Bernie Calls It: Hillary Clinton’s Support for Dismantling Welfare Created Rampant Poverty

[amborin]

Sanders: Hillary Clinton’s Support for Dismantling Welfare Created Rampant Poverty

Hugh Wharton | February 24, 2016


At a news conference on Wednesday in Columbia, South Carolina, Bernie Sanders criticized Hillary Clinton’s record on welfare reform, pointing to her support for a 1996 bill that he says was disastrous for poor families.

The bill dismantled the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and replaced it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The primary issues were that the new TANF program was not tied to inflation, had a five-year lifetime limit for recipients, and local governments could easily reallocate the funds for other state needs and ignore needy families.

Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) has been passed, the number of families in extreme poverty has doubled, according to Sanders — though some have claimed an increase as high as 150%.


As First Lady at the time, Clinton was instrumental in rounding up the votes to ensure the bill’s passage, which Bill Clinton signed into law.

Sanders also linked the subject of welfare reform and poverty to his fight for a higher minimum wage and his support for the $15 minimum wage. “What we are going to do in this country if I have anything to say about it is to say if somebody works 40 hours a week, that person is not going to live in poverty. Today the minimum wage of $7.25 is nothing less than a starvation wage,” he said.

In contrast, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly campaigned on only a $12 minimum wage increase, despite the $15 minimum wage being added as part of the official platform of the Democratic Party itself.

http://usuncut.com/politics/bernie-sanders-hits-hillary-clinton-on-welfare-reform-record/

[libtodeath]

1. K&R

[jillan]

2. Good - I am so happy to see him finally doing more contrast & compare style campaigning. Over due!

He might even get another letter from David Brock tell him to knock it off

[Kittycat]

18. Cut it out!

Lol. They're something else.

[840high]

20. Slime Brock.

[LovingA2andMI]

39. David Brock is like

Pond Scum after what he did to Anita Hill to protect the Sexual Harasser Clarence Thomas. Did he think folks would just forget the 1990's?

[restorefreedom]

43. if david brock fell through a sewer grate

they would not be able to find him, because he his environment would be indistinguishable.

[Chemisse]

3. I don't think the passage of this CAUSED the extreme poverty,

But it sure made it very hard for people to survive once they hit hard times.

[charlespercydemocrat]

4. REAL CHANGE

I HOPE BERNIE SANDER WINS AND THINGS CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.

[thereismore]

5. It's her record. She is answerable to it. nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

9. Hillary answerable? haha, good one!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[MADem]

6. LOL--what will they blame Michelle Obama for in

twenty years?

[AlbertCat]

12. what will they blame Michelle Obama for in twenty years?

Whatever she might have done.....

But she's no Hillary Clinton.

[MADem]

29. I think they were both wonderful in the FLOTUS gig.

If I compare them at all, I'd say they did way more than most in that job in service to their nation, without a paycheck and with a lot of criticism, too.

[floppyboo]

13. cauliflower shortage?

[MADem]

59. That's our fault--we like it roasted w/garlic, or

pureed like mashed potatoes!

[rhett o rick]

27. I take exception of your comparison of Michelle Obama with H. Clinton that is obviously

obsessed with wealth and power. $50,000,000 and counting. She supported the decision to dismantle welfare because she believes that people should learn to take care of themselves unless they are big banks.

[MADem]

30. Well, I'm betting that most people take exception to your exception taking.

Have a nice day, now...!

[rhett o rick]

42. Most people? I don't think so. This is a People's Movement against the control of our government

by Big Money. I guess you side with Big Money. Most People in the world are uniting to fight the Oligarch run governments around the world. You can't continue to ignore the 16,000,000 American children living in poverty while HRC rakes in 50 million dollars from corporations and billionaires for services rendered or promised.

"Have a nice day, now...!" Really? You think being rude is cute? I see it as childish.

[MADem]

49. I am not being rude. I am letting you know that I won't

respond to your goading/baiting and inventive descriptions.

If I were being rude, I wouldn't have encouraged you to have a nice day--I would have said something that was actually rude.

It's an encouragement, not an order, though--if you don't want to have a nice day, have a crappy one. Makes no difference to me.

[rhett o rick]

55. I concider condesention as rude but that's just me. But I don't care. I have dealt

with this all my life. You are not very good at it actually.

Sad that rudeness is all you have to try to distract from the fact that you are on the wrong side of this class war. If you think that the Goldman-Sachs god will trickle-down you, I think you are in for a shock. The Oligarchy doesn't love you.

Change sides, support the 50,000,000 Americans living in poverty in lieu of the Goldman-Sachs god.

[MADem]

56. I am not being condescending.

Your accusations toward me, though--repeatedly, as you're doing--they might be viewed as rude.

"The oligarchy doesn't love you." Real sweet of you to tell me! Good thing I wasn't looking for their love! LOL!

I like the side I'm on--it's looking like a winner from where I sit.

Have a nice evening!

[rhett o rick]

69. Of course you think that by siding with the Big Money you'll be on the winning side.

Hate to tell you but the People will prevail.

