You may have heard from Uncle Jim recently that our rascally president has "gutted" the welfare reform law signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. Indeed, conservative media seems quite worked up about this, with Fox promoting a Heritage Foundation item on Friday, and the Washington Times and Lou Dobbs pushing the same line.
The truth isn't nearly as shocking.
Mitt Romney and a slew of other leading Republicans on Friday slammed the Obama administration's decision to relax some welfare requirements, despite the fact that Republican-led states sought the policy change.
The move, announced Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services, allows states to request waivers to the work requirements spelled out in the 1996 welfare reform. A work requirement would remain, but the idea is to let states and localities have flexibility administering it so they can experiment with ways to improve the number of people making the jump from government assistance to jobs -- something many states would like.
As it turns out, the states that pushed the hardest for the change were Utah and Nevada -- both of which are led by Republican governors.
And yet, the Obama administration giving more flexibility to Republican governors has been widely condemned, not just by conservative media outlets, but also by prominent GOP leaders. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) went so far as to call the move "a partisan disgrace."
Do White House critics even pay attention anymore to the policies they're condemning? If Obama is giving Republican officials at the state and local level the flexibility on welfare requirements that they requested, how in the world is that "a partisan disgrace"? For that matter, if the work requirement will remain in place, why would anyone characterize this as "gutting" the work requirement?
Here, by the way, is the actual policy directive from the Department of Health and Human Services (via James Carter). Someone might want to get a copy to the Speaker's office and Fox News.
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I, for one, am truely outraged by this egregious intrusion on states rights. For Obama to bypass the Congress and mandate flexibility is just crazy. The House may have to step in and level the playing field by eliminating all funding for welfare...And lowering taxes on the rich.
Abso-effin' lutely!
And, while Congress in a do-something mode, they can repeal that danged Thirteenth Amendment. Let the States decide who gets welfare payments, and who works for free.
LOL.
The right-wing Noise Machine just reached down between its legs, grabbed another gob, and flung it against the wall. It's what they do when they want to change the subject. If you read some comment sections at places like the WP, you know exactly when the poo is flying because the Useful Idiots are on there with their new FoxTalkingPoints not 10 seconds after instructions have been given . Happens every time. Without fail.
The welfare issue is a distraction created by Fox to take the attention away from Romney and Bain. This will be one of many distractions that Fox will try to create until they find one that sticks with the Republican base. Now is the time for progressives to bring out Glen Beck and his conspiracy theories that he propounded on Fox. Murdoch is trying to run away from Beck and we should not let him do so.
DisgustedWithItAlll, I think you are overestimating their parrots. They seem more like useless idiots to me.
They're useful to the Republicans.
Really Mike, are you that partisan? Equating Romney/Bain (a private company) to a Welfare Reform issue (which involves our money) is asinine.
Step back from the Blue Team's Kool-aid.
Hmm...maybe we should have Obama come out hard for giant tax cuts on the rich. Nothing seems to get them to turn against one of their ideas faster than Obama supporting it.
Just who does this Obama fellow think he is "mandating" all this stuff? My God! People might have health-care and states having flexibility on welfare? There goes the serfdom the teabags have been working towards!
So what the f*ck does reality have to do with repuknicans slinging mud?
Damn right! And where does Steve get off thinking the only thing the Rethugs lack is facts?
To see Romney’s income tax returns is very important, if we want to get into the character of who Romney is? And that character is very reflective on what these people would do as a President. The people want to know if they are going to get screwed more by Romney. And the way it is looking that is exactly what Romney will do. Screw the people royal is what is in Romney’s mind. That low life wouldn’t do what was really right, if his life depended on it. Romney is too busy satisfying his own self-interests of craving power, corruption, being hypocritical, greedy, and deceiving. Romney whines about President Obama, but in reality it has been President Obama who has done more for the people than Romney has ever done. Romney’s whole life has been a blood-sucking leech and bully. And that is what Romney doesn’t really want the people to know.
