At Heritage.org
During his Twitter Townhall on Wednesday, President Obama admitted that government welfare has created dependency. He noted:
I think we should acknowledge that some welfare programs in the past were not well designed and in some cases did encourage dependency.… As somebody who worked in low-income neighborhoods, I’ve seen it where people weren’t encouraged to work, weren’t encouraged to upgrade their skills, were just getting a check, and over time their motivation started to diminish. And I think even if you’re progressive you’ve got to acknowledge that some of these things have not been well designed.
He’s absolutely right. The United States welfare system has not promoted prosperity and self-reliance but, rather, a culture of entitlement. Since the federal government got into the welfare business with the War on Poverty back in the 1960s, the poverty level has remained nearly the same, yet government welfare spending has soared. Today, the federal government operates over 70 welfare programs at a cost edging toward $1 trillion a year, or roughly 13 times the cost of what it spent in the 1960s.
Earlier this year, Representative Jim Jordan (R–OH) introduced a bill to encourage the types of reforms to welfare that promote personal responsibility as well as greater government accountability. These types of changes, along with efforts to promote marriage, are the necessary steps to break the pattern of dependence perpetuated by the current welfare system.
President Obama is absolutely correct that a welfare system that promotes dependence is not “well designed.” Sadly, for the poor and all U.S. taxpayers, that accurately defines the current welfare system. If President Obama is really serious about helping the poor, he must admit that the U.S. has a long ways to go in promoting work. And he must realize that the best way to fight poverty is through strong marriages.
Read the rest which has more good information here …
Related articles
Related cartoons
 |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment