1 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: Welcome. I'm Gayheart Gains, Chairman of GOPAK. Of all the 2 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: items in the Contract with America, none was more contentious 3 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: than the Republican proposal to reform welfare as we know it. 4 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: For indeed, no single set of government programs has a 5 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: greater direct impact on the physical and emotional well being 6 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: of America's citizens than our welfare system. These programs are 7 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: being revised and rethought at the federal, state and local 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: level on behalf of GOPAK. I am very pleased to 9 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: present Making Welfare Work our latest GOPACK audio tape. This 10 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: tape was recorded at the Welfare That Works Symposium sponsored 11 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: by the Acting Institute of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Acting 12 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: Institute was founded by Father Robert Sirocco. Its primary mission 13 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: is to advance the notion of the moral dimensions of 14 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: liberty and the free market. We are indebted to the 15 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: Acting Institute for allowing us to share this important message 16 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: with you. Our first speaker is the Speaker the Honorable 17 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: Newt Gingriche, General Chairman of GOPAK. In his remarks, he 18 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: will address the general framework of the Republican proposals in 19 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: the Contract with America and beyond what I'd like to 20 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: talk about forstamine or two is something I've been wrestling with. 21 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: I believe. Let me say first to all, I believe 22 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,199 Speaker 1: at a level of practicality, that there are certain principles 23 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: you can articulate now that, to a surprising degree, are 24 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: beginning to be accepted. First, the star which started with 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: away with Charlie Charles Murray's losing ground. The welfare state 26 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: has failed. I noticed in the Washington Post last Friday morning, 27 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: a leading Democratic congress and was quoted as saying, we 28 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: all agree that the welfare states over, We're just arguing 29 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: over its replacement. Well, that is a non trivial transition. 30 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: To agree that the welfare state is over is sort 31 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: of good, And to have it stated even by many Liberals, 32 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: as obvious and therefore no longer debatable, is good. Second, 33 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: I believe that we can probably win a general vote 34 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: that no civilization can survive with twelve year olds having babies, 35 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: with fifteen year olds killing each other, with seventeen year 36 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: olds dying of age, and with eighteen year olds getting 37 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 1: diplomas they can't read. That probably would win almost everywhere. 38 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: You'd get some argument in a few college faculties, but 39 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: not generally speaking. And of course I based an entire 40 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: course which became controversial not over its ideas, which very 41 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: few liberals had encountered, but over various ancillary issues called 42 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: renewing American civilization WOR. I tried to spend twenty hours 43 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 1: outlining the scale of change that the ideas begin to imply, 44 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: and that's what I want to really talk about for 45 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: a few minutes today. It seems to me that you 46 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: could build a pretty good series of questions that begin 47 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: to be a structure of national dialogue. Do you think 48 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: that there's a moral basis to life or do you 49 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: think that we're essentially randomly gathered protoplasm that can, for 50 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: brief moments rationally conclude temporarily situationally ethically appropriate behaviors. Now 51 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: that's a very important distinction, and it's a debate we 52 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: need to have. When the Founding Fathers wrote, and I 53 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: spent over an hour in the course discussing this, which 54 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: I thought the press would pick up on, but they 55 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: were too busy looking for a trivia because I spent 56 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: over an hour discussing the notion that when the Founding 57 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: Fathers wrote, we hold these truths to be self evident, 58 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: that all men are created equal, and they are endowed 59 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: by their creater with certain unamiable rights, among which your life, liberty, 60 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: and the pursuit of happiness that you ought to We 61 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: need to go back and have a debate about first principles. 62 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: Do we believe that when Jefferson wrote creator, he meant creator. 63 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: It's a very important concept because if in fact every 64 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: American comes from God and their power comes from God, 65 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: I don't care whether it is a Catholic God or 66 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: a Lutheran God, or a Baptist God, or a Jewish 67 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: God or a Muslim God. Once you cross the threshold 68 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: and you decide we are spiritual beings and there is 69 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: a Creator, you are now in a different order. Now, 70 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: some liberals, desperately hoping Jefferson didn't mean God, will promptly 71 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: jump up and tell you that he was a deist, 72 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: that he in fact did not know whether or not 73 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: there was a great thing which led the world to 74 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 1: which I would simply suggest before you leave Washington, you 75 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: go down the street to the Jefferson Memorial, where you'll 76 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: find written around the top of it, I have sworn 77 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: upon the order of God almighty, eternal hostility against all 78 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: forms of tyranny over the minds of men. The fact 79 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: that he says the order of God Almighty would imply 80 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: that when he wrote Creator, he actually meant creator and 81 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: not merely great thing. But again, this is a non 82 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: