Hard Work = Hard-Earned Money

AP: White House Official Seeks Welfare Changes---

WASHINGTON - The administration's point man on tightening welfare requirements says he senses that Congress is closer to making significant changes to the program than at any time during President Bush's tenure.

"I can almost taste it," said Wade Horn, an assistant secretary within the Health and Human Services Department.

Democratic lawmakers don't believe Horn is correct, but say that if he is, the overhaul will occur without bipartisan support.

Bush has proposed that participants work longer hours to maintain eligibility for cash assistance and other forms of aid. He also wants to raise the bar for states by requiring that a greater percentage of their welfare population find work — or the states risk financial penalties.

Since the original legislation calling for changes in welfare expired in 2002, Congress has approved 11 short-term extensions. A more permanent extension requires reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Sounds good to me. If you want to use our money, you better be willing to work your fingers to the bone, as we, the taxpayers, do.

Under current law, states are supposed to move 50 percent of adults on welfare into jobs or face financial penalties. However, most states have earned enough credit from earlier reductions in their welfare rolls to avoid the penalties, Horn said.

"About 60 percent of persons on welfare in the last month did not do one hour of any activity related to work or becoming employed," Horn said. "This is stunning. It really is stunning."

The House bill would gradually increase the minimum threshold for states so that 70 percent of their welfare participants would have to be in jobs. Failure to meet that rate could mean the loss of some of the $16.6 billion Congress sets aside annually for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants.

The bill also would change work requirements for individuals. Currently, participants must work at least 20 hours weekly and perform an additional 10 hours of work-related activities, such as job training. The measure approved by the House would require 24 hours of work and 16 hours of additional work-related activities.

"When we talk about work, we mean full-time work, not because we want to be mean, but because we want that person and that family to be lifted out poverty," Horn said. "A focus on part-time work doesn't get you there. A focus on full-time work does."

Haven't we the right to expect something back in return for the use of our money, at no benefit to us? If I have to work to support myself, shouldn't welfare recipients? I honestly believe that once a person is off welfare, he or she needs to begin paying it back, just like I have to do for my student loans.

Living is not free, except, apparently, if you are on welfare.