Video: Did Porkulus kill welfare reform?
posted at 8:04 am on February 17, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Naked Emperor News did a little research into the claim that the stimulus bill was nothing more than a Trojan horse for the reversal of welfare reform, and appears to have found some truth to the allegation. According to Robert Rector at Heritage, shown speaking in this clip, Porkulus restores the profit motive to states in expanding their welfare rolls, which eliminated the key mechanism of reform established by Congress in the mid-1990s:
NEN accuses Obama of racism in this clip by apparently framing the problem of fighting welfare reform as an America that doesn’t want to help black people. I’m not sure that’s what Obama’s saying here; I think what he’s saying is that activists have to expand the notion of welfare past the old limits and include working-class people in order to gain political strength. Obama did just that during the campaign with his “tax cuts for 95% of the people”, which turned out to be refundables for people with little or no tax liability to begin with.
If Rector is correct and welfare reform accounted for the steep decline in poverty among black children, it will be interesting to see the effect of Obama’s policies on that population in the next few years.
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I’ve been actively investing for years and I’ve never seen such a political market. Obama’s actions regarding the effects on the market, ie, Geithner, the banks, the stimulus, shows either utter contempt or incompetence…you be the judge.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Sherry,
The state governors CAN refuse it, but then the decision is handed over to the state legislatures. I find it impossible to believe that both the governors and legislatures would say no to the money when the other choice is to cut back on expenses that are very popular like medicine and school construction. I cannot stand when people say the the Civil War was fought over state rights, but I am beginning to understand the merits of the argument.
txaggie on February 17, 2009 at 9:44 AM
A good read…
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/02/022861.php
Keemo on February 17, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Populism looks like someone is paying attention. Populism it’s what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is what happens when you elect Amateurs-backlash. Either Obama wants to be everyone’s President, governing from the Center or he doesn’t. I don’t buy Nancy Pelosi as the ONLY Villain she is willing to take his heat, and play the heavy for the Obama administration.
How do I feel about my Government right now, especially after the passage of “Porkus Giganticus” CUT OFF -DISCONNECTED. How many more like me are out in the hinter lands? President Obama- President of Progressives, and who else?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-17/stop-the-democratic-suicide/
Dr Evil on February 17, 2009 at 9:47 AM
The market is closing in on the Nov. lows…S&P under the magic 800 level. I wonder which way it spikes during the Obama bill-signing event?
genso on February 17, 2009 at 9:52 AM
There’s Liberal politicians, and then there’s us…
Subject: Fw: Queen Pelosi’s Jet Fuel Cost
> And they want to talk about Sarah’s dress. Conservatives! Are you out there?
> Madame Pelosi wasn’t happy with the small private jet that comes with the Speaker’s job, no, Madame Pelosi was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat 200 seat jet that could get her back to California without stopping! She is the first Speaker of the House to EVER in the history of our country have a jet of this type to use!
> Many, many legislators walked by and grinned with glee as Joe informed everyone that’s Nancy’s Big Fat Jet costs us, the hard working American tax payers, thousands of gallons of fuel every week. Since she only works 3 days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California, cost to the taxpayers of about $60,000, one way!
> As Joe put it, ‘Unfortunately we have to pay to bring her back on Monday night.’ Cost to us another $60,000. Folks, that is $480,000 per month and that is an annual cost to the taxpayers of $5,760,000. No wonder she complains about the cost of this war, it might cramp her style and she is styling, on my back and yours.
> I think of the military families in this country doing without and this woman, who heads up the most do-nothing Congress in the history of this country, keeps fueling that jet while doing nothing.
> Madame Pelosi wants you and I to conserve our carbon footprint. She wants us to buy smaller cars and Obama wants us to get a bicycle pump and air up our tires.
Keemo on February 17, 2009 at 9:52 AM
There is corruption in Illinois????
Transparency is urban slang for hypocrisy.
Sweeping Blago and Burris under the bus is just killing the cockroaches you see, we need a big purge before we can say we are cleansed.
Of course we can trust the media to shine a light . . . so long as it doesn’t lead to Obama.
