(Community Matters) The statements about President Obama dismantling the work requirement for Welfare are strong and I fear minutely persuasive – even though they are a complete lie. Two Republican governors were among the five who asked for flexibility – granted only under the condition that moving recipients to jobs remains a hard success metric.
Nearly every GOP convention speaker is further spreading the misinformation. As an earlier post noted, the GOP ticket seems to have topped out at less than 50% in the battle ground states with its economic arguments. The Welfare argument appears to be both code for race and an finger on the scale weighing the President’s commitment to accountability as well as his navigation of the economy. I doubt the former has any more play, but the latter is still a tricky assessment for the very few remaining undecided voters in battle ground states.
for background . . . five governors (including the Republican governors of Utah and Nevada) asked for flexibility w/ their welfare rules on alternative ways to achieve the law’s goal of moving recipients from welfare to work. The Administration offered to grant certain flexibilities but reinforced the requirements for a focus on jobs (not just focus but a performance evaluation metric of jobs).
