This week, Mitt Romney’s campaign launched a television ad accusing President Obama of removing the work requirement from welfare. Mr. Romney’s charge is based on a July memo from the Department of Health and Human Services that invited individual states to test their own welfare programs. Participating states would be able to test their own welfare initiatives and would be exempt form some federal requirements for funding. The Obama campaign countered that the memo does not remove any work requirements and in fact requires participating states to improve employment rates among welfare recipients.
We took a closer look at each candidate’s position on the question: Should able-bodied, mentally capable adults who receive welfare be required to work?
Mitt Romney: Yes, adults who receive government benefits should be required to work
Mr. Romney would increase funding of childcare services so that parents on welfare could "have the dignity of work".
Barack Obama: Yes, adults who receive government benefits should be required to work
Introduced a program that would let each individual state create their own welfare program while still receiving federal funds.
Gary Johnson: Yes, adults who receive government benefits should be required to work
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson would cut welfare funding by by 43% and would impose time limits on benefits and an income cap for all welfare recipients.
Jill Stein: No, “workfare” is a form a slave labor
Green Party Candidate Jill Stein supports the Green Party’s position that work requirements have a negative effect on children, families, the elderly and the disabled. Dr. Stein would fund any additional costs through cuts in military spending and corporate subsidies.
Ron Paul: Yes, and eliminate welfare all together as it is not authorized in the Constitution
“The welfare state imprisons our people and impoverishes our people and gives us our recession.”
Virgil Goode: Yes, adults who receive government benefits should be required to work
Mr. Goode would abolish federal welfare and give control the programs over to each state.
Which candidate do you side with on welfare? Take our candidate match quiz and find out.
Of course!
Linda Cerqueira
Yes.... Each state should set guidelines.
Dennis Aupperle
I side with Gary Johnson.
Daniel Bartelme
In the 60's welfare advocates claimed that there should be no differentiation between welfare and a paid job. A reruirement for able-bodied welfare recipients to work satisfies that belief perfectly. Whatever Jill Stein is smoking should be offered to everyone on a trial basis.
Marshall Sroge
Define "work." Is going to school to gain work-related skills sufficient? How about volunteering in the beleaguered school system? Does caring for preschool kids or grandparents qualify? Ministering to fellow church members? Does "work" necessarily require payment? How much? How many hours? What shift? Should there be a minimum "net" after taxes, transportation and other expenses? When should a newborn be sent to childcare? How long should a new mother be allowed to nurse? Should the employer be required to provide a nursing station? child care? time off to express when needed? Define "welfare." Is unemployment considered welfare? Should a 58 year old construction worker be left to his own devices? This question is too narrow and the answers too cut and dried. "Requiring" work implies that companies are screaming for more employees (a falsehood as demonstrated by the unemployment numbers) and that all assistance recipients are thumbing their noses at the overwhelming number of "dignified jobs" (ala Romney) that are waiting to be filled. If governors are unhappy with the federal welfare criteria, they should innovate locally. But beware! According to Obama, the local experiment had better "work."
Sandi Rykoff Ferguson
Work used to be defined as physical labor which is no longer true if "work" at a job for a living as many jobs are not physical labor, but do require certain tasks or physical presence at a specific location (even an on-line location for people working from home). Additionally, I know many overqualified people who have had to draw some form of welfare (food stamps or housing or work help) to feed family, keep a roof overhead and or find some type of job. There's my sister and her son...Sister works as part time night cashier at Wal-Mart. Nephew works as part time on-call stocker for Sears and often has 40 hours or more. They share an off line job babysitting nights for a night dispatcher 3 or 4 nights a week. The person who "sits" is the one who is not working that night... Can they pay all their necessary bills with this??? Not even close.
Ruth Sunday
I THINK THE STATES SHOULD HAVE THE LIBERTY TO CREATE THEIR OWN WELFARE BECAUSE EVERY SITUATION FINDS ITS OWN REASON AND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ONE STATE CANNOT BE THE SAME HAPPENING AT OTHER STATE.
Oison Kwadwo Owusu-konadu
Garry Johnson 212!
Bryan Stinson
This is where Jill Stein and I part company.
