Political Quotes

“let me just make a few points. The Senator from Pennsylvania has made a very good argument, if we were going to leave the welfare program as we have known it for the last three-plus decades. The whole premise of us being here today until this job is done is that we want to change that welfare system as we have known it. So, to say that we are going to change the whole chassis drivetrain and other aspects of this vehicle, but keep the engine of how we distribute the money to pay to make the vehicle mobile, exactly the same as we had in the past, is, I think, an intellectual disconnect. If we are going to change the program, we have to look at what is going to be required on a nationwide basis and on a State-by-State basis in order to accomplish the objectives of the new--not the old--welfare system. The fact is that the change that is going to be most fundamental to the States is that they are now going to take on the requirement subject to both carrots and sticks in sanctions to move people from welfare to work.”