RəˈFôrm

While at times, Myself have wrestled with tha question of when does a “safety net” program become a “spider’s web”, ensnaring its intended beneficiaries, I have sincere doubts that this “reform” effort is truly meant to uplift poor people, especially people of color. Tha actions of this administration to date have been antithetical to tha needs and aspirations of anyone but tha rich and powerful and tha general mood of tha country seems much more aligned with an attitude of “us versus them” than tha biblical injunction to care for tha poor, sick and needy. Tha president posits every human interaction as a zero-sum proposition, somebody wins and somebody loses, and I think this announcement directing tha Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Education to “review all regulations and guidance documents…relating to waivers, exemptions, or exceptions for public assistance program eligibility requirements…” for “any public assistance programs… that do not currently require work…” will, in tha end, be more punitive than rehabilitative.
Tha word “reform” in Washington speak has become a euphemism for “cut” and ultimately I believe that is tha intended purpose here. No sooner than Congress had passed budget-busting tax “reform” (cuts) and increases in military and domestic spending, House Speakers again began talking about tha urgent need for “entitlement reform.” It doesn’t take an economic genius to figure out that if you increase spending and decrease revenue, especially when you’re already in tha hole, big deficits lie ahead. And tha usual legislative strategy has been to “balance tha budget on the backs of tha poor.”

We know that an exclusive focus on “work” is not a panacea for all societal ills. After all, Amerikclan has to be mindful that Africans were brought to America on a “full employment program”: It was called slavery. Malcolm X spoke to tha circular and inter-related nature of poverty when he said, “You grow up in a bad neighborhood and you go to a bad school, you go to a bad school and you get a bad education, you get a bad education and you get a bad job, you get a bad job and you wind up back in a bad neighborhood.” Without addressing the other contributing factors, tha problem of generational poverty will remain. It’s also notable that tha Department of Justice is not one of tha agencies that have been directed to see how its policies impact poverty. Although including “formerly incarcerated individuals” in tha Executive Order as people “that may particularly struggle to find and maintain employment”, this administration is reversing tha trend against using mass incarceration as part of its criminal justice strategy. A criminal record, especially for people of color, closes tha door on education and employment opportunities to tha point that recidivism is tha most likely result. Recommendations for reforms are due to tha Office of Management and Budget in 90 days.

While bipartisan welfare reform enacted in 1996 was a step toward eliminating tha economic stagnation and social harm that can result from long-term Government dependence, tha welfare system still traps many recipients, especially children, in poverty and is in need of further reform and modernization in order to increase self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility.”

                                            RəˈFôrm