like these skeletons flying out of the obama white house closets?
http://news.investors.com/article/599002/201201260818/obama-white-house-staff-back-taxes.htm
36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes
You make me laugh! Obama has done absolutely nothing but get our country knee deep in more debt and show his narcisstic behavior all over the world. Other nations laugh at him! Bailouts, mortgages going under, you name it. All in the name of Obama, the Chicago thug he is. Are you jealous of Romney because he is intelligent enough to obtain wealth by his own means and not pandering to the Hollywood and Chicago mobs that keep Obama in power? Obama is merely a puppet to several very powerful men in Washington who pull the strings. He was a failure as a senator and is a failure as a president.
Carolyn, if you've not been in a coma in the years 2008-2012, there is no way to honestly justify your remarks.
I think the coma has been in effect for longer than that. At least the brain-death. The Japanese word is 'shikabane.'
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79290934/Copy-of-FERDI-2010-Final
Here is the source material supporting the hit pieces quoted by the troll. Note very specifically the 'delinqency percentage' column. Those numbers are actually very small.
Troll quality is really slipping these days.
Same um. . . stuff, different day. This is the same strategy as Republicans condemning Obamacare, which is just Romneycare retooled. Whine and complain until Democrats adopt Republican policy and then complain about the evil Democrat(ic) policy. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Orange Julius (John "Screwdriver" Boner) is projecting again, partisan disgrace meet kettle and pot!
Steve, Steve, Steve. There you go again imputing good faith ignorance of policy or historical details to Republicans when they are quite evidently simply cynically taking advantage of a flimsy pretext for screaming "N****R! N****R! N****R!" to stir up the trash, as sociopathic politicians have been doing since the 1850s.
The only thing Romney has to do is be white to get a large percentage of the vote. It's a good thing because that's the only thing he has going for him. They don't care that he's a sociopath, HE'S WHITE!
Hate to agree with both of you, but his remarks at the NAACP Conference pulled away his wool.
like these skeletons flying out of the obama white house closets?
http://news.investors.com/article/599002/201201260818/obama-white-house-staff-back-taxes.htm
36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes
How many of the people in the report cited (you have to drill back several links to get past the RW blogs to the source material) are already in repayment plans. The hit pieces do not cover that.
The biggest flaw in your entire argument is this: how does bad behavior on the part of one person excuse it on the part of another. There are several other logic flaws, but I'm disinclined to waste more time trying to teach a pig to sing.
And you keep posting the same link, so I'll keep replying with the same source material.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79290934/Copy-of-FERDI-2010-Final
Here is the source material supporting the hit pieces quoted by the troll. Note very specifically the 'delinqency percentage' column. Those numbers are actually very small.
Obamas welfare reform equals HHS political control....nothing more.
the "mandatory work requirements" in TANF are not listed under section 1115. They are contained in section 407 of the law, precisely because Congress wanted to shield them from HHS bureaucrats. One section of the law is waivable under section 1115. That is section 402, which requires states to notify the HHS about how they will comply with the other sections of the TANF. As the Heritage Foundation points out, waivers granted under section 402 only apply to the reporting requirements, not the essential parameters of the requirements themselves. The administration's sleight-of-hand? Since work requirements of section 407 are mentioned in section 402, all them can be re-written at will by HHS and/or state bureaucrats.
Timmy3 - not surprisingly, what the Heritage Foundation would like people to believe, and what the truth is, are two different things. What the language in the TANF does mean, is that Republican governors can't use it as an excuse to weaken the program overall or to suddenly exclude those who are eligible for assistance from receiving it, amongst other GOP governors would no doubt jump at the chance to do. Here's a link to the TANF memo for those who'd like to read it for themselves:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/policy/im-ofa/2012/im201203/im201203.html
And here is the 402/407 language:
"While the TANF work participation requirements are contained in section 407, section 402(a)(1)(A)(iii) requires that the state plan “[e]nsure that parents and caretakers receiving assistance under the program engage in work activities in accordance with section 407.” Thus, HHS has authority to waive compliance with this 402 requirement and authorize a state to test approaches and methods other than those set forth in section 407, including definitions of work activities and engagement, specified limitations, verification procedures, and the calculation of participation rates. As described below, however, HHS will only consider approving waivers relating to the work participation requirements that make changes intended to lead to more effective means of meeting the work goals of TANF."
baaaaa.....lol..... good for you Microsoft.