Angry Dumbo on February 17, 2009 at 9:54 AM
I’m sure she will be exempt from the coming carbon tax. She will personally. Of course, she will be happy for the taxpayers to pay it for her.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 9:55 AM
I agree, stupid thing to say. It’s early, not enough coffee and I’m in a bad mood. I try to be careful but sometimes it just slips out.
Oldnuke on February 17, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Don’t be hard on yourself :) It wasn’t stupid at all….I was just elaborating a tad.
I seriously think it’s our best avenue for a bloodless solution to this fiasco….but it requires some seriously non-trivial organization.
LimeyGeek on February 17, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Dr Evil on February 17, 2009 at 9:47 AM
Mornin’ Evil: YES! That’s exactly how I feel. I admire my reps for their stand. I admire my Senator(Gregg)for his actions–but though these will speak for me I think, the first are out numbered and the 2nd has to deal with the ‘three’. So, for the time being I am effectively dis-enfranchised. So much for obama’s inclusion policies. It’s a lie like most everything else he says. Hinterlands? Try outer space.
jeanie on February 17, 2009 at 10:01 AM
How much jet fuel will it cost us for Air Force One to fly The One to Denver to sign Porkulus?
OmahaConservative on February 17, 2009 at 10:01 AM
In a totally unrelated story, the market is down 3% in the first half hour….
Vashta.Nerada on February 17, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Not unrelated at all. In fact, the market is the bellwether for the economy and should not be disconnected from any of the issues we currently face.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Dang sarc button is on the fritz again…
Vashta.Nerada on February 17, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Nah, it was pretty stupid. A public forum is no place for discussions along those lines even if they are academic. The very openness and freedom we enjoy imparts serious vulnerabilities to our infrastructure. I would go so far as to say fragility.
Oldnuke on February 17, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Yeah…sorry. I know you to be well-reasoned and well-informed by your posts. It would be nice to have a thread on the market, however.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Agreed… but we have to get the numnuts in CA who keep electing her to get with the program… said with the utmost respect to all the non-numnuts in CA.
redfoxbluestate on February 17, 2009 at 10:20 AM
The Zero sure likes Marine 1 and Air Force 1 doesn’t he. Went to Chicago over the weekend and now off to Denver. Why sign this piece of crap in Denver?
cjs1943 on February 17, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Talking about Obama minions, is it me, or does Tim Geithner remind me of somebody?
Mr. Joe on February 17, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Too funny. For me, its the Clinton-esque hand gestures. I don’t trust anyone who uses a closed hand for emphasis.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 10:33 AM
This bill has put to rest the argument for reparations. It IS reparations! ACORN, for example.
apco on February 17, 2009 at 10:40 AM
“NEN accuses Obama of racism in this clip by apparently framing the problem of fighting welfare reform as an America that doesn’t want to help black people. I’m not sure that’s what Obama’s saying here; I think what he’s saying is that activists have to expand the notion of welfare past the old limits and include working-class people in order to gain political strength.”
May I remind you, Ed, that Obama attended Jeremiah Wright’s “church” for 20 years. Think of that when you consider whether or not he could be a racist.
Facts are stubborn things.
rishika on February 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM
For the life of me, I cant understand how well meaning people choose to trap ignorant blacks into the cycle of welfare dependence and hopelessness.
I can, however, understand how sinister liars would want to trap ignorant backs by feeding them like livestock in order to keep them ignorant and keep them voting for their feed.
President Obama, please explain your motives.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Seems a bit like slavery to me. Vote for me and I will take care of you. You won’t have many opportunities but you won’t worry about food and shelter. Not much different from working in a field for food and shelter, including being difficult to escape the program.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 10:47 AM
So now we know why you can’t read it first, just sign here.
Hijack the health care system, reinstate the welfare state, and more to come.
tarpon on February 17, 2009 at 10:52 AM
I thought civil rights was all about eliminating all the remnants of slavery. I think the black community should be outraged. But instead, too many have their heads buried in the public trough to speak up.
Obama spoke about personal responsibility. Does that mean you must step up and accept the responsibility to elbow your way to the public slop trough?
The black culture is at the bottom of almost every social measurement from education, to income, to unwed mothers, to crime, to drugs, etc, etc, etc, etc. I believe welfare is a big reason for it.