trivial starting point. If we are spiritual beings, defined in 83 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: our power by that which the Creator has given us, 84 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 1: then when you encounter a homeless person outside this hotel, 85 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: you are dealing with a child of God. You are 86 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: not merely dealing with a genetic product of evolution seeking 87 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: temporary hedonistic saw us and therefore worthy of five dollars 88 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: without regard to what they'll do with it. Now, this 89 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: is the key threshold in discussing the whole issue of 90 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:55,239 Speaker 1: poverty and welfare. If in fact it is a fellow 91 00:05:55,279 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: creature of God, your moral obligations are greater, your responsibilities 92 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: are greater, and the fact that you paid at the 93 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: office when the irs withheld the money is irrelevant to 94 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: the relationship. And in fact, if you're not careful how 95 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: you allow the money the Irs took from you at 96 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: the office to be spent, you may actually be hurting 97 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: a fellow creature of God and now suddenly you're in 98 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: a totally different dialogue with a totally different framework, and 99 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: suddenly the inevitable failure of the secular, bureaucratic welfare state 100 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 1: begins to be obvious. By definition, when you design a 101 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: bureaucratic welfare state, and when you have redistribution of money 102 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: as its primary behavior, you are undermining the moral fabric 103 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: of the people to whom you're giving money, and you 104 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: are by definition giving the bureaucrats too many people to nurture, 105 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 1: and you are creating an impersonal, destructive undermining of the poor, 106 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: which over a period of several generations, in fact, makes 107 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: life dramatically worse. And then you have anacostia. You're in 108 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: the national capital of the greatest country in the world, 109 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: and you have citizens in your capital who we have 110 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: abandoned as though they weren't Americans, and we're not endowed 111 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: by God. And one of the things that you'll see 112 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: us talking about in the next few weeks where Jack Campanai, 113 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: working with Marvin Alaski and others, hope to develop a 114 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: dramatic program for the rehabilitation of our national capital. And 115 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: the challenge not just to take over the city government 116 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: so it doesn't go bankrupt. Don't you have a control board. 117 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: But the challenge of saying in Anacostia, we're going to 118 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: establish public safety, We're going to create opportunities for learning. 119 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: We're going to restrengthen the bonds of family and work. 120 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: We're going to renew the sense of citizenship, and we're 121 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: going to create the opportunities for job creation so that 122 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: every citizen of our national capital has the full opportunity 123 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: to pursue happiness, which is inherent in the Declaration Independence, 124 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: and that now I want to very briefly outline just 125 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: three core principles for you to think about about why. 126 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: I think we're at a crossroads and we have not 127 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: yet solved how we get there, although I think we 128 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: have solved largely what has failed and where we need 129 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: to go. There three different things, and they're quite different. 130 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: The first is ideas have to have consequences. I know 131 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: there's a famous book that says ideas have consequence. It's 132 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: not always true. I mean, following the Declaration of Independence, 133 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: Washington had to lead the revolutionary army without the revolutionary army. 134 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: The Dection Independence was just an interesting document by a 135 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: group of people who were hung and would not, in 136 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: fact have gotten very wide distribution. It was Washington's victory. 137 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: And then that magic moment at Monmouth when the officers 138 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: urged him to take control of the army and disperse 139 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: the Congress, which has broken its word and failed to 140 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: meet its responsibilities. And he stood on that Saturday morning 141 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: and said to them, do you truly believe that I 142 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: rebelled against George the Third in order to become George 143 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 1: the First? And it was when Washington voluntarily obeyed the 144 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: implications of his own belief by setting down his sword 145 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: and going back to Mount Vernon that as king George 146 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 1: the third said, if he will do that, he will 147 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: be the greatest man of the century, because he proved 148 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: that the principles of the declaration, not his own ego, 149 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: not his own ambition, but the principles of the declaration matter. 150 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: And so now we're at a similar crossroads to the 151 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: degree that be him. Alfarb is right, and I believe 152 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: she is. The culture matters, and the culture can be affected, 153 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: and that healthy cultures can lead to healthy societies, and 154 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: pathological cultures lead to pathological society. Which doesn't mean you 155 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: need a political answer. You don't a police state or 156 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: a suppression of free speech. In order to have a 157 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: healthy culture, you just need public leadership, not just even 158 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 1: political issue public leadership willing to use a word I 159 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: got coverage for a few weeks ago having read her 160 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:20,559 Speaker 1: essay in USA to day re establishing the concept of shame. 