Checking the Facts on the Obama Administration's Welfare Reform Waivers

Click here to download Robert Rector's  PowerPoint presentation.

On July 12, the Obama Administration issued a directive from the Department of Health and Human Services that undermines the work requirements in the successful 1996 welfare-reform law. That law stipulated clear work standards for the largest cash assistance welfare program. As a result, stagnant welfare rolls experienced unprecedented declines, as millions of families left welfare for jobs.

Under the Obama Administration's new policy, states could receive waivers that would be inconstant with the 1996 law's performance measures. The waiver policy not only undermines the success these standards helped to bring about, but also violates the letter and intent of the reform law.

"Gutting welfare work requirements with the stroke of a pen and without congressional input is simply unacceptable and cannot be allowed to stand," said Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in a statement released July 18. "Neither the Obama Administration nor any administration should have the power to unilaterally change the law as it sees fit."

Join us for a "fact check the fact checkers" event as Senator Hatch details areas in which self-appointed arbiters have gotten their facts wrong. Following the Senator's remarks, our panelists will explore other areas where the "fact checkers" don't have their facts right.