Rush wanted not to alienate someone he was genuinely hoping to persuade. He was deflecting the common argument that Republicans want to take away her opportunities and keep her barefoot and pregnant.
Besides, if this girl doesn't accept a Pell Grant, somebody else is going to get it so why trash her for taking advantage of something that's available which she appears to be using for some good?
My mother is getting Veterans Administration assistance for her nursing home care. If it were not available, we'd have to put her in a less desirable facility (we've already had to move her once due to cost factors).
Now, one could trash us for using a government program to give our mother the help she needs and argue that the VA shouldn't be shelling out money for surviving spouses, etc. And they might be legitimate arguments in the hypothetical sense.
But if we didn't access what the government offers, it's not like the government isn't going to spend the money. And through various taxes paid out over decades, we can rationalize that we are only getting back what we've paid in (by force, no less).
By "condoning" the use of a Pell Grant, Rush is simply choosing to fight the bigger battle of winning this woman over to conservatism rather than bashing her for accessing an oppportunity that many others access. Once this battle is won, the woman is free to make up her own mind as to the legitimacy of accessing government handouts.
True. He handled is beautifully.
My mother is getting Veterans Administration assistance for her nursing home care.
I look at that as more of an "earned" benefit anyway.
You are right. But, I know that in my case we took a child in that was a ward of the court (she was a family member). We could have taken a monthly allowance from the state along with her. We chose not to take the money.