Posted on 01/25/2014 4:21:37 PM PST by markomalley
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) criticized liberals Saturday for seeking to expand programs he said have adversely affected the poor, laying out reforms he said will reverse the course of the country’s 50-year effort to lift people out of poverty.
“For all its professed concern about families in need, Washington is more concerned with protecting the status quo than with pursuing what actually works,” Ryan wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
“For years, politicians have pointed to the money they’ve spent or the programs they’ve created,” he continued. “But despite trillions of dollars in spending, 47 million Americans still live in poverty today. And the reason is simple: Poverty isn’t just a form of deprivation; it’s a form of isolation. Crime, drugs and broken families are dragging down millions of Americans. On every measure from education levels to marriage rates, poor families are drifting further away from the middle class.” Ryan proposed collapsing various welfare programs into a universal credit that tapers off, giving parents more means to educate their children, and job training programs that match employers with those seeking employment.
Ryan said the policies currently coming out of Washington are only “deepening the divide” between the wealthy and the poor.
“Over the past 50 years, the federal government has created different programs to fix different problems, so there’s little or no coordination among them,” he said. “And because these programs are means-tested—meaning that families become ineligible for them as they earn more—poor families effectively face very high marginal tax rates, in some cases over 80%. So the government actually discourages them from getting ahead.”
Sens. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Mike Lee have also recently pushed new anti-poverty platforms. Republicans are seeking to reclaim high-ground on the issue from Democrats who have framed the GOP as the party of the wealthy.
Democrats are committed to making economic fairness a top issue heading into the 2014 midterm elections.
“Poverty isn't a rare disease from which the rest of us are immune,” Ryan continued. “It's the worst strain of a widespread scourge: economic insecurity. That's why concern for the poor isn't a policy niche; it goes to the heart of the American experiment. What the poor really need is to be reintegrated into our communities. But Washington is walling them up in a massive quarantine.”
Earlier this month, President Obama marked the 50th anniversary of former President Lyndon Baines Johnson's "war on poverty" address by arguing government programs on education, healthcare and jobs have had a positive impact on the nation.
Obama credited programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Earned Income Tax Credit with lifting millions of people from poverty and preventing millions more from experiencing economic distress.
The president also pledged to “redouble” efforts to strengthen the social safety net through an expansion of entitlement programs, government initiatives and raising the minimum wage.
Hard work in an environment that allows private enterprise to thrive is the only answer to poverty.
Handouts guarantee one will remain in poverty.
Anything about serious regulatory cuts and street level tax cuts?
Anything that doesn’t free the people to built, earn, and create wealth is nothing but talk.
Ryan is back to conning Conservatives again.
You get more of what you focus on. Leftism/liberalim/progressivism is a total obsession with darkness and negativity. That is who they are. They are totally focused on pverty, lack, hardship and misfortune. Hence all of their programs and policies are guaranteed to produce even greater experience and awarenss of ppverty, lack, misfortune and hardsgip.
What is needed is an attitude of gratitude and appreciation. That positvie attitude is the key to prosperity and success. Both on the individual level and on the grander scale. Policy that comes from the positive, that people are able and have what it takes, produces a prosperous and successful society and economy.
Leftism is negativity and darkness. And it can only reproduce a world after its own kind.
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Paul Ryan.... who is he?
We could certainly use some positivity on the right. That was one of Reagan’s talents. He inspired people to want better for themselves and everyone else.
There is no government solution for this.
Send the GOP cyanide pills, they might wish they had them come election day.
Invest in lead and save your pennies.
Will trade Mechanical work for food etc..
I hate Republicans, I really do. They accept the Left's premise and propose a slightly less socialist version of what the Dems are/did, rather than just speaking the truth and proposing a simple Point A-Point B solution. Just so the NY Times won't call them meanies.
Just cut taxes, reduce the size of government, and let the free market work it's magic. That's all there is to it. The market will match prospective employees to the jobs that meet their skills level. Not more endless federal job training programs.
Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment and disability benefits should be all block-granted to the states. Let the states handle poverty, and use the tax code to increase the tax credit for charitable giving.
Republicans are completely clueless. This is precisely why I'm not voting this year or donating to Republicans.
A much larger manufacturing base is needed—manufacturing on U.S. soil, and not only U.S.-”based.” Short of that, nothing will work. Try repealing zoning regulations against small manufacturing shops in all of the rural local governments. Or outlaw them nationally.
Congressman Ryan: Anyone with an IQ over 100 who advocates legalizing millions of illegal immigrants at a time of staggering unemployment among legals care little about preventing or relieving poverty.
On the contrary, he is ensuring it for millions.
You have lost my trust, Sir — irrevocably.
“Democrats are committed to making economic fairness a top issue heading into the 2014 midterm elections.”
“Economic fairness” = scorched earth socialism.
Paul Ryan has a poverty agenda alright:
He will amnesty millions of invaders and give them citizenship, they will bring in millions of their family members, and they will vote in Rats who will confiscate the earnings of anyone who has studied hard and worked hard and been successful.
The plan is to make us all poor. Go away Ryan!
This jerk is a judge Roberts wannabe - a REAL surrender monkey.
There is only one answer to poverty, work. We need to revise our tax code and repeal anti business laws and regulations. When the economy is vibrant people can leave welfare and go to work. And have a bright future. It is important that pubbies sell this idea every chance they get. I won’t hold my breath. They should start campaigning on a national retail sales tax and the elimination of the income tax amendment.
We’ve got a “poverty” problem? If that’s true, why the hell do we want to import more of it from Mexico, Central and South America? That’s flippin’ moronic.
Step 1: government, get out of the way of business, so they can grow the economy and create jobs.
Step 2: Obamaphone lady, get off your lazy a** and get a job, and
Step 3: tell your daughters and nieces to keep their legs closed until they're married and can afford the kids they produce.
Step 4: urban thugs/apes, take responsibility for yourselves, your families, and your communities.
Yeah, I know...ain't never going to happen. But that's the plan that would work.
Oh yeah, I forgot the most important part:
Step 5: Pubbies, get some backbone!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
It’s not “antigovernment” it’s “pro responsibility” and “pro common sense”.
Wake me up when Ryan or any of those feckless quislings that call themselves Republicans comes out with a list of the useless govt agencies we need to shutdown and save billions on. Maybe then they won’t have to screw the vets and “close the loopholes” meaning raise taxes on the middle class.
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