Saturday, August 18, 2012

They Were For It Before They Were Against It!

Welfare reform, that is.  Personally, I rejoice in the fact that yet another failed Republican policy has come back to bite Republicans where it hurts.  The problem is that many of us, your-humble-and-obedient included, knew and predicted this would happen.

The far greater problem, however, is all of the people who have fallen deeper into poverty since Bill Clinton, attempting to stave off impeachment, signed this misbegotten "reform" into law.  Say what you will about welfare as we knew it:  it guaranteed a certain level of consumption for a consumption-based economy.  I will always wonder how far the economy would have fallen, had a guaranteed base of consumers remained in place.

This is not an argument for fraud.  There are and have always been ways of rooting out the bad apples without blowing up the barrel.  But, that's American politics:  given a choice between problem-solving and scapegoating, I guess people will always choose the latter.  It's more fun.

But for how much longer?

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