Organized labor feared a guaranteed income threatened the minimum wage and argued that it would subsidize sweatshop employers. Southern conservatives saw the guaranteed income as forcing up wages and giving new political power to African-Americans. The welfare bureaucracy opposed FAP out of self-interest and many Democrats hated the idea that Republicans should get credit for a basic reform. Today's political power structure suggests the chance for true welfare reform could succeed. Southern blacks have gained political power, the strongest unions are teacher and service related, and the political right is dominated by religious conservatives.
Northern cities are centers of poverty.
When the President lauds a welfare reform program that forces mothers off welfare rolls he perpetuates the myth that the poor lack the will to work. Studies conducted in progressive states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin indicate that giving poor children health coverage, food stamps, and cash benefits that raise family income above the poverty level, increases employment and keeps families together. When the President lauds a welfare reform program that forces mothers off welfare rolls he perpetuates the myth that the poor lack the will to work. This hyperbole makes it difficult to pass real reform. Both Vice President Gore and Governor Bush have identified education as a top priority in their administrations but they conveniently overlook the relationship between poverty and educational test scores.