Honest question: what did Edwards mean by...

[Khephra]

"We are going to finish the job on welfare reform."

I thought Clinton's Welfare Reform was hated by many here? No flames, I'm just trying to figure out what he means.

I want CORPORATE WELFARE REFORM. We haven't even touched on that issue.

[Eric J in MN]

1. Hopefully, he meant that there is too little help for poor people

currently, and so he wants more help such as more job-training, day-care assistance, housing assistance.

[Khephra]

2. I hope so...I know I'm late on this, but I missed the Edwards speech

first time around. It's being replayed on Air America right now.

There's two MAJOR issues I had with the Clinton years-- Welfare Reform (mom worked in welfare AND received welfare, so we know a bit about it) and the DMCA.

[KoKo]

6. Keph, Clinton vetoed "Welfare Reform" TWICE! With a Repug Congress

what else could he do. If I remember he was beleaguered with the Monica mess at that point.

Yes, lots got by in the Monica mess. I don't remember him vetoing the Media Deregulation Bill, but maybe he did? Or, maybe by that time he was so beaten down he just didn't give a damn.

But,I don't think he was in favor of "Welfare Reform," anyway. The rest maybe so...if his campaign contributors called in the cards during Monica, then the Media Dereg was part of coercion.

But, he did veto "Welfare Reform." John Edwards is no Liberal/Lefty Dem.

In the South, a Dem is a Repug Lite. Don't expect favors from him. He's Southern to his core, and NC insider to boot.

[MichiganVote]

3. Welfare

was a gov't service initially that was intended to support those who were deemed unable to support themselves. That part is still true today with some limitations depending upon who you are. Widespread abuses led to cosmetic changes through the 70's and 80's. In the 90's welfare reform sort of morphed into an initiative to move very low or low income families into the lower middle class by pairing participants up with requirements for labor. Regrettably, the standards were too rigourous for single mothers and others and the results in communities were increased requests for emergency services.
There were community alliances with faith-based programming intended to support independence from welfare.

While I can't be sure what Edwards meant, my guess is that adequate welfare reform would entail a program that assures adequate training and support along with a graduated system of entitlements such as child care credits, food stamps, etc.

The problem with all of these programs is that insufficient highly trained staff are appointed to traverse a family toward self sufficiency resulting in very few truw success stories.

Believe it or not, I happen to believe that corporations have become just as dependent on US aid as any of the aforementioned families and they too require a business mentor/committee. That is actually what happens when they go bancrupt.

[Khephra]

4. That's probably my big problem

I grew up watching my mother help families who were never on welfare because they wanted it--usually it was because the families were in horrible situations or the parent(s) were abusive. Ask my mother about electric cord wounds sometime.

What I've seen is that Corporate Welfare spends more of our money than any other type. It's one of my "sore spots".

[MichiganVote]

5. Takes a village to raise the US

[a kennedy]

7. One reason, (out of many) why I didn't vote for the Big Dog...

I still think, if Bill Clinton would have been a lot more left then center......we wouldn't be having such a hard time trying to get back to at least a "tad left" of center. He screwed the welfare program....just screwed it. I will never forgive him for that.

[Merlin]

8. Clinton did not like the final initial welfare bill, and vowed a second.

One of the main failings, I remember, had to do with the treatment of legal aliens. But there were several other areas in which Clinton said it was "a bad bill."

But it was the best he could do at the time (1996) and he wanted it in the bag for the election campaign. He vowed to revisit it in 1997 and make the needed changes.

Unfortunately, in the spring of '97, we all know what happened to derail the Big Dawg's second term. So welfare reform is still unfinished business.