What do you think President Obama. It is the concept of giving someone a check or a kick in the butt. You dont like big pay for CEOs that don’t get it done. Why checks for citizens that don’t get it done.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Not interesting, predictable. We know what’s going to happen.
The interesting thing will be the increased gap between black people of different socio-economic levels and the effect that has on policy and voting patterns. Fulton county GA is mostly black, and mixed between poor, middle class and flat out rich. What happens when welfare spreads like wildfire increasing poverty and Fulton county seeks to soak the middle class and wealthy blacks to further subsidize the poor blacks? Not to long ago white residents of a Northwestern Fulton County contemplated seccession. That obviously would have beena racial firestorm in the state legislature, but it may start to sound like a good idea in a few years.
It is an opportunity for conservatism in the inner city. Uupwardly mobile blacks have little interest in subsidizing people they know had the same opportunity to make it that they did.
Theworldisnotenough on February 17, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Interesting isn’t the word I’d use, Ed. I’d be more inclined to use “goddamn shame”.
BacaDog on February 17, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Thanks for the info. I am waiting to see if Repub governors will voice their concerns over the long-term effects on their budgets. Yes, there are states like CA that have put themselves in positions to have no other alternative but I am curious about the Southeast states. So we’ll wait and see.
sherry on February 17, 2009 at 10:58 AM
First the blacks and then the illegals. Two sub-classes who will provide the votes to keep them in power while they laugh at the process. They have gerrymandered their way into power and intend to keep power in the same way.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Obama has spent plenty of time in Chigago ghettos and at Harvard. He knows the deal. Will he have the courage to step up and do the right thing to sincerely do the right thing to help welfare blacks earn a stake in America, or will he do the same cruel racist policy of accepting the fact that welfare blacks are inferior people that just don’t posess the intellectual juice to play in a fair game.
I want hope and change, not same old cycle of welfare crap.
It is time for some tough love.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Obama starts to resemble Juan Peron more and more every day. Fight for the descamisados. Attack the “oligarchs.” Create a cult of personality and a permanent campaign. Give the lower classes the illusion of power and influence while consolidating your own power.
This is not going to end well. Such regimes never do.
rockmom on February 17, 2009 at 11:06 AM
I debate in my own mind whether God, liking good, steps in, deux ex machina, and rewards the righteous, or whether having given us brains, and abilities, he waits to see what our next moves are. Venezuela shows me a partial answer, as does D-Day. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna must be coaxed and coached by the God Krishna to do his duty and fight for right–even though opposed by his own family. Shiva will be there, but won’t act without Arjuna.
JiangxiDad on February 17, 2009 at 11:07 AM
That’s a very perceptive comment. Unfortunately, I think the answer is clear. He faced the same exact issue in how to make his political rise, and he made his choice. His character doesn’t show him to be the type to have a “road to Damascus” moment. It is a pity, truly, but he could have been the great Black HOPE, but he will be the great black (and everyone else’s) disaster. Of course, he only always looked the part to be the hope. There was never anything about his personal background or actions that should have ever led anyone to believe he could deliver grace.
JiangxiDad on February 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM
It may last in places like Venesuela where people have little to loose and little to gain. In America, our culture does not have a history of being content with tirany. It will not end well here either, but it won’t take nearly as long to come to fruition.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM
I understand that debate. It seems that God helps those who help themselves. We have saved ourselves from the brink many times by taking actions. Those who have suffered perhaps were not willing to make the sacrifice to afford that help.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 11:16 AM
That’s the thing, isn’t. Give them just enough to have something to lose. When someone has nothing to lose, he will either roll over and die or fight.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM
It is beginning to seem inevitable that the answer to that will be made clear.
JiangxiDad on February 17, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Click on the video to open the corresponding YouTube page. And then rate it. (You have to have a YT account.)
Tzetzes on February 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Tim Geithner says: “It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.”
This is rather nerdy and geekish of me, but Geithner does look like Brad Dourif’s Piter De Vries in Dune
Mr. Joe on February 17, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Pro-abortion, weak on marriage, supports expanisve government and handouts, deep in the pockets of the modern eugenicist movement: Planned Parenthood.
