Frank Riggs: “I think our fellow citizens know the American welfare system today too often discourages the very things that we want to…”

“I think our fellow citizens know the American welfare system today too often discourages the very things that we want to promote as societal ideals. It is a system that is riddled with perverse incentives that discourage working, marriage, savings, investment, and that is why it is so important that we reform the welfare system. I want to stress, because I think the gentleman from Florida alluded earlier, there is really nothing to be gained, going back and revisiting the 1980's. I think if we look at economic policy, fiscal policy in the 1980's, there is plenty of blame to go around. We have no intention here, as the new Republican majority in Congress, of repeating those same mistakes, and that again the perverse notion that we could cut taxes and increase spending, which gave us these enormous deficits that have ultimately left us with a staggering national debt which our kids and grandkids are going to inherit. Instead, when we passed the balanced budget, the balanced budget, the first balanced budgets in 26 years, the balanced budget the President vetoed, we had tax cuts for working families.”