161 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: It is shameful to be a public drunk at three 162 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: in the afternoon, shameful, not victimization, shameful, and we should 163 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: set as a standard don't be a public drunk at 164 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: three in the afternoon. Now that in some communities is radical, 165 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: judgmental willing to impose in others, to which my answer 166 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 1: is yes. That is how a healthy culture operates, whereas 167 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: a sick culture honors public drunks at three in the 168 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: afternoon and is surprised at nine year olds learn how 169 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: to grow up and be dissolute and fail to work. 170 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: So the first question is if we truly will leave 171 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: the values that be describes for culture, the values that 172 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: Marvin will ask you describes for how to help the poor. 173 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: If we go down and put together what is beginning 174 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,559 Speaker 1: to be a pretty coherent doctrine for replacing the culture 175 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: of poverty, drug addiction, and violence with the culture of prosperity, safety, 176 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: and health. Then I think we come to the question, therefore, what, 177 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: And my answer is, then you restructure. Whether it's at 178 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: the city level in Indianapolis, or at the state level 179 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: in Michigan, or at the federal leve in Washington, you 180 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: actually rewrite the laws to favor the values you claim. 181 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: And the simplest example, which we'll do this summer, is 182 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: you eliminate the marriage penalty and the earned income tax credit. 183 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: If a person earning eleven thousand dollars today marries a 184 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: person earning eleven thousand dollars today, they lose, by the 185 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: act of marriage, two thousand, seven hundred dollars in their 186 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,680 Speaker 1: tax credit. A society which punishes you for being married 187 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: is a society begging to destroy itself. And so we 188 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: simply go through the laws, and we follow the right principles, 189 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: and we begin to re establish the right behaviors. But 190 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: we also publicly affirm over and over the difference between 191 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: right and wrong, which, of course, in itself is a 192 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: radical statement because it implies there is right and wrong, 193 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: and there is The second problem we have is our opponents. 194 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: And here I could not have said this to you 195 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: if I had not been through the school lunch fight, 196 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: which my good friend John Engler joined me in. Our 197 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 1: opponents love bureaucrats enough that they will exploit and frighten 198 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: children in order to defend their bureaucracy. Let me be 199 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: very clear with this, I think the school lunch pro 200 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: fight was one of the most horrendously disgusting examples of 201 00:12:54,720 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: demagoguery in defense. What you had were a group of 202 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: reactionary politicians and reactionary reporters colluding to deliberately misinform the 203 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: people in the United States. Maybe very clear for those 204 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: of you who never quite got the message. Since we're 205 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:22,199 Speaker 1: here face to face, the House Republican nutrition in school 206 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: lunch reforms increased plus more, up higher, increased by four 207 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: and a half percent a year for five years, the 208 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: amount of money we allocate for those programs. We eliminated 209 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: one group, Washington bureaucrats. The result was reports which began 210 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: the House Republicans today killed the school lunch program. Then 211 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: you had reporters who went out to a local school 212 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: and said to the six year old, do you think 213 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: you'll be hungry if the Republicans killed the school lunch program? 214 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 1: I mean, I was in New York last Friday, and 215 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: I had a woman come up to me who said, 216 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: her granddaughter said, are you really going to see that 217 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: man who's going to take away my programs? Eight year 218 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: old granddaughter? And she said, where did you learn that? 219 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: She said, her teacher told her. Now, what was a 220 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: fight over bureaucratic power became the willful exploitation by liberal 221 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: Democrats and the willful exploitation by reporters of children who 222 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: were frightened with factually false stories to create the right 223 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: emotional reaction. So the second thing we have to recognize 224 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: is that our opponents, who favor the secular welfare state 225 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: and redistributionist economics will stoop to anything to block our 226 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: getting them. But there's a third problem, which I found 227 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: fascinating is encountered, and that is that most reporters are frankly, 228 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: not particular opponents. They just don't know very much. When 229 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: I made my comments about shame and building on bees 230 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: article in USA today, we want him out immediately to 231 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: a press conference, and one reporter said to me, are 232 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: you recommending that we go back to brandening people with 233 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: the letter A? And I thought to myself, how limited 234 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: does your understanding of culture have to be to suggest 235 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: that the idea of having a culture must imply brandening somebody. 