the local population with.
Juggling this meagre income then becomes Patricia's headache - Dominic just hands the money to her:
"When I get that money I just get confused." It
seems to me that poverty in Zambia is
caused by high taxes, used to support Socialistic programs that discourage work and foreign
investment and impoverish the population. How Zambia might get
out of poverty can be viewed here. The BBC description of Zambia is a disgrace and works only to
further impoverish that country.
Bush
Plans Sharp Cuts in HUD Community Efforts
Washington Post 1/15/2005 - This reporter quotes advocacy groups who imply that these cuts are going to be made for tax cuts, a
mission to Mars and other presidential priorities. (my
emphasis) Nowhere will you read of the
harm that these housing units have done to the poorest people and to our society. HUD should be
eliminated and this reporter should be educated.
"For God's Sake please stop the Aid"
7/4/05 Der Spiegel REQUIRED READING African economist James Shikwati (who claims to have been tossed out of 'public university' for being a 'capitalist') nails it perfectly. He mentions everything I've mentioned on this site and more. Short and sweet and to the point. Der Spiegel is shocked. I almost posted this entire article verbatim. An African Libertarian! We need more.
The
Meaning of Work (Being A Black Man and Undemployment)
Washington
Post ^ | 19 November 2006 |
David Finkel
In the Press Today - Conservative articles (some are not by Conservative authors, but make the point)
Posted 8/24/06 (By Travis)
8/22/06 Reason.com There have been a lot of articles written about the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform, but this one, IMO, takes the cake.
My only complaint is that it doesn't give credit where it is most due; to the Conservative movement and the newly elected Republican Majority Congress. Despite what he says in his recent New York Times article, Clinton, deserves little or none of the credit, as he vetoed two previous bills that were written nearly the same as the final one.
Also, equally unsurprising, our friends on the left appear to have learned nothing from the results of welfare reform. The New York Times and Washington Post are still up to their old tricks. :)
(Added to 'Welfare; History, Results and Reform'.)
Causes of Poverty in Developing Nations
Neoperspectives 2/16/05 - An excerpt from 'Tsunami Tyranny' that looks at issues facing developing nations. A further list of articles is posted at the end.
The Changing Face
of Poverty
Newsweek 10/18/04 - Robert Samuelson writes about how immigration accounts for much of the 'new
poverty'.
A
painful anniversary
Townhall.com 8/17/2004 - Conservative African American author and thinker Thomas Sowell nails the
'War on Poverty'.
Race
to the Top
/ Welfare
reform works. Ted Kennedy wants to kill it.
Wall Street Journal 4/3/2004 - Editorial gives a
brief recap of the past failures and shrill predictions coming from the left and describes some of
the current obstructionisms.
In
China's Cities, a Turn From Factories / Labor
Pool Shifts As Urban Workers Seek Better Lives
9/25/04 Washington Post -
Wages are rising in China and factories having to raise wages or they will loose workers. Initially
low paying jobs taken by former welfare recipients will see the same upward wage pressures -
providing the government doesn't pay them not to work.
If you don't take a job as a Prostitute we can stop your benefits
1/31/05 Telegraph - German woman is under pressure to take a job she really doesn't want...
The Failures and Fallacies of Foreign Aid - (Posted 23/3/05)
1990 The Freeman - David Osterfeld writes a long, and in depth analysis of foreign aid. I intend to follow up on some of his sources and citations. Very impressed with this; he has covered and documented many of the same things which I have observed independently and described on this web site. For example, running parallel to Osterfeld's findings are: Native Americans and Welfare, Causes of Poverty in Developing Nations, and Arab Governments and Causes of Terrorism.