[MADem]

70. I told you I wasn't going to take the bait, and I meant it. nt

[rhett o rick]

71. You won't try to justify why you side with the rich instead of the poor? You don't think

anyone believes that a Goldman-Sachs presidency will actually help the 50,000,000 Americans living in poverty.

So let's guess why you choose the Oligarchy. Maybe you are comfortable with the status quo, but afraid to admit it.
Maybe you actually think that the Oligarchy knows what's best for us peons. Or maybe you support the trickle-down theory.

[morningfog]

64. I doubt she'll invoke her time as First Lady as experience and

a qualification for presidency. But if she does, we'll examine what she supported openly.

You can't have it both ways.

[MADem]

66. We'll have to see if she runs in two decades, won't we?

I'd probably vote for her.

[morningfog]

67. I'd vote for her now if she jumped in!

[CharlotteVale]

7. K&R

[kgnu_fan]

8. K&R

[PonyUp]

73. K&R

[enid602]

10. platform

Hen why isn't bringing back Aid for Dependants with Children part of his platform?

[zentrum]

11. Absolutely true. nt

[dr60omg]

14. Aid for families with dependent children

He wants to make sure all Americans have access to health care as a right. He also wants to make sure that all Americans have access to child care (as in other countries) and that there is family leave time. Most of all he is demanding a living wage of 15 dollars an hour ... maybe people would not have suffered so horribly if the Clintons did not do what they did to poor families with children

[senz]

15. Bernie vigorously opposed Clinton's 1996 welfare reform bill.

He voted against it and called it “the grand slam of scapegoating legislation,” correctly noting that it “appeals to the frustrations and ignorance of the American people along a wide spectrum of prejudices.”

Bernie is nearly always on the right side of the issues.

He'd make a great president.

[madokie]

26. He'll make a Great President

[rhett o rick]

37. He will but the whole system is against him and us. We must help him all we can.

When he is elected our work will double. The Wealthy Fat Cats will throw everything at him. If one thinks that Obama got it hard from them it will be nothing like a real progressive.

[Broward]

16. Not sure what took him so long, but he needs to call out Clinton

on all aspects of her terrible track record.

[brentspeak]

25. He's been way too nice in this campaign

Finally showed some spine in the last debate by bringing up the topic of HRC's admiration of Kissinger. Needs to keep swinging some sharp elbows. Hillary's campaign certainly isn't holding anything back.

[WillyT]

17. K & R !!!

[ucrdem]

19. Wrong Clinton.

Sorry, that horse won't trot.

[senz]

21. Nope, the right Clinton.

Didn't read the OP?

As First Lady at the time, Clinton was instrumental in rounding up the votes to ensure the bill’s passage, which Bill Clinton signed into law.

Now get on that horse and ride it.

[ucrdem]

23. From the esteemed journal "uncut"?

Let's just say that anyone can post anything online.

[senz]

32. From the New York Times

That's where uncut got it from.

Here, read it yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/24/bernie-sanders-ties-hillary-clinton-to-poverty-caused-by-welfare-reform/

Oh, I know: you'll say, "The NYTimes? That's no good, I won't listen to that." Right?

Well why don't you just accept reality? Y'all love to count Hill's 8 years as FLOTUS on her "resume." So take the good with the bad.

[ucrdem]

35. NYT: "it has been Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, who has put forward bold plans to create

good-paying jobs, dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, and remove barriers to sustainable home ownership.”

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/24/bernie-sanders-ties-hillary-clinton-to-poverty-caused-by-welfare-reform/

Sounds like a strong endorsement.

[senz]

40. That's a quote from Maya Harris, a senior policy adviser in Mrs. Clinton’s campaign

trying to obfuscate the issue with a bunch of boilerplate Hill campaign verbiage.

And that's your "strong endorsement?"

Now don't be clutching at straws.

[ucrdem]

46. Clinton's policy advisers know policy. Bernie's know comic books.

There's the difference.

[senz]

48. Ugly slam, but not surprising. Here's more

for you:

President Bill Clinton proudly signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which was based on legislation first proposed by Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; Hillary, meanwhile, enthusiastically lobbied on behalf of the bill.

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/22/john_lewis_staunchly_opposed_the_clintons_gutting_of_welfare_in_1996_yet_now_endorses_hillary_and_slams_sanders/

[Peace Patriot]

57. I think I am in love with you, senz!

You and all the other DUers for Sanders who are so incredibly well-informed and so quick on the uptake when these muddle-headed Clinton supporters trip over their "talking points."

The difference is very telling!

Thank you for this particular exchange and for all your efforts to inform and educate!

[senz]

58. Well thank you so much, Peace Patriot, but

I learned what little I know of verbal sparring from watching a great master, beam me up scottie.

But your kindness is very much appreciated.

