Duncan Faircloth: “I said many times, and many times over, that in this welfare debate we have not addressed the root cause of welfare, and…”

“I said many times, and many times over, that in this welfare debate we have not addressed the root cause of welfare, and that is illegitimacy. The root cause of welfare dependency is illegitimacy. Until we address that, we will not have addressed the root cause of welfare. And my belief has only been strengthened by what I have seen during this year of welfare debate. Some of the weaker points in the welfare bill have been strengthened by the conference. The conference report contains a provision for work for welfare recipients, a concept known as pay for performance. If you have ever heard of anything ludicrous, it would be being paid not to perform work. Only in the Federal Government, only in the welfare system could anybody conceive of not having to work to get paid, where that would be an unusual concept that you had to require pay for performance. It is incomprehensible to me that anybody would be paid that did not perform. To truly reform welfare, we have to reverse the current welfare policies which subsidize and promote self-destructive behavior and illegitimacy. These policies are and have destroyed the family. This conference report will serve as a good starting point for changing welfare in a culture that is based entirely on a system of personal responsibility.”