Problems with Success

Imagine a conservative sponsored bill is before Congress. Liberals denounce it as they do most such bills as hurting the poor. Liberal groups claim it will push millions into poverty, it will hurt millions of children, it will make those who are poor even poorer. Liberal think tanks publish “studies” showing 2.6 million people (1.1 million children) will be forced into poverty if the bill is passed. In short the same standard class warfare rhetoric we normally get about how Republican only care about the rich and seek to hurt the poor.

Imagine the bill passes, and after many years the results are clear. Not only were the liberal claims wrong, they were the opposite of reality. Poverty dropped instead of increased. When the law expires and needs to be renewed, do the democrats admit their mistake, and support the bill?

As you might guess this is not a hypothetical. The bill is the Welfare Reform bill. The claims about it are real, as are the results. In fact poverty among Black children, which had climbed from 40 to 45% from 1970s to the mid 1990s fell drastically to 39.8%, a record low as a result of the bill. And these results have continued despite the recession debunking earlier liberal excuses that it was only a result of the strong economy.

Yet despite this success, liberals are putting their agenda ahead of reality and are still trying to block its renewal and/or weaken it key provisions. The bill expired in 2002, and has yet to be renewed.

This is all summed up in the wsj today. “Race to the Top” pg A8. (On the paid site)

https://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108087696840172617,00.html?mod=opinion