Speaking at a manufacturing company in suburban Chicago today, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney accused President Obama of trying to “reverse the accomplishment” of President Bill Clinton’s welfare reform efforts of the 1990s, which he called “one of the greatest bipartisan successes we’ve seen.” Romney’s attack during his campaign event comes as his campaign has begun running TV ads accusing President Obama of trying to undo the Clinton-era welfare reforms requiring recipients of welfare programs to go to work.
The only problem with Romney’s claim? It isn’t really true.
The charge is based on a July 12 memo issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, in which HHS said it would consider approving waivers for states seeking more flexibility in implementing welfare reform, officially known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.
The memo prompted outrage from many congressional Republicans, who have charged the Obama administration is changing a requirement of a law passed by Congress in an executive branch power grab.
But does the memo do what the Romney campaign charges — that it guts welfare reform, gets rid of work requirements entirely, and would “just send you your welfare check”?
Not exactly. The memo states, for instance, that 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.”
In other words, a state would have to offer an alternative program similar to the work requirements first put into place by the 1990s welfare reform law in order to receive the waiver.
Ironically, while Mitt Romney and his campaign are attacking President Obama because his Department of Health and Human Services said it would consider approving waivers for states seeking more flexibility in implementing welfare reform, in 2005 Romney himself signed a letter during his time as Governor of Massachusetts that pressed Congress to give states more flexibility to determine who should qualify for welfare.
As I’ve said before, Mitt Romney will say anything to win this election, because he truly has no moral core.
Equally important to note is the flexibility given the states in administering the program is the flexibility that GOP governors specifically asked for. When queried about Romney’s lie, the two governors who submitted requests for waivers hadn’t the guts to make clear the situation. They refused to answer and declined to comment. Republicans are unfit to govern.
Just because I like to laugh, thought I’d pass on this little gem from one of my favorite people ever – he doesn’t discuss Romney here, but he does describe him pretty well with “Snollygoster,” which I think describes Romney to a tee. So much so, I think I’ll simply refer to Romney as Romney Snollygoster from this point on. 🙂
http://blog.inkyfool.com/2012/08/snollygosters-and-presidents.html
http://colm.es/MyazqA #p2
Republican Welfare Reform Architect Blasts Romney’s Misleading Ad
Posted in Liberaland by Alan • August 8, 2012, 11:28 AMET • 2 Comments
Ron Haskins who worked as as senior adviser to George W. Bush on welfare policy, says Romney’s attacks on Obama claiming that we will gut welfare reform and drop work requirements are not true. States must meet rigorous requirements to get flexibility.
Haskins says, “First of all, the states have to apply individually for waivers. And they have to explain in detail, sometimes using data, why this approach would lead to either more employment or better jobs for people who are trying to welfare or get off welfare.”