Posted on 07/14/2012 7:53:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This afternoon, President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an official policy directive undermining the welfare reform law of 1996. The new policy guts the federal work requirements that have been the foundation of that law — one of the most successful domestic policy reforms in the 20th century.
Welfare reform replaced the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children with a new program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The underlying concept of welfare reform was that able-bodied adults should be required to work or prepare for work as a condition of receiving welfare aid.
The welfare reform law was very successful. In the four decades prior to welfare reform, the welfare caseload never experienced a significant decline. But, in the four years after welfare reform, the caseload dropped by nearly half. Employment surged and child poverty among blacks and single mothers plummeted to historic lows. What was the catalyst for these improvements? Rigorous new federal work requirements contained in TANF.
Contrary to some perceptions, the formula that made welfare reform a success was not giving state governments more flexibility in operating federally funded welfare programs. The active ingredient that made the difference was requiring state governments to implement those rigorous new federal work standards.
Today the Obama administration issued a dramatic new directive stating that the traditional TANF work requirements will be waived or overridden by a legal device called a section 1115 waiver authority under the Social Security law (42 U.S.C. 1315).
Section 1115 allows HHS to “waive compliance” with specified parts of various laws. But this is not an open-ended authority: All provisions of law that can be overridden under section 1115 must be listed in section 1115 itself.
The work provisions of the TANF program are contained in section 407 (entitled, appropriately, “mandatory work requirements”). Critically, this section, as well as most other TANF requirements, is deliberately not listed in section 1115; its provisions cannot be waived. Obviously, if the Congress had wanted HHS to be able to waive the TANF work requirements laid out in section 407, it would have listed that section as waivable under section 1115. It did not do that.
In the past, state bureaucrats have attempted to define activities such as hula dancing, attending Weight Watchers, and bed rest as “work.” Welfare reform instituted work standards to block these dodges. Now that the Obama administration has abolished those standards, we can expect “work” in the TANF program to mean anything but work.
Obama’s new welfare decree guts sound anti-poverty policy. The administration tramples on the actual legislation passed by Congress and seeks to impose its own policy choices — a pattern that has become all too common in this administration.
The result is the end of welfare reform as we know it.
— Robert Rector, a leading authority on poverty and the welfare system, is senior research fellow in domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. Katherine (Kiki) Bradley, former associate director of the federal TANF program, is research fellow in Heritage’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society.
We can’t survive another 4 years of Obama.
Meanwhile, the Anybody But Romney crowd is doing their best to give Obama another term.
We will have to vote him out. If he doesn’t stage a false flag and suspend the elections in Oct.
Here is a Real Scare – DHS Whistleblower: Obama Will Commit ‘Reichstag’ Event To Trigger Martial Law
The Obama agents, through the DHS and other assorted colluders, are plotting a major ‘Reichstag’ event to generate racial riots and produce the justification for martial law, delaying the November 2012 elections, possibly indefinitely, a DHS whistleblower informed the Canada Free Press.
And knowing this, a whole lot of clowns will vote for this jackass again, enough that he probably will win. The founding fathers never forsaw the kind of stupidity we have today.
Obviously impeachment is a waste of time. It took more time to impeach and try Clinton than there is until the election. Add in the impossibility Obama would be removed when a supermajority of senators is needed, it's a lost cause.
There is ONE available option: defeating Obama at the ballot box and replacing him with the GOP nominee in January.
Well if you listen to the St Louis cops who called into Alex Jones last week regarding the military drilling in residential areas there they are being told its practice for some event coming in Oct where they will be fighting the folks and the militias. So yeh I think the Muslim is not going out without a fight.
Mitt Romney had better be planing to do the same thing in reverse overdrive. The democrats need a taste of their own lawless meds or they will never respect the law.
Exactly. Reference bump.
When welfare reform went through it simply forced “out of work” people to show for work assignments.
Funny thing 1/2 of these people already had jobs - under the table - and had to dump their benefits or lose their real jobs - just scamming the system. Who’d have thunk it.
Probably another 25% just stayed with their benefits - all things being equal - take the check or go to work ... check please!
It’s very simple; this is a purely political, calculated, election-year maneuver:
“Vote for me (says Obama), or those unfeeling, mean ol republicans are going to take away your welfare - that I (I,I,I,me,me,me) WORKED SO HARD TO GET YOU...”
I didn’t listen to St Louis cops. Do you have link?
I didn’t listen to St Louis cops. Do you have link?
I didn’t listen to St Louis cops. Do you have link?
Obama wants to keep blacks and minorities and the poor enslaved. Nothing more needs be said. Clinton was the only good black President. And he wasn’t that good.
I apologize for the multiple replies Re: Obama Ends Welfare Reform As We Know It. I’m having problems posting. Keep getting message - Service Temporarily Unavailable.
I was able to find a link to the Allen Jones video about St. Louis.
‘Jim’, a Police Officer Warns of an “Event” in October, 2012: The Alex Jones Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQEz0wAhA4
US Military to Run Urban Exercises in North St. Louis – Residents Hope It Will Cut Down on Crime
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/
I apologize for the multiple replies Re: Obama Ends Welfare Reform As We Know It. I’m having problems posting. Keep getting message - Service Temporarily Unavailable.
I was able to find a link to the Allen Jones video about St. Louis.
‘Jim’, a Police Officer Warns of an “Event” in October, 2012: The Alex Jones Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVQEz0wAhA4
US Military to Run Urban Exercises in North St. Louis – Residents Hope It Will Cut Down on Crime
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/us-military-to-run-urban-exercises-in-north-st-louis-residents-hope-it-will-cut-down-on-crime/
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