ABSTRACT
For all of the partisanship and rancor in politics today, there is very little debate about the central reality of modern society: the welfare state. Welfare programs continue to expand because they tend to be politically sacrosanct, defended by conservatives and liberals alike. Nevertheless, in recent years dissatisfaction has been growing with programs specifically directed at the poor, with a consensus seeming to develop that such programs as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) have "failed". Spending increases on AFDC, Head Start, and Medicaid were far greater than those under Jimmy Carter as well as Ronald Reagan. Despite Democrat Bill Clinton's professed support for welfare reform, during the primaries he denounced the New Jersey reform package, advanced by a black legislator representing the state's poorest district, stating that he would instead spend more money on education and child care.