236 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: And yet I think it was not said negatively. It 237 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: was said literally out of an incomprehension. What could what 238 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: could the Speaker of the House be describing when he 239 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: says we should have a culture that re establishes shame, 240 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: That we should have a culture which read, you know, 241 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: which says using drugs is bad, and we will have 242 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: certain sanctions for using drugs. Don't have to put people 243 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: in jail, just say that they shouldn't be on national 244 00:15:52,200 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: TV for a year, you know, boycott shows that are 245 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: committed to pathologies. I mean, these are not inconceivable for 246 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: a healthy, mature adult leadership to decide we'll just lead 247 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: for a while. And so part of our effort has 248 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: to be to reach out and have I think, very 249 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: intensive dialogues such as today, where reporters and editorial writers 250 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: have an opportunity to learn about a whole range of 251 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: things they didn't get in college. But who was Victoria? 252 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: I mean it's very difficult if you describe Victorian England 253 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: and they're not sure who Victoria was. And let me 254 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: just take this one example as I'm obviously only a 255 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: passing student, whereas be is one of the great students 256 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: of that period and is currently studying anywhere in the world. 257 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: But I took several courses on the dramatic change in 258 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: Victoria England's and the argument by some historians that there 259 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: was an entire process of sudden, suddenly the culture getting 260 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: hold of itself. You see interestingly, and I'll close this 261 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: because it's an example of why I'm an optimist. Disraeli 262 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: early in his career was what was called a fun 263 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: I want to make very clear, this is fop. It 264 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: was a reference to the way people dressed and behave, 265 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: and they wore tended to wear a velvet. It was 266 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: very loud colors. Disraeli at one point toured Europe for 267 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: about a year and a half with his mistress and 268 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: her husband, very publicly, very acceptable behavior in the regency period. 269 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: Suddenly King William comes in and it is William who 270 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: begins the change, and then Victoria. William only lasts about 271 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: four years. Victoria arrives as a very young girl, I 272 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: think she's eighteen when she becomes queen, and suddenly people 273 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: begin to realize that around this young delicate eighteen year old. 274 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: There are behaviors that are totally inappropriate. So the things 275 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: which had been acceptable in the regency literally within a 276 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: four year period, ceased to be acceptable. Took Disraeli about 277 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: a decade to live down his own life because people 278 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: suddenly said, well, you used to do those things now. 279 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: The reason I cite this is I believe the baby 280 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: boomers are right at a breaking point, the violence, the 281 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: Hollywood degeneration. I mean, I can't tell you in a 282 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: minor basis how glad I am that for us Gump 283 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: won and that pulp fiction lost. I mean, I've refused 284 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: to go see pulp fiction on the grounds that there's 285 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: a certain level of degeneration that shouldn't be honored with 286 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 1: your cash. It's a very small idea, but I just 287 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: want all of you to think about this notion. We 288 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: have historic proof that when a generation decides it's had enough, 289 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: and a generation is prepared to follow leadership with courage, 290 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: and a generation is prepared to establish cultural standards, not 291 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: governmental standards, cultural standards, the speed of change can be astonishing. 292 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: Are fortunate to have today both in Father Serica and 293 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: the Acting Institute, and the intellectuals you have here today 294 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: and the political leaders you have people who are committed 295 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: to the idea that enough is enough, and that it's 296 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: time for us to establish a healthy America with a 297 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: healthy future, where every child of every background, in every 298 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: neighborhood has the rights God has given them protected, and 299 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: we have an obligation to help them have the chance 300 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: to pursue happiness just as much as our own children. 301 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: Thank you, good luck, and God blushed. Our next speaker 302 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: is the Governor of Michigan, the Honorable John Angler. In 303 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: his first term, Governor Angler led the effort to end 304 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: Michigan's General Assistants welfare program, and although, as he remarks 305 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: in his speech, his approval numbers dropped to the mid teens, 306 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: he did not waver as Anglerville shantytowns were erected on 307 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: the Capitol lawn in Lansing. He was reelected in nineteen 308 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: ninety four with well over sixty percent of the vote. 309 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: Well before we rediscover welfare solutions to put families and 310 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: mediating institutions into the spotlight, I think we first have 311 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,640 Speaker 1: to change the whole backdrop to the debate, and that 312 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: means getting Washington to give up its power, our money 313 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 1: and return it to the states. Getting Washington out of 314 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,439 Speaker 1: the way is the crucial first step, and last Friday, 315 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: the House took that step in impressive fashion. But it's 316 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: part of a long process, and it is just the 317 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: first step in returning authority and responsibility where they belong 318 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:05,199 Speaker 1: to civil society, to our families, neighborhoods, our churches, and 319 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: charitable organizations. It's start of me summarize my position that's 320 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 1: beginning with this formulation. Welfare is the constitutional responsibility of 321 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: our states, the social responsibility of our communities, and the 322 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: moral responsibility of our families. Our founders never intended welfare 323 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: to be the constitutional responsibility of the federal government. After