John Kasich and the Clintons Collaborated on Law That Helped Double Extreme Poverty

[Nanjeanne]

We know about the law but this is a good article outlining it in detail and how it passed.

In 1996, the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans worked hand in hand to pass what they called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, colloquially known as “welfare reform.”
byZaid Jilani, The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2016/02/13/john-kasich-and-the-clintons-collaborated-on-law-that-helped-double-extreme-poverty-in-america/

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich has promoted himself both as a friend of the working poor and as a foe of Hillary Clinton, but as House Budget Committee chairman in the 1990s, he worked with the Clintons to roll back welfare programs, helping double extreme poverty in America.

In 1996, the Clinton administration and congressional Republicans worked hand in hand to pass what they called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, colloquially known as “welfare reform.”

The legislation famously “ended welfare as we know it,” replacing Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The newly-created TANF placed a time limit on how long the federal government would extend financial assistance to poor families.

<snip>

By late July, the administration and the Republicans had solved their disagreements, and a conference bill coasted to passage by a 328-101 vote (Bernie Sanders, another presidential contender, opposed it).

“It was pretty amazing today to watch the President of the United States come on television and say that he was going to, in fact, sign this welfare bill,” Kasich boasted on the House floor on July 31, 1996.

<snip>

One of the leading dissenters in the House was Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. “The bill we are considering today is a bad bill. I will vote against it and I urge all people of conscience to vote against it. It is a bad bill because it penalizes children for the actions of their parents,” he thundered. “This bill, Mr. Speaker, will put 1 million more children into poverty. How, how can any person of faith, of conscience vote for a bill that puts a million more kids into poverty?… What does it profit a great nation to conquer the world, only to lose its soul? Mr. Speaker, this bill is an abdication of our responsibility and an abandonment of our morality. It is wrong, just plain wrong.”

Great video of Rep. Sanders in 1995 speaking as the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus in the House and introduces Cynthia McKinney (wonder if John Lewis remembers this!)

[Live and Learn]

1. One of the cruelest pieces of legislation ever passed. It did nothing to help people get jobs.

It threw people on to the streets. Shame on the Clintons.

[BlueJazz]

3. That was the day I KNEW the Clintons were just Republican-lite. When people, in Australia,..

...asked me who was the last Democrat to hold the presidency in America (beside Obama), I answer Jimmy Carter.

[Live and Learn]

4. Yep, it sickens me that I voted for him and even defended him at the time.

NAFTA, Welfare Reform, Industrial Prison Complex etc., despicable policies that even no Republican could ever have hoped to get passed.

I will not be fooled again.

Feel the Bern.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

2. To know her is to ...

???

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. EITC boost: to be fair, don't forget

to credit Big Dawg for somewhat counteracting the harsh blow PRWORA dealt to poor children with expansion of the EITC, the earned income tax credit.

I strongly opposed the 1996 "welfare reform" also, but the EITC softened the harsh blow somewhat, at least for poor families who live where it's not a miracle to get a minimum wage job in non-recessionary times and there's public transit for people to get to and from work when they can't afford a car or gas. I suspect the doubling of extreme poverty has been concentrated geographically in such transit and or job "deserts".

Using the EITC, people whose earnings are low enough can get north of $3,000 a year in refundable tax credits. Refundable means you get cash from the IRS before April or so every year even if you owe ZERO in taxes.

For the past twenty years, thanks to Bill Clinton, up to $3,000 or so a year in former AFDC benefits have been in effect converted to tax refunds that Rs could not cut for fear of being accused of raising taxes on the poorest! This IMO was uncanny political GENIUS!

But, fearing Tea Party primary challenges, Orrin Hatch (R-UT) now says EITC "scores" just like TANF, the miserly and time limited successor to AFDC. "Tax reform" under Kasich almost surely would eliminate the EITC. And Kasich and his ilk already have proposed work requirements for SNAP (food stamps) everywhere, and even for Medicaid!

[Skwmom]

6. But she is the great defender of women and children. And at the same time, their policies made the

rich even more wealthy, on the backs of the American people.