Welfare Rolls Increasing In 23 Of The 30 Largest States

Wall Street Journal:

Welfare rolls, which were slow to rise and actually fell in many states early in the recession, now are climbing across the country for the first time since President Bill Clinton signed legislation pledging "to end welfare as we know it" more than a decade ago.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[Oakland]

Clinton was the worse thing that ever happened to this country. He is the snake in the grass gave us NAFTA and destroyed our jobs. He repealed Glass-Stegal and gave us the banking crisis. He gave out queened Reagan, and gave us welfare reform that treats everyone applying for welfare as if they were Ronald Reagan's welfare queens. Clinton's punitive welfare program, made worse by Bush, has people sitting in job training centers up to 30 hours a week under the threat of losing benefits. Federal regulations determine what counts towards their participation rate and exactly how many minutes, hours and days of credit they get and for what. Because of this mandate, they even send pregnant women, due any minute, to this ridiculous program. With an unemployment rate in excess of 14%, being unemployed leaves no where to go but welfare. People would much rather be working and earing a living wage, then putting up with the BS safety net called welfare.

Bill Maher is right. Obama has no audacity. Republicans are the crazy party, and Democrats are the new Republicans. We need a party that represents working people and the middle class, and we need it fast.

[BBC9nch]

You are right about Clinton and NAFTA, on welfare reform, something had to be done to motivate people to seek work. You had generations of people on welfare and using it as a permanent source of income. Yes I'm generalizing but that was the main problem with welfare and Clinton took this away as a tool for the right to use against democrats. Welfare became a euphemism for black females in the ghetto so it had become racially divisive and Clinton tried to take that issue off the table.

[talkitreal]

And that is why the Stimulus Package was needed -- to create, and save jobs (which is what is happening across the country!) The State were all BROKE before the Stimulus package was passed. The Simulus package money that went to the states allowed them to keep employed, alot of teachers, nurses, police officers, and firefighters, who the States were planning to lay off, beacsue they could no longer afford to pay them -- The Stimulus Package allowed States to keep these teachers,nurses, police officers, and firefighters EMPLOYED!

Secondly, infrastructure jobs, whcih include: construction on bridges, roads, HAVE ALREADY STARTED IN SOME STATES, and will continue through the summer. [The fact is many of the States are completing the contract bidding process, and now that many of that bidding on contracts by construction companies: that want to work on these road, and bridge projects, have been completed --these construction companies will to employ workers, and get to work on completing the infrasstructure repair job. The school repair jobs will start as soon as children are out of school for the summer.

[talkitreal]

And that is why the Stomulus Package was needed -- to create, and save jobs (which is what is happening across the country!) The State were all BROKE before the Stimulus package was passed. The Simulus package money that went to the states allowed them to keep employed, alot of teachers, nurses, police officers, and firefighters, who the States were planning to lay off, beacsue they could no longer afford to pay them -- The Stimulus Package allowed States to keep these teachers,nurses, police officers, and firefighters EMPLOYED!

Secondly, infrastructure jobs, whcih include: construction on bridges, roads, HAVE ALREADY STARTED IN SOME STATES, and will continue through the summer. [The fact is many of the States are completing the contract bidding process, and now that many of that bidding on contracts by construction companies: that want to work on these road, and bridge projects, have been completed --these construction companies will to employ workers, and get to work on completing the infrasstructure repair job. The school repair jobs will start as soon as children are out of school for the summer.

[chargerman]

Yeah the stimulus program was to be directed to shovel ready projects. Not teacher raises. The shovels should be used to bury the stimulus fraud program of rewarding Democratics around the country.

[MadHeart]

Congress passes a "landmark" bill against tobacco, but does nothing to regulate Wall St. I'll continue to keep puffing at age 68, though, just less since it's becoming unaffordable. Maybe when Wall St. is brought into line, I'll quit--not before. At age 68, there isn't a lot to look forward to except something to ease the stress.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Because Bush failed to recognize, let alone, address the recession which started in December 2007, is why were still suffering today. He did nothing for 14 months and then tossed a recession into Obama's lap.

Because Bush entered into an unjust war in Iraq, squandering a huge surplus and turning it into a deficit, we have no cushion to deal with all the problems we face now.

People have been hurting since December 2007. What did they get from Bush? A $300 "stimulus" that helped no one. People need welfare because they exhausted unemployment benefits and cannot find a job. Shameful.

[Nonamnesiac]

The fact that there can be something called a "recovery" when true unemployment (new claims, those currently receiving unemployment and those no longer seeking employment because they have long been unable to find work) is so high demonstrates the term -- "recovery" -- has only a political meaning designed to make both parties look good politically as the economy fails. Add to this that we actually allow large segments of our population to be excluded from our health care system or to be inadequately covered by it and the term "recovery" becomes an even bigger joke.

