Political Quotes

“since President Johnson declared his War on Poverty, the Federal Government, under federally designed programs, has spent more than $5 trillion on welfare programs. But, during this time, the poverty rate has increased from 14.7 to 15.3 percent. After trillions of dollars spent on welfare over the past 30 years, we are still dealing with a system that hurts children, rather than helps them. The current system discourages work, penalizes marriage, and destroys personal responsibility and, oftentimes, self-worth. According to the Public Agenda Foundation, 64 percent of welfare recipients agree that "welfare encourages teenagers to have children out of wedlock," and 62 percent agree that it "undermines the work ethic." And, there are serious negative consequences when a child is born out-of-wedlock. Children born out-of-wedlock have a substantially higher risk of being born at a very low or moderately low birth weight. Children born out of wedlock are more likely to experience low verbal cognitive attainment, as well as more child abuse, and neglect. Children born out of wedlock are more likely to have lower cognitive scores, lower educational aspirations, and a greater likelihood of becoming teenage parents themselves. Children born out of wedlock are three times more likely to be on welfare when they grow up. Who would not be full of despair and without hope for the future when presented with such a scenario?”