(Posted 4/14/05)
To further expand on the 'Viagra Covered by Medicare' post below and illustrate how government programs such as Medicaid (and other 'means-tested'/welfare type programs) fail and create an underclass of poverty and destitution I've created two hypothetical charts (no real data used). Contrasting these charts simulates how businesses will change their hiring, including more part time jobs and jobs with lower pay to take advantage of the money government steals from all the taxpayers to pay for lower income workers' healthcare (currently only poor single women and their children are eligible nationally for free health care, but some states have created even more generous programs (Tenn) and there are a host of other overlapping programs [community health centers] and expansionist proposals to cover even more lower income people are always being pushed). Lower income workers and families are eligible for a whole range of benefits (again robbed from all taxpayers) besides healthcare, so the effect of this is considerably amplified. In fact, workers themselves will be hesitant to earn enough to attempt to break out of this 'government sponsored comfort zone', (better described as 'government sponsored poverty zone'). One can't blame these workers, by working more hours or accepting that 'pay raise' at work they might actually take a 'pay cut' at home and, in the case of healthcare, businesses paying a small 'pay raise' might get hit with thousands extra dollars per year in health insurance costs! These charts assume that only workers and families making less then $20,000 are eligible to receive funds looted from all Americans for healthcare.
Of course, the conclusion of this analysis is that instead of government wasting their ill-gotten loot paying people not to work and business not to hire, if the money was returned to the actual people that earned it in the first place (after all it is their money), then it would be spent productively, leading to increased hiring, higher wages, and more economic growth and even more stolen money (whoops, I mean taxes) :) for the government.
Far-Flung Ethiopian Emigres Begin to Rediscover Their Home as the Business Climate Blossoms (posted 3/8/05)
3/6/05 Washington Post on Ethiopian immigrants who often arrived in the US with little or nothing, but because of the structure of our political system are able to become successful: Last year, Ethiopians in the United States sent home $6 million in remittance money, eclipsing coffee, the country's biggest export, which earned $4 million. <..> At present, there are more Ethiopian doctors living in the United States than in Ethiopia. Corroborating my view that socialism/corruption, two sides of the same coin, are the cause of poverty in Africa, the Ethiopians that return home are attempting to bring the American principles that foster prosperity and wealth creation to Ethiopia: Government officials said at least 1,500 emigres had returned to Addis and that they were launching an aggressive campaign to woo more, offering tax breaks on importing belongings and flexible land ownership laws. (emphasis mine) (for more on this, including other articles about Africa, see the two excerpts from 'Tsunami Tyranny' that deal with Property Rights and Poverty) Additionally, it is always puzzling to hear the constant clamor for government assistance for the poor who already live in the USA, yet since our founding penniless immigrants have consistently succeeded.
For LA homeless: a gym, movies and hair salon (posted 5/13/05)
4/19/05 Christian Science Monitor A ridiculous idea that increases the problem of homelessness in an attempt to solve it. We have long felt that one major component missing in our drug and alcohol rehabilitation was a physical dimension to recovery," says mission spokesman Orlando Ward. "In the past, we would address the spiritual and the emotional but were neglecting real physical activity which we feel is important to rebuilding the whole man." But 20-year local activist Ted Hayes, who runs an encampment of temporary housing just blocks away, says the building will do the opposite. "The building of large missions in the inner cities of America only helps to keep the cycle of homeless going with what we call the 'homeless industrial complex,'" says Mr. Hayes. "A big fancy operation like this only maintains the bank accounts and lifestyles of those who run them and helps donors rid themselves of guilt." Mr. Hayes is right. Substance abuse and mental health issues are at the roots of nearly all homelessness in America. Movies, gyms, and hair salons, don't address these issues. These homeless in America will live better than 4/5ths of the people on earth. As Benjamin Franklin said, "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
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Posted 9/25/06 (By Travis)
Estonia: Land of the Free? (Required Reading)
8/4/06 The Unknown Candidate (blog)
What really fights poverty? How do third and second world counties become first world countries? Estonia tells us the answer is freedom.
Economists
call Estonia the Baltic Tiger, the sequel to the Celtic Tiger as Europe’s success story, and its
policies are more radical than Ireland’s. On this year’s State of World Liberty Index, a ranking
of countries by their economic and political freedom, Estonia is in first place, just ahead
of Ireland and seven places ahead of the U.S. (North Korea comes in last at 159th.)
It transformed itself from an isolated, impoverished part of the Soviet Union
thanks to a former prime minister, Mart Laar, a history teacher who took office not long after
Estonia was liberated. He was 32 years old and had read just one book on economics: “Free to
Choose,” by Milton Friedman, which he liked especially because he knew Friedman was despised by
the Soviets.
