President Barack Obama has equipped states with the necessary resources to move more people from welfare to work, and has mandated that job placement increase by 20 percent. Yet the Romney campaign continues to misinform the public by falsely arguing that the president is weakening welfare-to-work requirements. The president has a long record of ensuring that work is part of welfare reform. As state senator of Illinois, Obama advocated for stronger welfare-to-work requirements, and the president continues that work today with members of both political parties.
The president's flexibility welfare requires states to raise job placement by 20 percent, and will be accepted on a case-by-case basis. The waivers will not be approved if they undermine effective welfare form. The New York Times and The Washington Post investigated Mitt Romney's claims against the flexibility waivers and concluded there is no basis for them.
Providing these waivers as part of a more comprehensive welfare reform plan continues the president's record of ensuring that people can more quickly move from welfare to work, whereas Romney's attacks are inconsistent with his own support of welfare flexibility waivers as governor of Massachusetts.
Joanne Widman,
Bloomville
