Welfare reform

The AFDC (aid to families with dependent children) program under the Clinton administration became the welfare reform program TANF (temporary assistance to needy families), and is referred to as welfare reform. Clinton promised reform when he said in campaign mode that “welfare should be a helping hand and not a way of life”. This was the reason that I and many others voted for Clinton and so it took on added importance. After he was elected he began to edge on his promise but the Republican congress forced him to follow up and thus the bill was signed into law. It basically said a person could only stay on welfare for five years. Many predicted that single moms would be left to starve but that didn’t happen. What did happen was many went back to work with the help of grandma’s baby-sitting but many others just started getting along with the help of family and local charities. The number of people on welfare shrank and the program was deemed a success but with the current downturn the numbers on welfare increased and pressure was on to ease the work requirements. Some states, understanding the political consequences of changing the law, began to ask for new regulations that would make it easier to administrate the law and this is where the confusion begins. The Obama administration sent a memo to the states saying they would entertain new ways of getting welfare recipients back to work and this caused concern. Some said this was opening the door for states to make it easier to stay on welfare. This in fact did not do that but people understand that the government often times makes major changes in programs by starting with minor changes. It is feared by some that the states will slowly move in the direction of allowing people to remain on welfare past the five year period by adjusting work requirements. They feel that they must object now or as the program grows the incremental changes will be hard to stop. Based on other government programs this is likely the case. I point all this out just to illustrate why it is so difficult to understand why separate groups seem to have a completely different understanding of an issue. How is the average person who has to concentrate on paying the light bill supposed to take the time to figure all this stuff out? They don’t and thus they don’t trust what politicians say. They believe they will distort any issue to get elected.