Reply #73

It leaves the work requirement up to the states. For a little bit of perspective on the waivers:

Shift in Welfare Policy Draws G.O.P. Protests, By REBECCA BERG, New York Times, Published: July 17, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/politics/welfare-to-work-shift-angers-republicans.html

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State support of waivers is not a new phenomenon. In 2005, 29 Republican governors, including Mr. Romney and Mr. Huckabee, asked Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, for more “flexibility to manage their TANF programs and effectively serve low-income populations.”

“Increased waiver authority, allowable work activities, availability of partial work credit and the ability to coordinate state programs are all important aspects of moving recipients from welfare to work,” the letter read.

... Peter B. Edelman, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy, called Republican opposition to the waivers “totally ridiculous.”

“This is an advisory that is all about making it easier to get a job, which I thought is what the Republicans wanted,” Mr. Edelman said. “To say that this is somehow against the concept of TANF is bizarre, because what we have here are restrictions that Congress enacted that, on the ground, make it harder to get from here to there.”
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(On edit 1108p EDT added 2 more paragraphs to the above New York Times quote)

On the broader issue -- I wonder about the welfare thing too. First, its not all contained in Discretionary spending, which is what is shown in the pie chart in the OP. Social Security disability benefits (and I've known some people on SSDI who sure seem fine to me, drive a much better car than me), and Medicaid are not part of Discretionary spending.

In Discretionary spending, it is not just Food and Agriculture. There is likely some also part of Health, Housing & Community, and Education. I doubt that TANF is in Food and Agriculture (I have no idea where it is).

I'd really like to know what the real picture is so that I can at least argue knowledgably with RW'ers. And just out of curiousity and for the sake of my own knowledge. But unfortunately there's probably not a place where one can discuss these things without it turning into a leftie vs. rightie lying contest.