The presidential campaign was consumed this week by controversy over Ann Romney and stay-at-home moms. Republicans seized on a stray comment by CNN contributor Hilary Rosen, who said Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life.” Romney responded to the Rosen comments in a speech to the National Rifle Association on Friday, saying, "I happen to believe that all moms are working moms.”
But video from earlier this year, aired today on Up w/ Chris Hayes, shows Romney campaigning on the proposition that meaningful welfare reform should require parents with children to get out of the home and into the workforce. Responding to a question at a town hall event in Manchester, New Hampshire on January 4th, Romney described his position on work requirements for welfare recipients as governor of Massachusetts.
“I wanted to increase the work requirement,” Romney said. “I said, for instance, that even if you have a child two years of age, you need to go to work. And people said, ‘Well that's heartless,' and I said ‘No, no, I'm willing to spend more giving daycare to allow those parents to go back to work. It'll cost the state more providing that daycare, but I want the individuals to have the dignity of work.’”
That position has been conservative orthodoxy for years. Republicans have railed against the “culture of dependency” created by welfare programs, campaigning aggressively for policies that would force welfare recipients off the roles and “back into the workforce.”
As Romney himself put it in a speech to the Burlington Business Council during his campaign for Senate in 1994, the purpose of welfare “is to get people back into the workforce, that work is ennobling, and that we will do everything in our power to make sure that people who are on welfare have an opportunity and an obligation to go to work, not after two years but from day one if we could.”
Sal Gentile is a segment producer for "Up w/ Chris Hayes."
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Whoa. It's easy to tell judge other people and tell them what they "should" do.
Mitt's living some Americans' Dream alright; he was born into a wealthy famiy. Most of us don't have that kind of financial security from the get-go.
These poor folks' personal lives and housekeeping are supervised by housing managers (if they're able to get public housing at all); they're now drug-tested in some states, food stamps run out before the end of the month. Any mistake, or perceived mistake, can mean instant homelessness. Try living like that for yourself.
Some officials self-righteously (or politically conveniently)stack more punishment and degradation on top of being poor when poverty in a capitalist society is hugely punishing in its own right. Maybe Mitt's remembering how France helps the poor when he talks about our "safety nets".
We're not talking about a majority of people in the U.S. relying on public housing, food stamps, and medicaid. We're talking about a minority at the low income side of the chart. Our elders, women, and children. These are numbers of people who could easily be helped into more stable lives.
Why are we talking only about women? Where are the burdensome rules for the men who made these children too? Where are the rules for men proven unfit for family life who have abandoned these families? Where is the reality check that reminds us that doing away with contraception and abortion creates more poor families, not more church goers?
We have a ridiculously wealthy minority, and toadying political parties, who are focusing our political attention away from the fact that they bought and created horrendous laws and policies which allowed banks and their casino games to break our shared (and a good part of Europe's) economy. This country's policies create lives of aggravated competition and servitude for everyone but the wealthiest.
Pitting semi-rich people against poor people, men against women, is disgusting anti-social behavior. It's an intended manipulation.
I wasn't born in to a rich family and I am not rich but I am doing OK and living the American Dream and I and my wife worked and sacrificed for years to get this far with the goal of being able to have children we could provide for and give a future to.
Klein, You are an idiot. The majority of welfare cases these days are working already. Keep spinning your assinine points but no one is buying them. All your statistics are cherry picked bull. Your yammering about the nuclear family is nothing more than cover for your mantle of superiority that you wear like a badge of honor to cover your lack of caring and compassion for those that you feel are lower than you. Guess what God don't like ugly.
It's a sad day when a man who provides for his family is thought to wear a "mantle of superiority". It's what my father taught me is expected and there is nothing special about it.
There is something sad and undignified about the fact that you don't have those same expectations.
I see you have nothing to say about the majority of welfare receipients being the working poor. Your mantle of superiority has NOTHING to do with your supporting your family. That is just what people for the most part do. It has more to do with your condescending attitude to people that have made different choices than you. To me that is much more sad and undignified than continuing to live with a man that I no longer cared for and fought with constantly. In your perfectly superior scenario I guess I should have just stayed so my kids wouldnt turn out to be the degenerates that your debunked cherry picked facts claim they would be. Funny, but the FACT that my kids are just fine, in fact great, doesnt support your bogus OPINIONS.
OK klein, it's late and I am about to go to bed so it is time to stop playing with you. The reason you can't cite any facts or links is because what you posted is a DIRECT STEAL from the work of Daniel Amneus, PhD, a Professor of English whose particular emphasis was Shakespearean textural criticism.
