John Thune: “But it started with a principle, and that is that the welfare program ought not to be measured, its success ought not to…”

“But it started with a principle, and that is that the welfare program ought not to be measured, its success ought not to be measured by how many people we get on welfare but how many people we get off. And that is a value. Hard work is a value and personal responsibility. That translates into a public policy which has produced the exact results that we thought it would. I think that is a great tribute to the work that my colleagues did when they got here. Of course, we in 1996 and 1997 and following, we were able to join them and continue down that road. I think, in many respects, if we look at the success in the economy, and there has been a lot of talk about who should get credit for the booming economy. The President says it was his budget. It was his 1993 budget which, of course, included $250 billion in tax increases which I have a hard time thinking have a lot to do with an economic recovery. Since the Republicans took control, since this majority took over in 1995 and we made some of the tough decisions on fiscal policy and getting our fiscal house in order, the markets have recognized that. We look at what the markets have done. But before the election in 1994, the DOW was at about 3800 points; today, it is over 9000.”