Is Paul Ryan one of us?

Leadership: 

Rep. Paul Ryan has stepped forward with a bold plan to reform the welfare system so it's more fair and effective — which is why the Democratic Party will oppose it.

"My thinking is, get rid of these bureaucratic formulas," Ryan said. "Put the emphasis on results."

Makes sense.

By replacing 11 different government welfare programs that don't work with state-based programs that do, the Ryan plan would encourage those on the dole to be more productive.

 Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican, has become one the most passionate critics of our dysfunctional, politically driven welfare system — which means he's a real danger to the liberal politicians who profit from its existence. His new plan, "Expanding Opportunity in America," isn't radical, though it's already being called that by the left-leaning media and Democrats in Congress.
Indeed, his plan is completely commonsensical and premised on one big idea: Take welfare out of the hands of the uncaring, incompetent federal bureaucracy in Washington, and give it back to the states — where things like welfare and education properly belong.
Ryan would do this by giving the money now spent on welfare back to the states in the form of Opportunity Grants. But it's not just money. It's also the flexibility to shape spending and programs to meet local needs.

"My thinking is, get rid of these bureaucratic formulas," Ryan said. "Put the emphasis on results."

Makes sense. By replacing 11 different government welfare programs that don't work with state-based programs that do, the Ryan plan would encourage those on the dole to be more productive.

Key to Ryan's innovative plan is that states and welfare recipients will together shape an individual plan so that welfare doesn't become a way of life.
A recipient might agree, for instance, to apply for a job. Or stay off drugs. Or go to school. The point is, the old "money for nothin'" welfare model would die.
"What do we know about the poor?" Ryan asked earlier this year. "They're less likely to have graduated from high school. They're less likely to work full time. And they're less likely to have gotten married before they had kids."
Yet our current welfare system encourages all these negative behaviors by punishing work.
Even though we've spent over $20 trillion on welfare since the War on Poverty began in 1964, today, in the richest nation on Earth, 47 million people remain poor — about 15% of the population.
Just as bad, nearly half of all Americans get a check from the government. This seems benign, but it's a recipe for growing dependence on government — contrary to our nation's founding principles, which encouraged self-reliance, hard work and individual responsibility.
Our current welfare system is inexcusable. We're wasting people's lives — and making all of us poorer.
It's time to end the cycle of dependency that our system breeds. And Ryan's plan would do just that.
So why are the media already calling Ryan's plan radical, while his so-called progressive congressional colleagues say they won't even consider it?
This is craziness. Our welfare system is, at best, dysfunctional, and, at worst, cruel, trapping millions of Americans in dead-end lives and making them virtual wards of the federal government.
Time for the welfare state as we know it to end. Ryan's plan is a great place to start.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/072514-710489-ryan-welfare-reform-gives-responsibility-back-to-states.htm#ixzz38ai0673A
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