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Jeb Bush Would End Food Stamps in Welfare Overhaul
Friday, January 8, 2016 03:36 PM
By: Todd Beamon
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush wants to overhaul the nation's welfare system by ending the federal food-stamp program and creating "Right to Rise" grants that would give more power to states to develop programs to help low-income residents.
"We have spent trillions of dollars on the 'War on Poverty,' but there are now still more than 46 million Americans living in poverty," the former Florida governor said in outlining his agenda on Friday. "Economic mobility is also far too low.
"Today, over 40 percent of children growing up poor remain poor as adults," Bush continued. "And a weakened economy has only made matters worse: 6.8 million more Americans are living in poverty today than when President [Barack] Obama took office.
"The current broken system not only fails those on welfare, but it actually encourages fraud, misuse and abuse," he said.
Under Bush's proposal, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program would be replaced by the grants.
"These grants will allow states to meet the needs of poor families, in the way that makes most sense in each state," Bush said. "I know that giving states more flexibility will open the door for transformative ideas to eliminate poverty and increase opportunity."
The "Right to Rise" grants are named after a super PAC Bush helped form last year to help his presidential campaign. He is expected to appear Saturday at an anti-poverty forum being held Saturday in South Carolina, The Washington Post reports.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is also expected to participate in the event, the Kemp Forum, named after former Rep. Jack Kemp, the New York Republican who ran for the White House in 1996.
Other elements of Bush's platform call for including work requirements and time limits to "able-bodied adults;" doubling the Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers and expanding the credit to younger people; and requiring the IRS to verify a tax filer's income before they could receive the credit.
Bush also would seek to strengthen families by working with "other political leaders, educators and civic leaders to promote marriage as the most reliable route to family stability and resources.
"States will be encouraged to find ways to promote parenthood and successful marriages," he said. "To further that goal, my plan will promote skill development, family involvement and employment among young men so that they can be better fathers."
Bush also called on refocusing the child-support enforcement system "on its core mission: the collection of child-support payments" because "parents must take responsibility for their children's well-being."
"The nation's welfare programs are hopelessly broken," Bush concluded. "The programs fail to encourage work, hurt families and cost taxpayers billions of dollars in waste and abuse.
"We must do better. My empowerment agenda for the 21st century will end wasteful welfare programs, give power and money back to the states and empower recipients by focusing on work and families.
"We will create a safety net that protects hard-working Americans who fall on hard times, but no longer traps families in perpetual dependence," the former governor said. "A safety net where work pays more than welfare, and power does not rest with Washington D.C."
