Recently in the Wall Street Journal, Paul Ryan had a touching, personal story about his changed attitudes on American poverty. Ryan discusses how he came to realize that rhetoric around welfare that reduces people to “makers and takers” is narrow-minded, inaccurate and offensive. It’s an important thing for Ryan, and the GOP, to realize. But … [Read more…]
ThinkProgress writer Igor Volsky seemsgenuinely excited that fewer than 15 out of 92 federal anti-poverty programs are somewhat effective. The results came out of a report commissioned by Representative Paul Ryan to evaluate the effectiveness of government programs put in place to combat the problem. The War on Poverty, 50 Years Later evaluates the at least 92 federal … [Read more…]
Peter Neiger shared a great little piece by Nicholas Kristof in the NYT yesterday, The Compassion Gap. It’s not long and I highly recommend reading the whole thing. Kristof points out a lot of uncomfortable truths, especially uncomfortable for free-marketers. The post is a defense of his previously offered suggestion for more “early-childhood interventions to broaden opportunity in America.” … [Read more…]