Daniel Amneus also wrote a book called "The Garbage Generation" in 1990 and you plagierized that book without even the decency of giving the guy the credit. Course you probably didn't know about this book - you probably just saw a website with these stale old facts and you "went for it". A good rulel of thumb is to ALWAYS CHECK OUT YOUR SOURCES before you parrot them!!!
BTW, that book has been debunked SOOO MANY TIMES, I'm surprised you didn't try to get some propaganda from more current sources!!!
Those statistics are much worse now. Look around dummy. Come to think of it you like most libs on the dole are probably smack in the middle of those stats so you wouldn't recognize the forest for the trees.
Put the statistics up then, LoudMouth. Unless you are all blather. Your first set of bogus BS was quickly debunked as the drivel it is. Try again.
Its been a klein smackdown. Go to bed stupid little troll. Do you guys think he just copies and pastes these rants. It seems like a lot of work just to get smacked down by the smart kids.
Yet my wife and children are happy and self sufficient and you're struggling by yourself because of the failures of liberalism and the welfare state. OK smart kid.
just don't get sick and if you do die quickly or it will all disappear faster than you ever thought.
Such deaths don't account for the rate of poverty, criminality, addiction. Poor single people deciding it's OK to create children is a bigger factor.
"Yet my wife and children are happy and self sufficient..."
And yet you spend ALL Sunday trolling. Anyone else note the sweet stench of mendacity in the air?
Hey Klein guess what...I am a divorced former republican (voted for W, God forgive me) that is raising two kids by myself while working with minimal fiancial and emotional support from their father. My high schooler is a straigh A student that plays baseball, is in JROTC and getting ready to apply to the Naval Academy. My 7th grader is pulling good grades also and plans on going to veternary school. We are all happy and not struggling thanks to my working and receiving food stamps and Blue Chip for my kids. AND GUESS WHAT ELSE...I AN NOT A BIT ASHAMED AND NEITHER ARE MY KIDS. Grow up and get a clue.
I am also not ashamed.
I'm sorry their father abandoned them and did not help you raise them. I'm sorry the democrats never hold accountability and responsibility up as requirements of manhood.
I'm sorry you chose to marry someone who was irresponsible. He was probably a democrat man.
I commend you both for working for incomes to set an example for your children that parents, not the government, should financially support their children.
Assuming facts that I never stated now, huh Klein? I kicked him out. But nice try, keep spinning. Let me guess....your daddy abandoned you at a young age leaving your mother poor and bitter which she took out on you so now you have a need to pin your past on all poor people. And I guess you missed where I said I was receiving government assistance in the form of food stamps.
Oh and Kleiny? My ex husband was and still is a staunch conservative replublican.
After thinking it over and reading all the comments on both sides of this story, I have changed my mind. I now believe that people should not be allowed to have children until they can prove that they have advanced college degrees in disci...plines we can be absolutely positive will never become obsolete or suffer economic hardship requiring layoffs. I also now believe that in addition, people should not be allowed to have children until they prove that they have enough money saved in the bank UPFRONT to do all of the following: pay all costs of treatment, aftercare and living expenses in case of their own or their children's catastrophic illness or disability; fund their retirement completely; pay for raising each child to adulthood; pay for its college education; pay off the mortgage in case of job loss; pay for ongoing care for any elderly parents, grandparents or disabled siblings. These requirements to be binding on every single human being, whether they own their own business or work for someone else, or depend on money from inheritance. The only exception to these requirements would be if you have an ironclad golden parachute in your employment contract that will give you millions if you lose that job. In that case, you may procreate with minimal savings. Any living situation carrying any degree of risk or requiring any degree of luck in order to remain solvent is not acceptable. Stock options will not count, due to the fact that there are no guarantees in business nor in the stock market. Since birth control will soon be illegal and sex is just plain wrong anyway, all babies born female will have their vaginas sewn closed (procedure to be reversed upon furnishing of the proof set forth above) and be hormonally prevented from mentruating. Oh, and just for the sake of fairness, criminal penalties will be introduced for male masturbation. Any banked monies left upon death due to having been lucky, will be split, 50% to the living offspring, and 50% to charity, which will pick up all the slack from the then-defunct safety net and anything my planet-sized brain has been unable to foresee.
Or put simply, the GOP plan for the US.
Lets see the world according to tea bagging republicans, A) if you are a married rich women staying at home to watch your nanny take care of your kids is work B) if you are a single mom on welfare you are a lazy bitch that needs to learn the dignity of work ethics. You got to love the tea bagging hypocrisy, while it is funny on the face underneath it is just mean nasty crappy superiority at play.
