Robert Ehrlich: “Welfare reform. It is a great day, a great day for America. Substance triumphs over politics: Real work requirements…”

“Welfare reform. It is a great day, a great day for America. Substance triumphs over politics: Real work requirements, real reform of our legal immigration system, real time limits. It really leads into what the gentleman from California [Mr. Radanovich] was talking about just 2 minutes ago: what institutions do when we realize finally that government cannot do everything; that $5 trillion to $6 trillion in debt has made us at this point a permanent debtor nation, and we all know no superpower can live on for very long being a permanent debtor nation. What institutions will take over for government? One is the private sector: jobs, real work, a quid pro quo for the Federal taxpayer. You want hard-earned tax money to live? Fine. It is a legitimate thing for government to do, to provide temporary assistance to folks. No one argues that. It should not be generational, it should not be multigenerational. Look what it has done to the society. What is part of the answer? Work.”