•  Campaign Ads « Romney for President, Inc./Republican National Committee
  

[Music] Male Announcer: In 1996 President Clinton and a bipartisan Congress helped end welfare as we know it.

         TEXT: 1996 Welfare Reform: ‘Unprecedented Success’

By requiring work for welfare.

        TEXT: Clinton’s Plan: Requiring Work For Welfare

But on July 12th, President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements.

        TEXT: Obama Guts Welfare Reform
        TEXT: Obama Drops Work Requirements

Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check.

        TEXT: Obama’s Plan: You Wouldn’t Have To Work
        TEXT: Obama’s Plan: Wouldn’t Have To Train For A Job
        TEXT: They Just Send You Your Welfare Check

And welfare to work goes back to being plain old welfare.

       TEXT: Welfare To Work
                  ... Welfare
       TEXT: Romney's Plan: Work For Welfare

Mitt Romney will restore the work requirement because it works.

Romney (voiceover): I’m Mitt Romney and I approve this message.

---

Notes: This is a new argument from the Romney campaign.  Broadly it aims to contrast President Obama and the still-popular former President Clinton on the hot button issue of welfare reform. The release of the ad signalled the start of a multi-day barrage from the Romney campaign (+). 

The documentation accompanying the ad cites: Information Memorandum, “Guidance Concerning Waiver And Expenditure Authority Under Section 1115,” Department Of Health And Human Services, 7/12/12

Specifically, the release highlights two passages from the memorandum:

“While the TANF work participation requirements are contained in section 407, section 402(a)(1)(A)(iii) requires that the state plan ‘[e]nsure that parents and caretakers receiving assistance under the program engage in work activities in accordance with section 407.’  Thus, HHS has authority to waive compliance with this 402 requirement and authorize a state to test approaches and methods other than those set forth in section 407, including definitions of work activities and engagement, specified limitations, verification procedures, and the calculation of participation rates.”

“The following are examples of projects that states may want to consider – these are illustrative only: Projects that improve coordination with other components of the workforce investment system, including programs operated under the Workforce Investment Act, or to test an innovative approach to use performance-based contracts and management in order to improve employment outcomes; Projects that demonstrate attainment of superior employment outcomes if a state is held accountable for negotiated employment outcomes in lieu of participation rate requirements; Projects under which a state would count individuals in TANF-subsidized jobs but no longer receiving TANF assistance toward participation rates for a specified period of time in conjunction with an evaluation of the effectiveness of a subsidized jobs strategy; Projects that improve collaboration with the workforce and/or post-secondary education systems to test multi-year career pathways models for TANF recipients that combine learning and work; Projects that demonstrate strategies for more effectively serving individuals with disabilities, along with an alternative approach to measuring participation and outcomes for individuals with disabilities; Projects that test the impact of a comprehensive universal engagement system in lieu of certain participation rate requirements; Projects that test systematically extending the period in which vocational educational training or job search/readiness programs count toward participation rates, either generally or for particular subgroups, such as an extended training period for those pursuing a credential.  The purpose of such a waiver would be to determine through evaluation whether a program that allows for longer periods in certain activities improves employment outcomes.”

>Here is a response from the Aug. 7 press briefing by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney:

MR. CARNEY:  From a policy standpoint, let me say that this advertisement is categorically false and it is blatantly dishonest.  This administration’s policy will strengthen the program by giving states the opportunity to employ more effective ways to help people get off welfare and into a job.  Under this policy, governors must commit that their proposals will move at least 20 percent more people -- more people -- from welfare to work.  And as we have made very clear under our policy, any request from any state that undercuts the work requirement in welfare reform will be rejected.

Now, the ad is particularly outrageous as Governor Romney himself, with 28 other Republican governors, supported policies that would have eliminated the time limits in the welfare reform law and allowed people to stay on welfare forever.  Those are not standards the President supports.

It is also worth remembering that this waiver policy that we’re discussing was specifically requested by two Republican governors -- Governor Herbert of Utah and Governor Sandoval of Nevada -- two men, I think you know, who are supporters of Governor Romney.  And I don’t think if you ask them -- and I suggest you do -- that they believe that their interest in these waivers was guided by a desire to undermine work requirements.  Their interest in these waivers was to achieve more flexibility for their states, to innovate and to move more people from work to welfare [welfare to work].  That’s the purpose of this policy.

Copyright © 2012 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.