In new ad, Mitt Romney repeats false attack on Obama's welfare policy

[h=1]In new ad, Mitt Romney repeats false attack on Obama's welfare policy[/h]
The classic Karl Rovian misdirection. They add a guy to the ticket who wants to gut welfare, then accuse Obama of doing it.

Almost immediately after he chose Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney promised a more substantive campaign focused on serious issues. This was the emphasis when he and Ryan talked to Bob Schieffer on 60 Minutes last night — “This is a man who’s also very analytical.” — and it’s what he emphasized on the trail this weekend. On Twitter, Romney senior advisor Eric Fehrnstrom tweeted an apparently crowd-pleasing line from the Republican nominee—“Mr President take your campaign out of the gutter and let’s talk about issues.”Given this, it’s ironic that Romney would begin this week — essentially, the second phase of his campaign — with another dishonest attack on President Obama’s welfare policies.

His latest ad, “Long History,” begins with a quote from then-state senator Barack Obama in 1998, explaining his opposition to the Clinton-era welfare reform bill, “I was not a huge supporter of the federal program that was signed in 1996.” The ad then repeats the charge that Obama has ended welfare’s work requirements, “On July 12th, Obama quietly ended work requirements for welfare. You wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job.”​

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The Fact Check:

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The memo

in question, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, stipulates that states can receive a waiver as long as their programs achieve the same work goals. The hope is that, with space to try new approaches, more recipients can be placed into jobs.​

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You can sway the facts all you want, here's the TRUTH: Obama REMOVED the WORK REQUIREMENT from Federal Welfare and put the CHOICE back to the states. "Gutting" is an adjective and therefore subjective to interpretation. What Obama did was make it so welfare recipients CAN receive Welfare payments WITHOUT trying to find work, so long as their state approves this. Period, end of FACTS!

WHAT HAPPENED: In a July 12 memo and letter to states, HHS officials announced that secretary Kathleen Sebelius will use HHS’s statutory authority to consider state waivers for welfare work requirements.

And here is the EXACT Memo from DHS so you can READ THE TRUTH for yourself: TANF-ACF-IM-2012-03

Romney was for the federal employment waivers before he was against them....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/files/2012/07/rga_letter.pdf

Man, has that wimp of a man stood for anything he hasn't flip flopped on? Anything??? Anything at all?

ShockingToad said:

You can sway the facts all you want, here's the TRUTH:

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Paraphrasing -- I know what I know and that's it.

You're not entitled to your own facts, so I stopped reading.

If you don't like my facts, address them intelligently.

ShockingToad said:

You can sway the facts all you want, here's the TRUTH: Obama REMOVED the WORK REQUIREMENT from Federal Welfare and put the CHOICE back to the states. "Gutting" is an adjective and therefore subjective to interpretation. What Obama did was make it so welfare recipients CAN receive Welfare payments WITHOUT trying to find work, so long as their state approves this. Period, end of FACTS!

WHAT HAPPENED: In a July 12 memo and letter to states, HHS officials announced that secretary Kathleen Sebelius will use HHS’s statutory authority to consider state waivers for welfare work requirements.

And here is the EXACT Memo from DHS so you can READ THE TRUTH for yourself: TANF-ACF-IM-2012-03

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I disagree with you in theory. As the memo states only waivers given will be if the state can persuade the government that the flexibility they receive can be used to increase employment opportunity for those on welfare. I recognize that this does carry the potential for abuse by the federal government and the states that receive the waivers, but if it is applied as stated it would be dishonest to call it gutting work for welfare. Also dishonest is the notion that this will allow people to receive welfare checks for doing absolutely nothing. While that might be the case for a small period of time, again the memo stipulates that a waiver can only be given if it increases employment among those on welfare.

Again, I recognize the potential for abuse from this memo, but unless it actually happens, I do believe that Romney's ad is inaccurate and dishonest.

Anagram said:

Again, I recognize the potential for abuse from this memo, but unless it actually happens, I do believe that Romney's ad is inaccurate and dishonest.

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While I agree nothing has happened yet, the flexibility only came a week ago, states are already sniffing around to see what they can do.

"Nevada, asked to discuss flexibility in imposing those requirements. Perhaps, the state asked, those families hardest to employ could be exempted from the work requirements for six months while officials worked with them to stabilize their households."

"Utah, also led by a Republican governor, asked for relief from some federal reporting requirements, and urged that refugee families be treated differently when seeking welfare benefits because of cultural barriers."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/opinion/mr-romney-hits-bottom-on-welfare.html?_r=2&hp

hazlnut said:

Paraphrasing

If you don't like my facts, address them intelligently.

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See that I posted the exact memorandum from the DHS, I don't know what more intelligence you want.