[adorno]

But a welfare mother is unlikely to be able to buy real estate or gold.

Fine, but, what part of the welfare benefits did the mother earn, other than by having children and being poor?

Sowell could have chosen a much better example than someone whose income wasn't earned by her/him. If the mother were able to put away some of that money in a savings account, then, she would have been using "other people's money", and she would have been receiving more than she was in need of.

[Tublecane]

I don’t think whether it was earned on her part is the point. The point is that it hits the poor worse than the rich, who are more often farsighted enough to plan against it. If the mother is getting welfare she has already been set apart as in need of special consideration by the government, rightly or wrongly. To then turn around and steal her largesse back is ineffeicient, if nothing else.

[BfloGuy]

Sowell could have chosen a much better example than someone whose income wasn't earned by her/him.

He chose that example because that's the type of person the Democrats claim to help.