Laar was politically naïve enough to put the theories into practice. Instead of
worrying about winning trade wars, he unilaterally disarmed by abolishing almost all tariffs. He
welcomed foreign investors and privatized most government functions (with the help of a
privatization czar who had formerly been the manager of the Swedish pop group Abba). He drastically
cut taxes on businesses and individuals, instituting a simple flat income tax of 26 percent.
These reforms were barely approved by the legislature amid warnings of disaster:
huge budget deficits, legions of factory workers and farmers who would lose out to foreign
competition. But today the chief concerns are what to do with the budget surplus and how to deal
with a labor shortage. <.>
The
growth over the past decade has produced so much unanticipated revenue that the tax rate is being
gradually reduced to 20 percent. Laar’s political rivals still complain that his flat tax unfairly
helps the rich, but as he notes, the level of income inequality in Estonia actually declined during
the past decade.
On the other hand, what does the Mayor of New York think the answer is to fighting poverty? Socialism.
NYC Mayor Suggests Paying Poor
9/18/06
NEW YORK (AP) -- Poor New Yorkers who make healthy choices - such as staying in school and regularly seeing the doctor - should be rewarded with cash to help break the cycle of poverty, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested Monday.
This is almost as condescending as the views of persons like Paul Farmer who support the ideas of paying TB (Tuberculosis) patients cash if they return to the free western clinics for their follow up treatments.
The commission, headed by Time Warner's chief executive, Richard Parsons, and the president of the nonprofit group Harlem Children's Zone, Geoffrey Canada, said many New Yorkers are locked in a cycle of poverty in which built-in conditions trap them into failure.
Well, they are at least correct about this. Government punishes the financial success of those in poverty by taking away their government health, housing, cash, food, and who knows how many other goodies the moment they begin to succeed. Welfare Reform provided ample evidence that government itself is creating/incentivising these cycles.
In countries such as Mexico and Brazil, there has been widespread praise for World Bank-supported programs that give financial rewards to parents for sending their children to school and regular doctors' visits.
Somehow Mexico and Brazil don't seem like shinning role models in tackling poverty, much less the United Nations... Why don't we look to Estonia?
Posted 9/12/06 (By Travis)
Where Americans live can affect how long they live
9/12/06 AP
Health disparities are widely considered an issue of minorities and the poor being unable to find or afford good medical care. But Murray's government-funded study shows the problem is far more complex, and that geography plays a crucial role.
The longest-living whites were not the relatively wealthy, which Murray calls "Middle America." They are edged out, by a year, by low-income residents of the rural Northern Plains states in the Midwest, where the men tend to reach age 76 and the women 82.
Murray was surprised to find that lack of health insurance explained only a small portion of those gaps. Instead, differences in alcohol and tobacco use, blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity seemed to drive death rates.
Most important, he said, will be pinpointing geographically defined factors — such as shared ancestry, dietary customs, local industry, what regions are more or less prone to physical activity — that in turn influence those health risks.
This is certainly an interesting study; we are always told that there is a healthcare crisis in America and that folks aren't getting the healthcare they need, yet it appears here that lifestyle and culture are playing a much greater role. In fact, life-expectancy has never been an adequate measure of modern healthcare, a view which is probably not shared by many in the medical community.
It is not a coincidence that the author of this study looked at Appalachian whites, inner city blacks, and Native Americans. Most likely, he was aiming for conclusions quite different than the ones he has inadvertently reinforced. These were the same populations studied in 'Welfare; History, Results, and Reform' and it was found that condescending, de-empowering, paternal governmental programs were significantly correlated with not just poverty, but sociologic failings like drug abuse and family structure. IMHO, the correlation was significant enough to equal causation. If true, might it not also be the case that these same government policies, the handouts, the freebees, the lack of respect for property, all of which corrupt and degrade the human spirit, are also at least partially responsible for the cultures and behaviors that equate with lower life expectancies?
This more precise measure of health disparities will enable federal officials to better target efforts to battle inequalities, said Dr. Wayne Giles of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped fund Murray's work.