There is no "recovery" because those who caused the collapse are leading the Administration's response to the collapse and couldn't care less about anything other than redefining terms like "recovery" so that they can say the operation succeeded but the patient died.

It looks right now as if there will be no reregulation (meaning continuing bad economy for the middle class), no universal, public-option or single-payer, affordable, quality health care (because the Administration and the Democrats are wholly owned by the health care industry) and no end to US gunboat diplomacy in Iraq and Afghanistan (meaning Lyndon Baines Obama's policies of guns AND butter will fail internationally and domestically while they are lauded loudly as successes.

[MadHeart]

None of this is news, except that Goldman Sachs is handing out record bonuses. Right now only the truly destitute are receiving welfare, which around here won't even rent a run-down apt, as I'm sure it wouldn't for any other state.. And when people's unemployment insurance runs out, they're going to be in the same position, except that with 2 parents in the home, they won't be eligible for cash assistance. Where are people like that going to turn? People who are used to making their own way and have already had to apply for food stamps and help from any agency that does provide a bit of "charity?" People are losing everything slowly in many cases.

Big Business and the banks have gotten enough--so turn the money hose off for them immediately. They aren't fulfilling their end of the deal, it seems, by providing credit and jobs, so why not relax the rules for assistance to those who have, through no fault of their own, come to the end of their resources? After all--no jobs, no taxes paid; no income, further social unrest and misery.

Anyone who can't see that the Bush regime set this scenario in motion is blind, deaf, or dumb--probably all three. But I also believe that Obama MUST change his economic course and start paying more attention to the everyday people of this country and how the real economy is simply not working for the majority of us.

[SgtLucifer]

Dear Lord,... please make Obama a one-term presidency. The man is more worried about Wall Street than Main Street. He's more worried about pleasing Republicans than the poor jobless souls that lined up to vote for him. Little did we know that he is just another rat-as*s politician.

[slowhand0728]

The harsh reality Obama does not have to do anything different and he still comes out ahead.
If the economy improves even the slightest...
"The STIMULOUS is working!"
If stays the same....
"Imagine how much worse if we had done nothing!"
And if gets worse...
"This is why we need to SPEND more, and I have a NEW PLAN!"
WIN/WIN/WIN
Just watch and see.

[jinxed]

Do you suppose the Republicans are happy yet? Ronnie got his chuckles from putting the mentally unstable on the streets and on their own and now 30 years later we have homeless families along with the already destitute. What a legacy!

[miriamfl]

Let me just say that Bin Ladin could not have asked for a better scenario than what the Bush administration delivered. Bushie played right into his hand. The lack of education from this group is unbelieveable! But many of us knew better than to vote for a man who had been an al coholic till his 40th B-day or so he says. He had never accomplished much of anything I guess we all have to thank Karl Rove for that. He took us in a neverending war in Iraq when we should have stayed in Afghanistan and gone after the real terorist. The wars will cost over a trillion of money we did not have and borrowed from the chinese. He took his eye off the ball with so many things and did I mention Katrina. The Repubs will like us to forget all this and just blame Pres Obama but we have to stand strong and together and not let these clowns let us forget who really got us to where we are today!

[PerfectSense]

When the Dems took over Congress in 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.5%. By May 2009, the national unemployment rate was 9.4%.

Great job Dems.

[MadHeart]

The Dems "took over" what, exactly? Just because their numbers in Congress increased slightly doesn't mean they had the power. Bush and the Rethugs saw to that aspect. Put the blame squarely where it belongs: on them, not Dems.

[Pleneras]

You know very little on how politics in washington works.

[miriamfl]

Soooo misssss informed by choice!

[Pleneras]

Exactly played right into his hands and wasted our tax dollars on halliburton, blackwater and no bid contracts while nothing for the people or progress of this nation. The money is not the governments, it belongs to the people.

[JZ735]

Where's the beef?
Where's Clara Pell when we need her...?

Reagan has his McJobs, worthless in the 80s...Obama has his now.

[tomasedison]

Q. Why Obama passed the Stimilus Package ?

A. To create jobs.

[Conservador-Rebelde]

Q: Where are those jobs?

[tomasedison]

The money is pumping through the system.

The Bush damage ran far deeper than most could understand. Wasn't created in a day and won't be fixed in a day. It will take many months. Learn something about how the economy works.

[mirza]

But Goldman Sachs is paying record bonuses

[ibsteve2u]

No surprise there. It really helps long term projections, if you or your alumni can help craft the nation's future.

Rather like gambling at the track when you are the veterinarian for ALL of the horses.

In fact, the former employers of most of that last Administration somehow seem to have done rather well for themselves.

[JoeBlough]

Why are people surprised? This is the natural end-game of eight years of Republican rule. You get the the majority votes for.