all, 324 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: America at its founding in still in many ways as 325 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: a nation of immigrants. Almost one hundred percent of the 326 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: immigrants who have come to our shores have been poor, 327 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: and the men who drafted our constitution knew the face 328 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: of poverty. And despite numerous innovations that came out of 329 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:56,439 Speaker 1: the Constitutional Convention seventeen eighty seven, no one called for 330 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: giving the federal government a role in alleviating poverty. And 331 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,439 Speaker 1: yet in the last sixty years, we've moved from what 332 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: started as a social insurance program under FDR to the 333 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: massive giveaway programs of today's government had acted primarily in 334 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: the Johnson administration and the process Uncle Sam has become 335 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: Big Daddy. Now the challenge to breathe life into the 336 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: principle of subsidiarity and we spore responsibility to local level. 337 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: Their first must be this fundamental change in the relationship 338 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 1: between Washington and the States. It's time to reverse the 339 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: course that mighty river power that for the last sixty 340 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,959 Speaker 1: years has been flowing in the wrong direction towards Washington. 341 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 1: It's time to set the river back on the course 342 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: the founders of this nation intended and send more power 343 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: to the States. The challenge that we have at this 344 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 1: conference is to, I guess, explain the term devolution. That's 345 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: what it's called these days. But I think there's an 346 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,360 Speaker 1: easier way. I just call it common sense. An important 347 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 1: step occurred in Williamsburg after last November's elections. Speaker Gang 348 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: Reach accompanied by set up majority leader Dole, came down 349 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: to ask the governors to be their partners in changing 350 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: a broken welfare system. And we accepted the offer and 351 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: our partnership boarfruit that was reflected last Friday's legislation, and 352 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 1: that legislation begins the possibility of deconstructing the federal system 353 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: of welfare, of federal entitlements, and the return of power 354 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: to the states. The virtual Berlin Wall around the welfare 355 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: state is crumbling, and I think no amount of whaling 356 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: or nashing of teeth, or even the arguments speaker mentioned 357 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: can stop it. The opposition's rhetoric has become more shrill 358 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: in direct proportion to their inability to mount a serious 359 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: defense for the status quo. And speaker mentioned the school 360 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: lunch debate. Let me give you my take on that 361 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: from out in the States, because I think this is important, 362 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: and I've tried to encourage members of Congress not to 363 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: lose sight, not to veer off the path, because if 364 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 1: you think about this argument, there'll be no school lunches. 365 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: You know what I find in the coffee shops of 366 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: the main streets of Michigan. Nobody believes that. And you 367 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,959 Speaker 1: know what else, next fall, when schools open and there 368 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: are school lunch programs, what happens to their arguments blowing up? 369 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: And so I think it's nothing at all the fear, 370 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: and I think the President the first lady can have 371 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: lunch every week from now till September what children school, 372 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: and it won't make any difference. The public is too 373 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: smart to be taken in despite what they're watching on television, 374 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 1: despite what they're reading in some newspapers. And I think 375 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: the liberal reaction actually has been somewhat telling, because I 376 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: believe intellectually they must know that reform does not mean 377 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: cruel cuts against the poor tax brates for the rich. 378 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: These mantras serve merely to hide their own cynical motive 379 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: in this debate, which I believes to hoard power and money. 380 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: In Washington. It's about control, It's about power for them. 381 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,479 Speaker 1: The poor are a voting block to be bribed by 382 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: the coinage of class warfare and the dollars of the 383 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: middle class. I think the jig is up because of 384 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: this new Congress, because of what Americans said last November eighth. 385 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: The power, the money, the accountability, the authority are all 386 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: coming back to the States and the foreign block rants. 387 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: And with that the States have an opportunity to be 388 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: what Justice spread its called laboratories of democracy. Fifty separate 389 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: strategies playing out across America. Now, I think these block 390 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 1: rants and this is the important point of I guess 391 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: my remarks today are consistent was subsidiarity because the state 392 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,880 Speaker 1: will finally have a chance to succeed without the heavy 393 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: hand of Washington weighing us down. And once we're freed 394 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,920 Speaker 1: from federal micromanagement, what happens. We're able to find new, 395 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:41,439 Speaker 1: different efficient ways to deliver or to contract services to 396 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: people in need. We get to break the system down. 397 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: Let me give you one example something we're doing in 398 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: Michigan since the end of nineteen ninety one, the State 399 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: of Michigan, after we eliminated our general Assistance program, we 400 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: stop paying benefits to single able bodied child US adults. 