Political Quotes

“this Congress is ready to move forward on proposals to change our Nation's welfare system as we know it. It has been a long time coming. For years, I have been pressing the idea that the current welfare system is not working. We have had too many well- meaning but costly and ultimately ineffective social programs--programs that too often promote dependency, not responsibility; complacency, not initiative; make work instead of real work. In my first speeches as a Senator I said it is a scandal that a society with so much work to do is paying able men and women to sit idle--that people on welfare deserve the dignity of a job. For at the core of what we are as people is the dignity of work--the independence and self-respect that come from having a job, doing it well, supporting a family. I am glad to say that we have finally reached a point when almost all of us--Democrat and Republican, people of all races, colors, and economic circumstances--agree: The welfare system is broken. It is not working for those who are trapped in it. And it is not working for those who have to pay for it. The incentives in the current system are wrongheaded. Instead of encouraging families to stay together, it rewards them for splitting apart. Instead of encouraging work, it rewards idleness. A lot of people in Washington--on both sides of the aisle, in the White House, and the Congress--now are talking about how to achieve welfare reform. That is an important development.…”