Question 1
Welfare reform in the 1990s and the eventual passing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 was spawned by new conservative thinking, the New Democrats and mainstream academic thought. What are some examples of these beliefs and how did they influence welfare reform? What aspects of these beliefs led to punitive and morally based reforms? What do you feel were positive aspects of reform? What aspects did not work well?Question 2
After Social Security reforms in 1983, the program had been put on the path of surpluses for the decades by the efforts of President Clinton to use surpluses to shore up the trust fund. President Bush changed this. What actions did he take? What was his motivation? What stopped his plans? What are the current attitudes today by the political parties and the public? How do you think these powers will influence the long term viability of the Social Security system?Answer 1
Welfare reform and the eventual passing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 included areas that addressed illegitimacy and New Democrats embraced academic thinking that dwelled on ways to reduce dependency, particularly those believed to be "trapped" into dependency. Tax credits were expanded and welfare time limited with work requirements. There were many rules and regulations that both made acquiring aid a disincentive and difficult to maintain so that people were discharged from aid programs. There was a cap on family size that was left to the states. It worked in reducing cost most of all. The largest negatives were the children and the fact they did not really address the issue of those who were not skilled or educated enough to get jobs that pay a true living wage to support a family on.Answer 2
President Bush hoped to privatize Social Security. He wanted to benefit the financial sector and there was a lot of propaganda to say that Social Security was not sustainable. He gave the richest American's tax cuts and ballooned deficits in hopes of making the case that Social Security would be restructured. The public and Congress reacted strongly and this did not happen. IRA did become common and are rapidly replaced fixed retirement plans. They are publicly subsidized when considering that they are allowed tax concessions. It remains a politically contentious area, but those in favor seem to be powerful. Democrats are supportive, as well as a significant portion of the population. Republicans remain interested in privatizing and reducing the role of government.