Inequalities of income or healthcare should not be a target or concern of government! Government action will only make whatever token inequalities exist worse.
"It's not just telling people to be active or not to smoke," he said. "We need to create the environment which assists people in achieving a healthy lifestyle."
I disagree. My advice would be the same as Fredrick Douglas's:
I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us! Do nothing with us!..-<>-.. ..just let him alone! Your interference is doing him a positive injury!
It is the doing with them that has already played the mischief with them.
(Added to 'Welfare; History, Results, and Reform' and 'US Government Health')
Posted 8/21/06 (By Travis)
Counties caught in conundrum: getting Amish to take food stamps
10/18/06 Cleveland Plain Dealer
A pretty disgusting story about government's attempts to force welfare on populations. Luckily, the Amish value liberty and understand the harm and cultural destruction which follows government 'help'.
However, president Bush, a 'conservative' president, doesn't seem to understand this:
Bush Brings Faith to Foreign Aid
10/8/06 Boston Globe
President Bush has almost doubled the percentage of US foreign-aid dollars going to faith-based groups such as Food for the Hungry, according to a Globe survey of government data.
If you're interested, here's another interesting story about another worthless government agency.
Posted 2/12/07 (By Travis)
One third of homes dependent on benefits
2/12/07 Telegraph
One in three households across Britain is now dependent on the state for at least half its income, it emerged today.
Official government figures showed that more than seven million households are getting most of their income from government handouts.
The figures also reveal the huge gulf in welfare dependency between single parent and two-parent households.
These unfortunate British policies are likely creating large numbers of single parent families and enhancing and spreading poverty.
But it suggests that David Cameron's Conservatives are worried about seeming uncaring, and therefore not ready to take drastic action and copy American-style policies that have produced huge drops in benefit claims in the United States.
2/17/09 (By Travis)
On The Dole Again (Welfare reform gutted in porkulus)
2/13/09 Cato.org
But, as The Post's Charles Hurt has reported, slipped into the stimulus bill is a provision establishing a new $3 billion emergency fund to help states pay for added welfare recipients, with the federal government footing 80 percent of the cost for the new "clients."
Plus, the bill would reward states for increasing caseloads, even if the growth came because the state had loosened its requirements for recipients to work.
This is radical change. States that succeed in getting people off welfare would lose the opportunity for increased federal funding. And states that make it easier to stay on welfare (by, say, raising the time limit from two years to five) would get rewarded with more taxpayer cash. The bill would even let states with rising welfare rolls still collect their "case-load reduction" bonuses.
In short, the measure will erode all the barriers to long-term welfare dependency that were at the heart of the 1996 reform.
By some estimates, the stimulus bill contains roughly $250 billion in welfare spending, another $6,700 for every poor man woman and child in this country, along with the erosion of the 1996 reforms. It can be counted on to "stimulate" the loss of another generation to welfare dependency.
As a state senator, Barack Obama opposed the 1996 welfare reform. As a candidate for president, he praised its results. Where does he stand now? Does he really want to return to welfare as we knew it before 1996 and put millions more Americans on the public dole?
This 'Welfare' Provision is probably the worst aspect of this 'stimulus' bill and will probably, IMO, end up hurting the poorest of the poor Americans for decades to come. Another article.
3/15/09 (By Travis)
Mormon food bank a private welfare system
3/8/09 San Francisco Chronicle
What makes the 110 storehouses around the country remarkable is that they are part of a system run almost entirely by volunteers. They grow the food on Mormon-owned farms, and package it at the storehouses. Volunteers drive trucks and deliver the food to distant wards - what Mormons call their sanctuaries - if recipients live more than 30 miles from a storehouse. As the recession has deepened, the church says it has seamlessly kept up with demand that increased 20 percent over the past year. But the intensely private church declined to say how many people or how much food that represented.
During the Great Depression, the current concept of storehouses was formally established. The then-president of the church, Heber J. Grant, said that he had a revelation from God about the welfare system created by the New Deal.
"Our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people," Grant said, according to church officials.
A prescient prophet.
<SNIP>