401 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: Criticism was that we would have homelessness rampant in Michigan, 402 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,199 Speaker 1: and we said, well, we'll be concerned about that, but 403 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: we knew that state government did not have it within 404 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: its capabilities to deal with that. So what did we do. 405 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: We went to the Salvation Army and their historic mission 406 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 1: over the last century, they know what to do, and 407 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: working with the Army, we've teamed up. They provided something 408 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: like two and a half million nights of lodging and 409 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: in Michigan, you know, call one eight hundred to shelter. 410 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: If you see somebody fellow speaker mentioned too, if you 411 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: see him out on a great somewhere, call one eight 412 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: hundred to shelter. The army gets involved, not the government, 413 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: and that lodging was done at an average cost of 414 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: less than nine dollars a night. Administrative costs were a 415 00:27:51,560 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: fraction some two and a half percent of the entire program. 416 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 1: Some ask, well, what happens of state reform fails? It's 417 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: the point of critics often focus on. Well, I asked 418 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: this question, could the results be any worse than the 419 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 1: last thirty years under the so called Great Society experiments? 420 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: I don't think so, And I think we have to 421 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: remember that freedom is about taking risks. And I am 422 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 1: prepared today to concede that one or two states may 423 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: run their welfare system as poorly as the federal government 424 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: does now. But with this difference, the other forty nine 425 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: states won't be shackled and tied to the same failed system, 426 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: and it won't take three decades to change the system 427 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: for the better. I think everyone understands states are very competitive. 428 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: The mayor and I were talking about the quest for 429 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: jobs between Indiana and Michigan at the border and all 430 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: fifty states want to win the OSCAR for best welfare reform, 431 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: best jobs climate, best school system. But states compete, and 432 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,800 Speaker 1: when states fail to compete, the other political party is 433 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: competing at election time and pointing out to everyone your failures. 434 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: So as a governor, I welcome being held accountable for 435 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: the results of our decisions, for the results welfare reform, 436 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,960 Speaker 1: and let Michigan the other states compete, and I think 437 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: the competition ought to follow this kind of a line. 438 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: Let's take Bill Bennett's Index of Leading Cultural Indicators and 439 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: judge us by the one criterion that counts performance. What's 440 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: happening within the mortality what's happening with out of wedlock births, 441 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: dropout rates, immunization rates. In other words, how well are 442 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: we doing? And I think lay that out free the states, 443 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: and I guarantee the fifty states will be a lot 444 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: more successful and a whole lot more accountable than as 445 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: unelected bureaucrats in our Department of Health and Human Services 446 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: and elsewhere in Washington. Based on Michigan's experience, I think 447 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 1: the state based reform does have a remarkable chance to succeed. 448 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: And it's not just in turning lives around, which is 449 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: the goal we have, but it is also in saving 450 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: dollars too. The real point is turning the lives around, 451 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: and I think that's important the conference that you're having today. 452 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 1: The Conservative agenda in Congress is not to punish poor 453 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: women and children, but it's to give them the strongest 454 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: possible incentives to act responsibly and choose wisely. And we 455 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: hear the talk. The speaker is eloquent on the point 456 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: of compassion, but the debate, the overheated rhetoric in the 457 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: debate in the House of Representatives about who had compassion, 458 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: who compassional I'll tell you who I think lacks compassion. 459 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 1: It's those who defend the current system that discourages women 460 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: from marrying, which doesn't require fathers to take responsibility for 461 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,200 Speaker 1: their children, and which penalizes work. I think that's who 462 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: lacks compassion. Any one of those dist incentives by itself 463 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: is debilitating, but you take them all together, and they've 464 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: been devastating. And our task is to sort out the 465 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: incentives and the dist incentives. And when we got rid 466 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,120 Speaker 1: of this general assistance program, it was a clear signal, 467 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: a clear message. We said that the state would no 468 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: longer give out monthly checks if you were able, body 469 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: childless could work. After we made the announcement to the 470 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: beginning of the year, by the time the program became effective, 471 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: we had dropped from over one hundred thousand nine the 472 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: roles to eighty three thousand. Of course, once it became 473 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: effectively dropped to zero. Because we eliminated the program, we 474 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: saw many of the former recipients went to work. Some 475 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 1: did rely on charities that could minister to them body 476 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: and soul, which is really what many of them probably 477 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: needed all along, since it was a behavioral poverty that 478 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: was keeping them in bondage to government. And one thing 479 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: that was interesting as we went through our program, and 480 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: it related actually to the homeless program with the Army. 481 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 1: We literally had newspaper articles after the fact how people saying, 482 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: I don't like to go to the Salvation Army because 483 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: they have rules there. They objected to the rules that 484 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: they would have to give back where they had a 485 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: night's lodging in a hot meal, get up in the morning, 486 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: that they had to abide by alcohol and drug rules. 