Would Congress really pass welfare reform at a time like this?
Jul 2, 2018, 7:07 AM
It has been almost three months since the president ordered a thorough review of the welfare system. It can’t come soon enough for Robert Rector, a researcher at the Heritage Foundation, who helped to develop the 1996 welfare compromise signed by Bill Clinton.
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“Essentially, Republicans twenty years ago told their base that they had ended welfare when in fact almost the entire welfare state was still sitting there utterly unreformed,” he told me.
Rector says we spend $1.1 trillion to help low-income people, which should be enough to end poverty. Yet it hasn’t. What’s missing is a work requirement.
“Half of the able-bodied caseload is completely idle,” Rector explains. “They’re not doing anything.”
He says the current system’s attitude is that you’ll never be able to help yourself — but don’t worry, the government has your back.
“No one would ever do that to someone they really cared about. The welfare system does that,” Rector says. “I don’t want to cut aid off. Everybody who needs assistance should definitely get it. But we should say, look, we’re here to help you but at the same time, we expect you to take steps to help yourself. And that’s a very effective policy for reducing poverty and promoting upward mobility.”
But would Congress really pass welfare reform when it can’t even agree on immigration?
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