Another "welfare reform" plan from Ryan that will be about as effective as his washing clean dishes.
Rep. Paul Ryan, that Republican "wonk" who has a really hard time making his numbers add up in his budgets, is now out with a report in which he's trying to make friends with the "47 percent" by dismantling the social safety net. It's nothing particularly new for Ryan, he's been at
"welfare reform" (i.e., slash domestic social infrastructure spending in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy) for a long time. But now he's doing it by trying to co-opt the "moochers" into the deal by
telling them it's all about making their lives better.
On Monday, Ryan (R-Wis.), the House Budget Committee chairman, published an often stinging 204-page critique of the federal government’s anti-poverty policies, questioning the efficacy of dozens of initiatives and underscoring where Republicans say consolidation or spending reductions are needed. [...]
Ryan said the report is a prelude to the House GOP’s budget, which will be unveiled later this month, and a preemptive rebuttal to the president’s budget, which will be released Tuesday.
Pretty much everything is on Ryan's chopping block: Head Start, Medicaid, food stamps, low-income housing, energy assistance, job training, education, veterans programs—if it helps someone in the "47 percent" it's going to be "reformed." Reformed into nonexistence, if Ryan could have his way. But the programs that Ryan is taking aim at go far beyond just those that focus on the poorest of families. They extend well into the middle class, where education assistance, job retraining, veterans assistance help keep people from sinking into real poverty.
This is the big Republican response to President Obama's push to raise the minimum wage; their response to income inequality. All I can say is good luck in selling that message.