Obama’s policies are guaranteed to kill more black people than any President before him, and it will all be hailed as a historic victory.
Not even the overtly racist presidents both before and after the civil war had so much malice for black people that they’d prefer them deaf, blind, dumb, and dependent entirely on the whims of government bureaucrats for their livelihood.
BKennedy on February 17, 2009 at 12:10 PM
When I was in the army,, way back under Reagan I had a buddy (who was black) tell me that the likes of Jesse Jackson and so forth, were like the slaves that ate, worked and slept in the master’s house. He said the slaves in the master’s house did very well as long as the master was happy. And the best way to keep the master happy was to keep the slaves in the fields quiet, submissive and productive. This from a black man, a long lost friend back in my army days.
JellyToast on February 17, 2009 at 12:12 PM
I would have liked to see the elimination of welfare. Now, however, we will see more of it. Getting paid to not work is going to be the new fad.
Libertarian Joseph on February 17, 2009 at 12:16 PM
The power grab continues unabated, next on the agenda will be “comprehensive immigration reform” and tragically we already know the outcome. A call to arms sounds in the distance; like thunder rumbling on a sultry August night, sleep with one eye opened.
dmann on February 17, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Here’s the latest product from the porkulus bill.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd287/loudtalker/shucmers_pork.jpg
cannonball on February 17, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Heck – I am doing the math myself right now. I may be better off for a while not working. I now get unemployment compensation until the end of this year. My husband’s salary is low enough that we now qualify for S-CHIP and the Porkulus has money in it to pay 65% of my health premiums for me and the Mr. if I stay unemployed. We’ll get the max tax cut plus eventual Pell grants for our kids to pay for college. We’ll have to move into a smaller house. We can sell the two cars we have and get a tax credit to buy a new one. But I have done the math and it can work. If I return to work I will have to make a pretty big salary to make up for all those lost benefits and the higher tax rates we will be paying very soon to pay for the Porkulus.
This is all part of the plan by the way. Not only do they want the poorest to get hooked on welfare; they want to destroy the upper middle class.
rockmom on February 17, 2009 at 12:25 PM
We have all seen the signs years ago and yet we did nothing to stop the current social and political takeover. Now the effort to retake our freedoms will be much more difficult and costly and the results much more tenuous.
genso on February 17, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Hey Genso: OT
The Russians and Chinese must read HA. Here’s some news from today saying China will be bailing out Russia in exchange for oil. I think we were discussing this yesterday.
JiangxiDad on February 17, 2009 at 1:21 PM
Let me see if I have the basics of The Messiah’s plan down:
1) Hard Work, Long Hours, Honest Living, 2 Parents = BAD
2) Lazy, Welfare, 10 Kids, No Father / Mother = Good
3) Huge Deficits, Tax Increases, Cuts to Military = HEAVEN!
Do I have this about right?
Mark Garnett on February 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM
The more the Dems give away, the more they reach into my pocket; there’s only so much they can take before my wallet is empty. Pretty soon we’ll all be Porch Sitters.
TN Mom on February 17, 2009 at 2:59 PM
The Clinton welfare “reform” amounted to pushing needy people off the rolls, which seems to be the conservative preference. Many of the stereotypes described in this thread are mind-bogglingly idiotic.
Constantine on February 17, 2009 at 3:09 PM
True welfare reform will come about when the people getting PAID (by my tax dollars) TO DO NOTHING, have to work for their handouts…put them to work mowing yards, cleaning houses, ect. and I betcha they will no longer be needy! The longer the Porch Sitters can expect handouts, the more they will, well, need new rocking chairs for their front porch!
TN Mom on February 17, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Pardonme but did you see the market close today? The words Obama uses are beginning to have an even larger negative impact. The people have now learned in very quick fashion that he stretches the truth, does not keep promises, changes targets and goals (in his speech at the signing of the stimulus he claimed he will “save” or “create” [which is it?] 2.5 million jobs not the original 3.5 – 4 million), keeps seeking even greater celebrity status and moves the masses toward impossible hopes. We better have all our wits about us or in 4 years we will wake up to a nation we can not recognize and additionally there will be unlimited term limits.