Brilliant, Chris! I hope this news story gains as much attention as the comment about Ann Romney did. It really brings to light the truth behind what "Etch a Sketch" Mitt truly believes. Republicans don't care about working moms, moms who decided to stay home with their kids or moms who wish they were able to stay home with their kids. Mitt wants poor moms to know the "dignity of work" -- that's very upsetting. What a blatant contradiction!
Great job, Chris! Thanks for keeping the Republicans honest. It's a tough job, I'm glad you signed up for the task.
Even though I am a conservative thinker...I had been enjoying the show when Chris kept it balanced by his moderating and his guests...but lately there are less and less conservatives on the show. This comparison of Romney's statements was the most disingenuous commentary I have seen on the show to date. Welfare mothers cannot be compared to stay at home mothers who are either supporting themselves or being supported by their spouses.
I am so glad to see the outrage about this story. What we have here is a clash of cultures between people who believe that you should be married and/or financially responsible before you bring a child into this world...and those who give anyone a pass who does not have the morals or the self-control to know this and think it is our responsibility to take care of their children. Keep this attitude at you own peril...it definitely will bring this country down when people do not take responsibility for their own actions.
Would definitely like to see Chris do a follow-up on this with two sides of the issue.
No what we have here is a clash between those who live in the reality of the world the rich created and those who believe someday they will be one of those rich people if they continue to whine about poor people. The wealthy do not have morals as we can see by the wealthy's behaviors displayed by Paris Hilton, the only difference is Hilton didn't pay people to keep her moral transgressions hidden.
After reading all these posts, I suggest the conversation turn to ALL government hand outs and ALL who receive them. The Romney's benefited majorly by the taxpayers bailouts of the companies pension plans that they closed. So, can we not give their family the same conditions that are proposed for the poor that receive government funds. Yes, Ann Romney should work! She should be a model of Government Subsidy like the Romney's propose! Maybe, we should make the conditions that the poor need to go through like resource eligibility be applied to resource eligibility for the tax funds that go to Corporate Bailouts? Lets look at handouts in all aspects...
Thank you, Chris, Thank you. Finally someone is displaying some understanding of where Hillary Rosen was coming from. The responses from the WH and Obama campaign to Rosen's comment on Mitt Romney's limited information source for "women's issues" were as gutless and cowardly as were their craven responses to the fake (doctored) Shirley Sherod videotape. Thanks again, Chris.
Chris should do a show on scapegoating. It's clear from the debate on this website that as people get cynical they look for scapegoats (e.g. single parents). There is a long tradition of cynical people looking for scapegoats, and the recent remarks at the NRA convention are another good example. For the most part Americans reject that kind of stuff.
I have been viewing the comments on this page for nearly an hour and am appalled by some of the things that have been said... Primarily from our local "troll".
Let's get a little background on me and my situation. I have two children and am married to their father. He works full-time making barely over minimum wage (thanks to corporate asses who are trying to "protect" their assets and not giving a DAMN about anyone else). I stay at home and raise our two children on top of managing a household (this includes but is not limited to cooking, cleaning, paying bills - or making sure they are paid on time, making sure that my kids are well taken care of and HAPPY!) It's a full-time job in and of itself. I have no outside help from nannies or chef/cooks etc. I have tried for the past four years to get back into the workforce (which just for records sake, once you leave the workforce for parental leave, it is ALOT harder to get back into). So, yes... My husband and I do rely on SNAP (foodstamps to make sure that our family has food), we do rely on MEDICAID to ensure that our children are healthy). But can you fault us, when the economy is in such @!$%#s.
And as for crime, addiction etc. Both my husband and I come from single family homes. Neither of us do drugs (we support drug testing for state aid, because we live in a neighborhood where drugs and violence is prevalent and people make a living, living off of the state -- We live where we do because we can not AFFORD to live anywhere else), neither of us are offenders, etc., etc.. It takes A LOT more than not having two parents in a household to turn children into "Bad people". Poverty levels being one of THE MOST influential factors. The second most influential factor is what these children are seeing at home. If they are raised with drugs and violence in the home, then they are more likely to become offenders themselves. Because they are raised to believe that those ACTIONS are acceptable.
It is NOT undignified to accept help when you need it. What is UNACCEPTABLE is making a living off of living off the state and taxpayers. (In instances where neither parent is working--family receiving SNAP or foodstamps, there are 4-6 children in the home making it easier to get state aid and just keep pumping out more children, and who are frequent drug addicts/abusers or offenders).