MSNBC's embarrassing mockery of the news and deliberate refusal to Tell the Truth has tainted the NBC News brand with a layer of stink so thick it could take generations to cleanse. Is it any wonder that a titan of industry like Microsoft would want to distance its valuable brand from MSNBC's radioactive stench?
Maybe, just maybe, Comcast has finally suffered enough embarrassment thanks to its NBC News and MSNBC divisions to muzzle their frothing, rabid liberal attack dogs and go back to reporting the news.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-bozell/2012/07/16/bozell-statement-nbc-news-recognizes-msnbc-brand-malignant-tumor#ixzz20nvSBtzX
To quote the steaming pile of hotspur known as Brent Bozell to support an argument automatically destroys its credibility. I'm sure that being a Libertarian, you will realize that his religious extremism is even a danger to you.
Its not an "argument"....its facts, Microsoft dropped the uber low ratings MSNBC brand because they have been proven to be worthless, literally....lol
The same Microsoft that gave us Vista? Really you want to place value on the opinion of the same group of fail-geeks that thought THAT was a good idea and ready for mass market release?
Oh I don't know lets see, corporations being the fine people they are (For those slow among us, I.E. GOP voters.. that was sarcasm) Have for years now engaged in buying up media outlets to voice their views. Like FOX news.. Bringing us tailored and cherry picked news stories designed for one purpose. To make us believe that yes America is the greatest country in the world and that any who has an opinion different from our corporate overlords is a dangerous socialist. But you know Timmy3.. I have this crazy thing I like to do called "thinking for myself" And I CHECK the news I get against the best independent data available and I've found MSNBC to be pretty accurate so far... And yes I'm one of those dangerous socialist your fox and friends warned you about. Because I believe that a Country should educate it's young to the extreme, in the hopes of making their skills so sought after in the world market place as to make the title "American Student" a badge of honor. Because I believe that why in the hell should I obey any law, or government if that government has shown no care for me beyond making sure any seed I may have planted grows to term under penalty of law and that I meet my tax burden? I believe that to make a America strong we should THROW open the borders and entice the best, brightest and most hardworking from every Technical field and trade there is, to make their homes here. So that if ANYTHING of more complexity then a bread box is built it HAS to be built by Americans. I BELIEVE that for a country to be great that no citizen should ever starve or die because of lack of food or health care. So I'm that socialist you've been programed to fear and hate. America doesn't need a business man, America needs a leader, we have a fine one currently. Unfortunately we also have a legislative and judicial branch full of the most worthless culls I've ever seen. Two out of three might in fact not be bad, but one out of three isn't working.
<p> What is there to say thats not been said about the current GOP? I could call them liars but to what end and aim? It's been well established that they have the power to create their own reality devoid of anything that has even passing similarity to "fact". I could call them intrusionist for it is true they plan to intrude into all of our lives with their narrow minded religious based morality, for make no mistake it will not stop at a womans womb. I could call them treasonous for the senate and house republicans meet the legal definition of "Treason" with their extreme obstructionism "I.E. "sedition" which involves a conspiracy to upset the operation of the government.". I could do all this, I could lay out my case in exacting minute detail with bullet proof sources sighted facts and figures enumerated, but I won't. No I won't because it won't matter we collectively as a society have acquired the attention span's and memory's of canaries. And with endless money buying Air Time, distorting the "truth" our memories will be over written and effectively be "Bought" long before the first voting booth opens this year. The Dems have their votes, The GOP has theirs.. The only intangible factor now is who shows up on any given Tuesday.</p>