Reply #16: TDS predates King George's reign

[noamnety]

Democrats do some god awful stupid things, too. Voting for the war, voting for torture, voting for don't ask don't tell. While their history is worlds better than the republicans, they aren't exactly shining stars of virtue, themselves. They need to be held accountable for their actions as much as anyone.

"In the summer of 1996 (apparently seeking the support of centrist voters for the coming election), Clinton signed a law to end the federal government's guarantee, created under the New Deal, of financial help to poor families with dependent children. This was called "welfare reform," and the law itself had the deceptive title of "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996." Its aim was to force poor families receiving federal cash benefits (many of them single mothers with children) to go to work, by cutting off their benefits after two years, limiting lifetime benefits to five years, and allowing people without children to get food stamps for only three months in any three-year period.

The Los Angeles Times reported: "As legal immigrants lose access to Medicaid, and families battle a new five-year limit on cash benefits . . . health experts anticipate a resurgence of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases...... The aim of the welfare cuts was to save $50 billion over a five-year period (less than the cost of a planned new generation of fighter planes). Even the New York Times, a supporter of Clinton during the election, said that the provisions of the new law "have nothing to do with creating work but everything to do with balancing the budget by cutting programs for the poor."

"From the Boston Globe, May 22, 1997: "After White House intervention, the Senate yesterday ... rejected a proposal ... to extend health insurance to the nation's 10.5 million uninsured children ... Seven lawmakers switched their votes ... after senior White House officials ... called and said the amendment would imperil the delicate budget agreement." "

more Howard Zinn on Clinton: http://www.zpub.com/un/zinn12.html