Lisa Henderson
Yes they should be required to work!! Just like all the rest of us hard working individuals!
Jackie Kinnane Rittenhouse
While I personally disagree with every candidate, I think Jill Stein doesn't know wtf she's talking about.
Robbie Loucks
Obama is hoping to increase the employment numbers by encouraging states to come up with menial tasks that have nothing to do with "WORKING". Better stats for states mean better stats for him, however false they may be.
Ginger Searcey Fitzgibbon
Where exactly did you come up with that?
Samantha Pinnell
I am more scared by Ron Paul than any foreign threat.
Sara Mccracken
I agree with Ron Paul. It's not the state or the federal governments responsibility to take care of poor people. There are better ways to spend our tax money.
Dana Faddis
Who is Jill Stein?
Michael Brainard
She is the Green party candidate for 2012.
Sarah Dills
Is Jill Stein for real? What a moron.
Jean Saleeby McCrossan
I can understand her stance in some cases. For example, say someone is terminally ill, all their life savings have gone to medical care, and (God forbid) they are in a coma waiting their days away in hospice. How can they work? There are some exceptions, but I'd rather see these exceptions funded by charities.
Sarah Dills
Are you for real!!! Their in a coma, dying why would they NEED welfare?
Linda Pierce
Ron Paul made it simple and Clear.
Justina Fazzolari Black
Before Welfare there were MANY charitable orgs., now there are many, many fewer! Physicians gave often of their free time by accepting patients through hospital on-call rotation and in their office. Now the govt pays almost all of that. Who is the govt? OBVIOUSLY the people WHO PAY TAXES. This all became reality afer 1965. Jill Stein is a physician. Is she on welfare? HAHA
Werner K Keller
Ron Paul says that Welfare is not authorized in the Constitution. Unfortuately term limits for Senators also are not authorized in the Constitution. Both should be. The Constitution is not a perfect document. As long as we have Senators who have served more than two terms the government will not work. I believe those on Welfare should work because there are those who will choose to live on almost nothing rather than work. It's sad but true. Just as it is sad but true there are Senators who would rather draw a government check and excellent retirement rather than go back to the private sector. The GRAFT is just too good to pass up. Here in Kentucky, Mitch McConnel has 27 million in the bank. Interesting, the man has never made more than a Senator. How where did all this money come from. Welfare from lobbyists of course.
Craig Cothren
You are on to it Craig.
Leif Halvorsen
yes should be required to work.
Judith Antolick
What if the deletion of the welfare work requirement wasn't just to increase the number of votes for Obama? Consider the increased number of able-bodied welfare recipients now on the federal governments payroll. What if after the election, Obama (assuming he wins) begins to place requirements on welfare recipients that they must comply with or risk losing their welfare checks? What kind of requirements could Obama impose? Many of the current (and recently added) welfare recipients live in the already volatile inner-cities. Think Brown-Shirts as you consider your response. These same inner-city welfare recipients are already in possession of free cell phones which are a necessary means of communication to coordinate flash-mobs and other organized mayhem. On the positive side, the work requirement would return to welfare recipients but the work would be directed by the government.What do you think?
Danny Steele
While I am personally voting for GJ this election, I agree with RP's answer. People don't understand that before welfare, medicare/caid, and other nannystate programs, there were volunteer programs that helped out less fortunate people. Now-a-days, people see it as the government's job, through forcibly taking taxpayers money, to help out the poor. This drives out the more efficient and overall better volunteer programs.
Ben Iwen
Leave it to the States. The Federal Government just can't control the misuse. I've had a difficult time hiring employees because they can eek out a living on welfare.
Ronnie Harrison
Many people on welfare should work. But if they are currently caring for a family of many children, an elderly person or a child who needs full time....well, I am not sure if the caregiver should be required to work while wrestling with the problem of how to and who will take over their responsibilities.
Dotti Chesney
None of you even understand Jill Steins stance remotely. Go research it before you bash it, morons.
Emily Rose
When my children were babies, I found it impossible to work. I had a husband who worked, so we did the best we could. Once the children were school age, then I could work part time. So, I would need to know the specific regulations to make a decision on the work for welfare question.
Janice Coleman