Political Quotes

Ron Lewis: We have had the great society in place for 30 years, the welfare system. There has been $5 trillion spent. There are…

On the recordJuly 12, 1995
We have had the great society in place for 30 years, the welfare system. There has been $5 trillion spent. There are more people in poverty now than when that started. Five trillion dollars down the drain and more people on welfare, more people that are--well, let's look at the statistics. The highest crime rate in the world, more teenage pregnancies, more poverty. I mean, it hasn't worked. And you are exactly right. The help is to be temporary, not an ongoing thing, and let's look at our debt. We are $5 trillion in debt. We spent $5 trillion in 30 years to try to solve the poverty problem.
Said by
Ron Lewis
Kentucky

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the effectiveness of the welfare system and its impact on poverty during a floor speech.

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