The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform Essay -- Poverty Government Argume

The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o... ...ademic ASAP. Article A83774321. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Frances Fox Piven. ?Without a Safety Net.? Mother Jones. 27.3 (May-June2002):1?4. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A86047838. O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A82106612. ?Off Welfare, Better Off.? National Center for Policy Analysis. October 1,2002. http://www.ncpa.org/iss/wel/2002/pd100102a.html. (March 26, 2003). Rector, Robert E. ?Welfare-Reform Critics Were Wrong.? The Heritage Foundation. March 6, 2003. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed030603.cfm. (March 26, 2003). ?Vanishing Act.? The Progressive 62.5 (May 1998):1-2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A20527623. The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform Essay -- Poverty Government Argume The Pros and Cons of Welfare Reform There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o... ...ademic ASAP. Article A83774321. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Frances Fox Piven. ?Without a Safety Net.? Mother Jones. 27.3 (May-June2002):1?4. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A86047838. O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A82106612. ?Off Welfare, Better Off.? National Center for Policy Analysis. October 1,2002. http://www.ncpa.org/iss/wel/2002/pd100102a.html. (March 26, 2003). Rector, Robert E. ?Welfare-Reform Critics Were Wrong.? The Heritage Foundation. March 6, 2003. http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed030603.cfm. (March 26, 2003). ?Vanishing Act.? The Progressive 62.5 (May 1998):1-2. Online. Information Access Expanded Academic ASAP. Article A20527623.