487 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: And I think in many ways that the public support 488 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: that our decision to cut general assistance back in nineteen 489 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: ninety one resulted in may have been the first tangible 490 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: sign in America that this country was experiencing a paradigm 491 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,880 Speaker 1: shift as related to welfare. It was interesting last year 492 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: in the election year four Democratic components, not a single 493 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,480 Speaker 1: one called for reinstating the general Assistance program. It was 494 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: a non issue, and two years earlier it was considered 495 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: the only issue in the media. How interesting, how things change. 496 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 1: And that's what again the speakers talking about the success 497 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: that we've had, and you don't even have liberals in 498 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,480 Speaker 1: Michigan defending it anymore. I think they've all moved to Washington. 499 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: Actually they're part of this debate. Jogi Bart I think 500 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,560 Speaker 1: he said it's deja vu all over again down here 501 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,320 Speaker 1: with what we went through in Michigan. One other sign 502 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 1: that the paradigm shift is afoot. In Michigan, welfare is 503 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: no longer a given. It's conditional. I think we need 504 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 1: to end the entitlement status and our policies will help 505 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: you if you need it, but we expect you to 506 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: help yourself. Aid must be a two way street. In 507 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: my first term, I spent a lot of time at 508 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: plant gates, and I met with workers and as I 509 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: talked to. The one thing they told me time and 510 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: again was how unfair it was that they were working 511 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: hard every day, they were getting up and going to work, 512 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: while their neighbor on public assistance wasn't working at all. 513 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: So we reformed our AFDC programs by requiring recipients to 514 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: sign a social contract contract requires some day to work, 515 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,879 Speaker 1: train for work, or serving their communities at least twenty 516 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: hours a week. No more staying at home waiting for 517 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: the next welfare check to arrive in the mail. So 518 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: at Michigan eight is must be and is becoming actually 519 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: a two way street. Because of that social contract, we 520 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: now have one of the strongest work programs in the 521 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: entire country. We have seen fifty five thousand cases closed 522 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: in the last two years because recipients got a job 523 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:50,240 Speaker 1: and are self reliant. And our study that we're required 524 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: to give to HHS because these programs were accomplished through 525 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,399 Speaker 1: waivers show with eight quarters of experience, total savings state 526 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,040 Speaker 1: and federal government is a hundred million dollars, thus blowing 527 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,279 Speaker 1: up the argument that welfare reform is expensive. In in 528 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: order to have welfare reform, we've got to spend a 529 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 1: lot more we don't think that's the case. If it's 530 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: truly reformed, you know how to save money and put 531 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,319 Speaker 1: people back to work. Well, we're not satisfied. We want 532 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 1: even more people working and becoming self reliant. So the 533 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: state government places critical role and the process of devolution. 534 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: And what can we do. I think we can take 535 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:29,959 Speaker 1: sort of hipocratic oath to do no harm to the poor. 536 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 1: State government can put incentives in place and encourage work 537 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: and responsible behavior. It can help forge partnerships and encourage 538 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: civil society to take up more of the load, to 539 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 1: allow them to take up more of the load. I 540 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: think that last point probably the long way, as most 541 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,239 Speaker 1: critical and central to the theme of this conference. It 542 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 1: is not enough for Washington to give money and power 543 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,400 Speaker 1: back to the states. I view that as the first step, 544 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: not the last step. Federal revolution is only a halfway 545 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:00,120 Speaker 1: house to meeting the welfare challenge. And that's because the 546 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 1: welfare challenge is not just a political problem. It is again, 547 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,520 Speaker 1: speaker Gamer has talked about a moral problem, and because 548 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: it's a moral problem, there is very much a limit 549 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: to what government can do. I think thoughtful conservatives have 550 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: understood all along that big government cannot merely wage a 551 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: war on poverty from just inside the Beltway or just 552 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,319 Speaker 1: within our state capitals and expect that we're going to win. 553 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: For much of our nation's history, really until the Depression, 554 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 1: there was welfare, but there wasn't a welfare state. And 555 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:44,879 Speaker 1: the contribution to Marvin a'laski's made isn't describing how an 556 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 1: eaty person would go to family members, to the church, 557 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:53,160 Speaker 1: to the local relief organization they ask for assistance. There 558 00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: was a personal contact, and there were personal consequences. And 559 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,359 Speaker 1: it's only been reason that the whole process has become 560 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:07,719 Speaker 1: more and more centralized and less and less personalized, Welfare 561 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: becoming an entitlement, distant lawmakers and bureaucrats determining who receives 562 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,320 Speaker 1: the aid based on their statistical categories, on their rules 563 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:21,600 Speaker 1: and their regulations. Well, under the existing system, aid is 564 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: a fatal compley with no reciprocal obligations on the part 565 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: of the needy, and the social stigma shame has given 566 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: way to the social service. This conference is about reversing course. 