Federal welfare reform is 10 years old. One of my associates at The Heritage Foundation, Robert Rector, is perhaps the single most important person behind this reform. (We co-edited “Steering the Elephant: How Washington Works.” He is also one of the smartest guys in DC.)
Starting in the early 1990s, his research provided the intellectual groundwork for this major public policy reform. His research was so persuasive that even Bill Clinton was won over and signed the bill to the horror of many of his liberal supporters. (Popular voter support was probably on Clinton’s mind also.) Here is Robert’s recent House testimony documenting the success of the reforms. I urge you to read it or at least review the graphs, they tell a dramatic story. The 1960s War on Poverty created a crisis for the poor and black communities and welfare reform has begun to reverse the trends.