[amborin]

68. and, Bill Moyers has a great interview with a sociologist who studied its effects:

Holland: According to your study, just five years after the passage of the Welfare Reform Act, 63 percent of families in the least stringent programs were white and 11 percent were black, and in the most restrictive programs — that is, the ones with the toughest penalties and the most stringent requirements for eligibility – 63 percent were black and just 29 percent were white.

http://billmoyers.com/2014/05/12/how-bill-clintons-welfare-reform-created-a-system-rife-with-racial-biases/

would make a good OP to explain just how it so badly impacted black children

[MADem]

51. "Uncut" is something else, isn't it?

Blatantly partisan, and proud of it!

I wonder who thought that name was a good idea? It sounds a bit like a sex site catering to specific tastes, or something.

[SMC22307]

63. Straight from Hillary's mouth...

The President eventually signed this third bill into law. Even with its flaws, it was a critical first step to reforming our nation's welfare system. I agreed that he should sign it and worked hard to round up votes for its passage--though he and the legislation were roundly criticized by some liberals, advocacy groups for immigrants and most people who worked with the welfare system.

Source: Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton, p. 368

You're welcome.

[SMC22307]

65. Giddy-up! Hillary admits her involvement in her book "Living History"...

is Camp Weathervane *really* trying to deny that she was instrumental in getting the bill to pass? *Really*?

[noamnety]

74. They're a team.

"I’ve advocated tying the welfare payment to certain behavior about being a good parent. You couldn’t get your welfare check if your child wasn’t immunized. You couldn’t get your welfare check if you didn’t participate in a parenting program. You couldn’t get your check if you didn’t show up for student-teacher conferences."

[appalachiablue]

22. K&R Thanks. Workfare, punishing and ciminalizing the poor. For shame.

[cantbeserious]

24. Telling The Truth - Painful - Especially For Those That Do Not Want To Hear It

eom

[grasswire]

28. Add this to the reminder of what she did to the poor of Haiti.

Her state department would not support efforts to raise the Haitian minimum wage to 65 cents an hour, because of the giant corporations that use Haitian labor to manufacture goods for export.

Imagine that. But it gets worse.

The Clinton Foundation solicited hundreds of millions of dollars for Haiti relief for displaced people. What was done with that money? Well, $175 million of it built a luxury hotel.

[72DejaVu]

31. Before 1996

Everybody lived in mansions and drove around in Lincoln Town Cars.

Biggest problem anyone had was finding spaces to park those big babies when we went out to buy diamonds and caviar.

[Fumesucker]

60. Everyone knows it's "Welfare Cadillac" not "Welfare Town Car"

You really should get the talking points straight..

[72DejaVu]

61. Not from Detroit, are you?

[TIME TO PANIC]

33. K & R!

[senz]

34. Amborin, the article is on the NYTimes also.

Hill folk are discarding it because they don't like the source.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/24/bernie-sanders-ties-hillary-clinton-to-poverty-caused-by-welfare-reform/

[ucrdem]

36. It's simply reporting Bernie's bogus claim. Yes he said, yes he's wrong. nt

[senz]

45. Can see why you'd think ALL politicians lie, but Bernie doesn't.

[Uncle Joe]

38. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, amborin.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. That is a smear...

according to David Brock.

By the way, my ears did indeed perk up when I heard that... and I have not been feeling well

[FairWinds]

44. This post is entirely fair . .

and is what happens when Dems "triangulate" with the Third Way Koch Bros.
wing of what used to be the Democratic Party.

It is a fact that extreme poverty increased after "end welfare as we
know it" was enacted.

And yes, Bernie should do more of this.

The TPP is a really important issue in part because it is where
the left and right can agree. It is a wedge issue for us.

Bernie should be hammering on it as every opportunity.

[AzDar]

47. K & R

[Cobalt Violet]

50. What a STINGY woman!

She's already triangulated away from the dems on minimum wage.

[kgnu_fan]

52. I am getting nauseated to learn about so many bad things she had supported.... nt

[senz]

53. Elizabeth Warren would agree with Bernie on this.

International Business Times, 7-28-14

Hillary Clinton vs. Elizabeth Warren: Big Differences, Despite Claims To The Contrary

Clinton was a prominent supporter of the 1996 welfare reform legislation that made it more difficult for poor families to receive government benefits. She stood by that support during her 2008 presidential campaign. With a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showing that law coincided with a rise in extreme childhood poverty, Clinton's position may open her up to criticism from Warren, who has positioned herself as a champion of the poor.

http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-vs-elizabeth-warren-big-differences-despite-claims-contrary-1640810

[warrprayer]

54. It did far worse than that

The suicide rate is off the charts.
In my city every so often you bear of homeless stepping in front of trains.

[TheFarseer]

62. Love Bernie but don't really agree with that.

We've got to 1. Get high paying jobs back in the country and to stop leaving. 2. Do something to make child care more affordable for people that want to work. I don't think the answer is to mandate that low skilled jobs are suddenly high paying jobs. I think minimum wage should be raised but to more than double it, I think, is a bad idea. Additionally, a safety net is completely necessary, but the true path to wealth is to get back in the work force eventually and get a good job.

[PonyUp]

72. knr nt