This thread is white privilege at its worst. TANF needs reform? How? The program is as toothless as its ever been, having largely failed in its role to protect against economic disasters like the one in 2008. I could see if we were talking about an increase in benefits, but of course we are talking about a scaling back of the program.
This is what frustrates me the most. People who have never even lived at the cusp of poverty (like Romney) are demagoguing this issue, trying to push forward a negative stereotype when the reality of programs like TANF is very different. Romney was given everything by his father, but he's going to judge others who are less fortunate than him?
No actually he 'worked for a living'. A concept many on welfare should try. Are you suggesting that anyone who is not on welfare (and therefore pays the taxes for it) should have no say in how the system is run.
He may have worked for a living, but he was handed a career by the virtue of his Dad's connections and money, which put him in numerous private schools and through Harvard.
I think you are wrong to assume that the majority welfare recipients don't work for a living. Most of them do. However, many work in low-wage jobs without benefits. Many also have criminal records due to police profiling, which makes it harder for them to find a job that pays a living wage. Thus begins a cycle of poverty and reliance on (weak) governmental programs like TANF and Food Stamps.
The majority of welfare recipients did not have the advantage of the informal and formal networks and money that Mr. Romney was PRIVILEGED to have the day he was born.
