When President Bill Clinton signed the welfare reform act in 1996, which he negotiated with then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, the left claimed people would starve. They didn’t. According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, between 1996 and 2000, the employment rate for single mothers increased from 63 percent to 76 percent. In addition, […]
welfare reform
Misinformed about welfare reform
Mark Cayer (letter, April 30), the public and politicians are misinformed. There has been no welfare reform. An EBT-TANF card is a debit card. There is an ATM within a mile of every jail and grocery store in the state. Those with an EBT-TANF card can go to the ATM on Court Street in Auburn, […]
Hardworking Mainers losing out
Mainers have wanted welfare reform for a long time. They know that the current system isn’t working for taxpayers, low-income families and, most importantly, for children at risk of hunger, homelessness and perpetual poverty. There is no denying that Democrats and Republicans have different views about welfare and the reform of a broken system. But […]
Democrats’ bill not serious
When I first heard that Maine Democrats, including Sen. Nathan Libby (guest column, March 20), had done a sudden about-face on welfare reform, I admit I was a bit skeptical. After all, it was less than a year ago that my fellow Democrat representatives called me names such as “cruel” and “heartless” and accused me […]
L.Jensen: No more free money
State officials need to get more aggressive in their welfare reform efforts, with a set end goal in mind. While I consider myself a fierce critic of the current destructive welfare system, I worry that simply cutting off all able-bodied individuals dependent on government assistance will not get the result we reformers desire. Instead, it […]
R. Reed: Put forth meaningful reform
Maine welfare reform is dead. It died from lack of Dirigo spirit by elected officials. Sadly, liberals want people to believe that conservatives want to entirely gut welfare; and conservatives want people to believe liberals want to spend more. The truth is somewhere closer to the middle, but given the rhetoric and polar opposite views, […]
L. Jensen: Fix the welfare system
Young people should loudly demand welfare reform. Not only because the current welfare system sends the message that able-bodied people can choose to not work and just live off the taxpayers, but because young people have to work harder than anyone else to be successful. The unemployment rate for young people is twice the national […]
Lots of talk but no action on welfare reform
Perhaps the 126th Legislature will be remembered as the legislative session all about welfare reform that resulted in no legislative welfare reform. And, while welfare is often portrayed as a giant rolling snowball in Maine, the program that drew the most legislative attention in the last session is actually a shadow of what it was […]
J. Tierney: Looking for easy votes
The banner headline for the Sun Journal March 25 read, “LePage unveils welfare plan.” If only welfare was the most important problem facing the state of Maine; if only it were among the top 10. Maybe the governor knows that most people (at least the 38 percent who voted for him) know little or nothing […]
J. Baird: Doing something about welfare
It’s about time Mainers get a governor who is willing to do something about welfare. It has been broken way too long. I am doubting those who want to be governor will do anything. Hooray for Gov. Paul LePage. Judy Baird, Lewiston