Pardonme on February 17, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Sleep with one eye opened and one finger on the safety.
If these traitors attempt to negate the constitution, the sheeple will have no idea the righteous fury and ritgheous might that will be unleashed. Many in the past have died defending the constitution, and it is beginning to look like the smoldering ashes may flame up again.
This time, against an enemy within. Put your money on the constitution. The socialists have no heart in the fight.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 4:40 PM
A flagrant immigration reform bill will be the straw to break the camels back. Any reasoned person with any degree of common sense knows it is the wrong thing to do that will only encourage more illegal immigration.
I might could go for open boarders a hundred years from now, but Latin America is way too far down the social, cultural, and intellectual learning curve to be dumped on the American electorate. We could easily be shoved down the road to Venesuelan socialism if the deck gets stacked with these third world mentality democrap stooges.
The sheeple in New York and San Francisco have no idea how mad the loyal American salt of the earth people will get.
Extremeism in the defense of liberty is no vice.
In the defense of freedom and the constitution it is no vice either.
saiga on February 17, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Yes, but you are not on your own in this. All socialist countries operate under those maxims, and that is why I think that many Americans are stupid – they have been warned by the prior actions of others, yet decided to follow the same path.
OldEnglish on February 17, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Not going to happen.
Americans have had their rebellion and civil war. Times have changed, and so have the people. Obama is aware of this, but will ensure he has no trouble by taking your guns in 2011 latest.
OldEnglish on February 17, 2009 at 5:01 PM
“The Constitution and Bill of Rights are nothing more than a bunch of Government Don’ts. What we need is a new list of Government Do’s.” BHO paraphrase…
Dandapani on February 17, 2009 at 5:12 PM
Interesting that Obama talks about paying a mortgage on welfare. Working people have a hard time getting a mortgage and paying for a house.
I found this Acorn Housing site. Now, public assistance and child support count as regular income with Acorn’s mortgage brokerage. YIKES…bad message. More kids=better house?
http://acornhousing.org/TEXT/homebuying1.php
njpat on February 17, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Very crafty! Get a few hundred thousand into that scam, and then dare anyone to suggest cutting back on benefits which, by default, will become permanent!
You’re screwed!
OldEnglish on February 18, 2009 at 1:04 AM
This joke I received in email recently suggest what will happen – net nothing. It explains how the stimulus works.
===8<—
Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics
professor and says,
“I don’t understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?”
The professor replied, “I don’t have any time to explain it at my
office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my
weekend project, I’ll be glad to explain it to you.” The student agreed.
At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor’s house.
The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool.
They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the
student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said,
“First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water
as you can.” The student did as he was instructed.
The professor then continued, “Follow me over to the shallow end, and
then dump all the water from your bucket into it.” The student was
naturally confused, but did as he was told.
The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times,
and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.
The confused student asked, “Excuse me, but why are we doing this?”
The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the
shallow end much deeper.
The student didn’t think the economics professor was serious, but
figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.
However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end,
the student began to become worried that his economics professor had
gone mad. The student finally replied, “All we’re doing is wasting
valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this
process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before,
so all you’ll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could
have been truly productive action!”
The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile,
“Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill.”
===8<—
Of course, the joke leaves off the ‘taxes’ to the UN, foreign aid, keeping ever more governmental drones impeding people who might really work, and so forth. But it does explain why we can expect a net zip or a drop rather than
any gains.
{^_^}
herself on February 18, 2009 at 4:17 AM
I think we’re simply more likely to see negative effects from this, the Bailout, and all of the money pumped in by the Fed. The money supply has increased by an exponential amount in the last six months, faster than at any point in history. The stimulus bill simply takes money, adds debt, and spends it in a way that will have no economic impact. The marked increase in the money supply may very well lead to massive inflation within the year, thus leading to more layoffs and a stagnant economy (stagflation from the 70s revisited). Now Pelosi is trying to undo all of the Bush tax cuts except a very few (the 10% bracket, for example). Once taxes go up, it will cripple an already badly damaged economy.
This will not end well.
SalAOR on February 18, 2009 at 6:55 AM
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