Now, I do think it is wrong to discriminate against single fathers. I, as a child who grew up with a single father, know how hard it was on him to make sure that we had food and a roof over our heads (because he could not recieve state assistance due to being a working aged male citizen). Its is insanely difficult, and I know that he ALWAYS did the best he could to support me, especially when he was too busy working, trying to ensure that he had money to make certain that I had EVERYTHING I needed.
Now, on to our local troll. You sir, are an inconsiderate and inhumane individual. You are only out to protect yourself and you OBVIOUSLY don't give a crap about anyone else. You spurt nonsense propaganda and don't have all, if any, facts to support this. Also, your claim that "poor people should get sterilized before having sex if they can not afford to raise a child" is assinine. Firstly, it costs money for the procedure of sterilization, and therefore if you are poor it is very unlikely that you could even afford to be sterilized without assistance from programs or state funded assistance. Secondly, @!$%# HAPPENS usually when you least expect it (IE - getting pregnant, illness, job lose, death, etc.) So, to your careless and reckless abandon for the feelings and wellbeing of your fellow citizens, you Sir are in the wrong and should take a serious look at your miserly life. Hopefully maybe one day you will meet Dorothy and take a trip too see the wizard, because you are in dire need of a HEART my friend.
Klein1019 are you Incompetent my goodness. Did you ever think of the rich or poor that get raped and have children because of it? Do you really think that it was there choice to have children? Do you think that it was their choice to be raped? Obviously, one can tell you are a wealthy person, so really you couldn't state your piece of mind on this subject anyways because you have no idea. You are clueless! You don't know what it means to struggle. You were probably one of those kids in school that every one really despised because your mommy and daddy bough you everything and you didn't have to do @!$%# for it! You are the most closed minded person that I have ever met ever! You are so ignorant in every way its frightening. To think that there is really people out there like you. How about we rip your "good paying" job away from you because your company decided that they are laying people off and they decided that they didn't want a jack ass like you working for them anymore, so now what? You thought you could financially support your family, so you had the children and guess what now you cant. Wow, you must be undignified now. Wow, you a such a piece of @!$%# now because something happened to you that you couldn't control. Now, lets make the situation even better. Now, your wife left your dumb ass because you lost your job and she was really only with you for the good money you were making and really the whole marriage she was cheating on your worthless ass because you were horrible in bed. Now, you have two children, no wife, no job, heartless, so no female wants you, oh, and now your oldest child comes to find out they have cancer and its going to cost you millions to save their life. Since you have no job you wont be able to pay for this and no longer have health insurance and you cant go get title 19 because remember that's undignified in your eyes. The economy is @!$%# and you cant find a job anywhere, now you haven't paid your mortgage for 3 month, so they are foreclosing on your house......etc etc etc. Exactly, @!$%# happens in life and not all situations are controllable. You can not make a forward approach on this topic and categorize everyone in the same because all stories are different and not everyone feeds off the system like you are trying to say. Sometimes people just need a little help. There are many reasons why people become pregnant and not all of them are because they didn't use protection. Also, you can NEVER EVER EVER be 100% financially prepared for any amounts of children, so that statement is not even worth saying. One can try as much as they want to, but that doesn't mean that they will be prepared. For example, I was 17 when I got pregnant. I graduated at 16 with a 3.7 GPA, moved to Wisconsin to start college to obtain my RN. I was dating someone and we were living together, we used birth control and condoms and one day I got sick with bronchitis and the doctor gave me an antibiotic without ever telling me that it counter acts birth control, so we had sex like usual and used our two forms of birth control and both had failed, so yes, I became pregnant with my beautiful son. The father was great when we first met and had money and then shortly after finding out I was pregnant he started treating me like @!$%# and lost his job and I left him not because of those reasons, but because I am a strong person and will not tolerate being mistreated. I had my son and he has only seen him one time ever my son is now 4. I worked two full-time jobs to support my son and did it all on my own. I worked two full-time jobs and hardly ever saw my son and neither did his father because he was a loser and my son spent most all of his days in daycare with non of his family surrounding him and you know what...... I still didnt make enough money, so I did receive food-stamps and none of my jobs offered health care, so my son did have titile19, so that he could go to the doctor and be taken care of, but I busted my ass off and was still on assistance, but let me guess that is undignified because I shouldn't of chosen to have sex at all or since I grew up in a poor family at the age of 17 should have had my tubes tied. oh wait, you have to be 21 to legally get that done. Do you see how Incompetent are? I hope so!