Bush Proposes Welfare Reform Plan
by: Joe Morris
WASHINGTON—In a measure to "reform and optimize our resources," President Bush proposed a welfare reform policy on Tuesday to The Senate Committee of Domestic Reform that stresses the importance of family and marriage.
"Stable families should be the central goal of American welfare policy," Bush said. "Building and preserving families are not always possible—I recognize that. I mean, just look at my family, for example. My daughters Jenna and Barbara were involved just 6 months ago in an underage drinking incident. I told them not to drink outside the house, but do teenagers ever listen? No, of course not. They never do their damn chores or clean up after themselves either, the dirty slobs. And talk about never listening . . . Laura, just in one ear and out the other with her. Sometimes I could just kill them, kill them all."
Bush said his $19 billion plan builds on and expands the 1996 reform law that has worked to move people off welfare rolls and into the workforce. Congress is slated to consider extending that law later this year.
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Bush's proposal includes $300 million for programs that arrange marriage. |
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Bush delivered his speech at St. Luke's Catholic Church in the nation's capital, standing before a backdrop that read "Working Toward Independence" and was adorned with the words "Family," "Responsibility," "Opportunity," and "Work." There was also a spray-painted message in bubble letters that read "Cobras," with a snakehead smoking a joint.
One of the most controversial parts of the president's plan is a focus on arranging marriage between low-income citizens. His proposal includes $300 million for programs that promote marriage.
Bush defended the proposal, saying, "They've been doing this over in India and those countries around it for years. They pop out kids left and right, and you don't see them getting welfare checks or complaining about not having jobs, do you?"
"We will work to strengthen and promote marriage," he said. "The most effective, direct way to improve the lives of children is to encourage the stability of American families by forcing two complete strangers into a lifelong state of bliss and happiness."
The president said his new plan has three other main goals:
Empowering states to seek new and innovative solutions to help welfare recipients achieve independence.
"We've already received incredible suggestions from a number of states already," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. "Texas proposed imposing the death penalty on welfare recipients who receive checks for too long. And those crazy South Carolinians are always looking for a reason to re-institute slavery."
Helping more welfare recipients achieve independence by getting jobs.
Bush emphasized the importance of jobs by stating, "How do you expect the poor people to make money without working? Money doesn't grow on trees you know. And if it did, these welfare recipients wouldn't be wealthy enough to own them anyway."
Providing food assistance to legal immigrants in need, after they have lived in the country longer than five years.
Bush addressed that the new plan will require a $12 billion increase in spending in order to achieve the final goal. "The new policy is going to require the construction of hundreds of cargo planes to fly over our crummier neighborhoods and drop packaged food."
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