2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumA Million People Are About to Lose Food Stamps Because of Kasich-Clinton Welfare Reform
are both running to the left. But because of a quirk of timing, more than 1 million Americans are about to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamp benefits because of a conservative reform bill that both Kasich and Clinton backed two decades ago. From the AP:
More than 1 million low-income residents in 21 states could soon lose their government food stamps if they fail to meet work requirements that began kicking in this month ... The provision applies to able-bodied adults ages 18 through 49 who have no children or other dependents in their home. It requires them to work, volunteer or attend education or job-training courses at least 80 hours a month to receive food aid. If they don't, their benefits are cut off after three months.
The requirement in questionwhich can be waived during times of high unemployment but is kicking in now because waivers given out during the post-2008 recession are expiringwas set by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, aka the "welfare reform" bill. The bill was introduced in Congress by Kasich and signed by Bill Clinton; Hillary Clinton has long described it as a significant achievement. The New York Times reported in 2008 that Clinton had "expressed no misgivings about the 1996 legislation" during an interview in which she said welfare should be "a temporary way station for people who [need] immediate assistance."
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/01/impending_food_stamp_cutoff_was_set_by_kasich_clinton_bill_in_1990s.html
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)her base.
cali
(114,904 posts)But yeah.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)Darb
(2,807 posts)Hillary was First Lady when that happened. Not President.
cali
(114,904 posts)Nope. She lobbied for it.
Darb
(2,807 posts)SHE WAS FIRST LADY. So it basically doesn't mean jack shit.
Nice reach.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)it. So who's being disingenuous??????
Response to KingCharlemagne (Reply #7)
Post removed
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)Darb
(2,807 posts)the disingenuous idea of saying Hillary voted on a bill while First Lady. Which we all know is not only horseshit, it is fucking impossible.
KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)Darb
(2,807 posts)Ain't that right Cali? No run alert on me.
cali
(114,904 posts)Darb
(2,807 posts)That it didn't start with a Republican congress? That it was vetoed twice by Clinton? Yes. I read it. I happen to agree with some of it. Some of it didn't really work out as hoped, even liberal states decreased their welfare rolls after it passed.
This was not Hillary Clinton's bill. It was not Bill Clinton's bill. It was Republican and was vetoed twice. Now I'm no congressional historian, but I bet there was a lot of compromising going on at the time with all sorts of inter-twined issues of the day.
But lets make sure we get this straight, it was disingenuous to make it sound like it was Hillary Clinton who created and passed welfare reform. If not for a Repubic Congress, it doesn't see the light of day.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)Jussayin.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)I dunno. After her about face on "traditional" marriage and single-payer healthcare I think it would be fair to say nothing is definite -- except the impulse to triangulate.
John Poet
(2,510 posts)So did the Republicans.
jham123
(278 posts)I think the King and the OP have a point
dreamnightwind
(4,775 posts)Why, Clinton and Kasich! Can't make this stuff up.
oasis
(49,408 posts)Not an issue in the GE.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)That's our Goldwater Girl
G_j
(40,370 posts)By The Associated Press
Posted Jan. 30, 2016 at 2:40 PM
Updated Jan 30, 2016 at 2:41 PM
RALEIGH Advocates for the poor are concerned about rule changes threatening food stamp benefits for 110,000 people in North Carolina if they don't meet work requirements.
The change in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program affects able-bodied people ages 18 through 49 with no dependents. It requires them to work, volunteer or attend education or job-training at least 80 hours a month to receive food aid. If they don't, their benefits are cut off after three months.
What's problematic about this policy is that it's not a test of one's willingness to work, said Tazra Mitchell, a policy analyst at the left-leaning nonprofit North Carolina Budget and Tax Center. It applies regardless. No matter how hard they're looking for a job, if they don't find one in three months, their food aid is gone.
The requirements date back to a 1996 federal welfare reform law, but they were waived for nearly every state during the recession that began in 2008. North Carolina is among 21 states where the waiver ends this year.
Across the country, an Associated Press analysis shows nearly 1.1 million adults stand to lose their benefits this year if they do not find a way to meet work requirements. The number affected in North Carolina is among the largest, following Florida's 300,000 and Tennessee's 150,000.
The waiver expired in January in 23 North Carolina counties, while the rest will lose the waiver by July 1.