Mitt Romney is tripling down on the lies in his attack ads on welfare reform even though scores of independent fact checkers have slammed them as completely false. It’s time to not just debunk, but turn the tables — it’s Romney-Ryan who’d rather keep families trapped in the welfare system than help governors cut through the red tape to move people into real jobs.
The number of people Obama let out of work requirements: Zero.
The number of people Romney is lying to about it: Millions.
We need leaders with honor, not politicians who play on our fears to gain power. Obama’s welfare reform policy gives governors more flexibility to cut through the red tape and move people into real jobs — but only if they move MORE people into jobs.
It’s just like the flexibility Romney sought as governor of Massachusetts. Does Romney really prefer red tape over real jobs? Nope. He’s just lying to gain political power.
If Romney’s really concerned about work requirements, his running mate Congressman Paul Ryan actually voted for a bill that would let governors gut them. Romney isn’t just lying about Obama. He’s demonizing struggling families and exploiting our economic fears to divide us against each other.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- In July, the Obama Administration announced that it would consider governors’ requests for more flexibility administering work requirements for families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program — a policy improvement that would mean at least 20% more people moving into real jobs in the waiver states.
- The Administration’s policy improvement was requested by both Democratic and Republican governors, and no waivers have yet been issued.
- As Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, along with 28 other Republican governors, sought similar TANF waivers so they’d have more flexibility to meet the welfare reform law’s requirements — waivers more expansive than those that would be issued by the Administration.
- In fact, if Romney is concerned about who would seek to gut welfare reform’s work requirements, his running mate Congressman Paul Ryan voted for a sweeping proposal to give governors "super waiver" authority over TANF, as well as a broad range of other programs.
- When he was Massachusetts Governor, Romney’s Car Ownership Program gave out free auto insurance, car registration, inspections and AAA memberships to families trying to move from TANF to work.
- The Romney-Ryan budget would gut programs and work supports that families need to find and keep real jobs, like child care and job training, and cut 4 million jobs in the next two years alone.