567 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:42,720 Speaker 1: The Republican majority in the Congress is about reversing course. 568 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 1: And today's debate is not just to reform a broken system, 569 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:52,920 Speaker 1: but about reforming what is broken in the human character, 570 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: even in the family and society itself. So in the end, 571 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:05,239 Speaker 1: welfare reform must go way beyond the government and political processes. 572 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,280 Speaker 1: Here's what a director of our welfare department in Ottawa 573 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:14,080 Speaker 1: County said recently, and I'm quoting. Welfare systems can only 574 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 1: treat the symptoms of need. They can give food and money, 575 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 1: but they can never share the living skills and values 576 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:25,919 Speaker 1: required to change lives. That is the role of the church. Well, 577 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,800 Speaker 1: I think that director had it right, and Father Sirico 578 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: has taken a national lead in arguing for churches to 579 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:37,279 Speaker 1: reassert their traditional responsibility towards the poor. I've long been 580 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 1: intrigued by a proposal of first suggested a couple of 581 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 1: decades ago, that our churches reclaim their rightful role in 582 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:49,240 Speaker 1: the welfare system. Imagine if each congregation adopted a welfare 583 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 1: family administered to the family not just with material benefits, 584 00:38:54,160 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: but the psychological, the moral, spiritual counseling. Is what kind 585 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,960 Speaker 1: of a powerful and lasting impact that could have. Why 586 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:08,840 Speaker 1: Michigan Alane, we have some eleven thousand congregations. Now, I 587 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: think it's doable, and I think the acting institute. I 588 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: think this conference is doing all that it can to 589 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 1: bring about that kind of reform, that kind of involvement. 590 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:22,560 Speaker 1: So in summary, I just want to reiterate that we 591 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:24,600 Speaker 1: need first to free the power of the money that 592 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,799 Speaker 1: have been held captive in Washington, not to hold him 593 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: in the capitals and city halls, but ultimately return authority 594 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:37,200 Speaker 1: and responsibility to where it belongs to civil society, our 595 00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 1: families and neighborhoods, our churches and charitable organizations. And only 596 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: when civil society is more actively engaged in the debate 597 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: where we succeed in truly reforming the system, that's the 598 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:56,000 Speaker 1: day when more of our citizens will fare well in 599 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 1: life rather than live life on welfare. Thank you very much. 600 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: Our final speaker is the mayor of Indianapolis, Steve Goldsmith, 601 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:23,040 Speaker 1: one of the nation's leading Republican mayors. He will address 602 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,279 Speaker 1: the reforms needed to prepare a city to receive what 603 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,120 Speaker 1: Washington will be sending them in the next few years. 604 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:33,440 Speaker 1: Let me just make a couple of observations. First, this 605 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,840 Speaker 1: devolution stuff is great if your governor is named Angler, 606 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,640 Speaker 1: but this is pretty risky business because state government is 607 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,160 Speaker 1: a little less worse than federal government and local government 608 00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 1: is a little less worse than state government, but it's 609 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:54,960 Speaker 1: still government, and government's not the answer. So and I 610 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: think that's obviously why many of you are here. And 611 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 1: let me just think out loud about this little bit. 612 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: We're doing our best in Indianapolis to shrink government, and 613 00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: I'm delighted we're thirty eight percent smaller than we were 614 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:13,480 Speaker 1: when I started three years ago. And basically, what we're 615 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,920 Speaker 1: trying to do, as kind of alluded to by the speaker, 616 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:19,840 Speaker 1: is create wealth, not redistribute wealth. In the slave cities 617 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,520 Speaker 1: don't have enough wealth to redistribute. Actually the country doesn't 618 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,400 Speaker 1: have enough money to redistribute. We have to create wealth, 619 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:28,800 Speaker 1: and one of the most significant barriers to wealth creation 620 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,680 Speaker 1: is a welfare system itself. Without going through all the details, 621 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,040 Speaker 1: since we're kind of down to the local level, let 622 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: me give you a couple of anecdotes. First of all, 623 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:39,799 Speaker 1: I was a prosecutor district attorney for twelve years, and 624 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: in the Midwest, prosecutors collect child support, which means every 625 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:47,799 Speaker 1: AFDC mom in my county was my client, all right. 626 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,200 Speaker 1: And my collections went from nine hundred thousand dollars a 627 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,279 Speaker 1: year to thirty eight million dollars a year, and I 628 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,200 Speaker 1: got to know the moms. As a general rule, and 629 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:02,360 Speaker 1: we need to understand is that these moms are essentially 630 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:06,920 Speaker 1: rational people, and if they act according to the incentives 631 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,399 Speaker 1: we give them, they will not work. Work does not pay. 632 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 1: The shortest, easiest example I can give you, and you 633 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,000 Speaker 1: all have your own, but let me just give you 634 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:16,799 Speaker 1: a one or two. I went in to have a 635 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,920 Speaker 1: pair of pants shortened by a Taylor who lives in 636 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,120 Speaker 1: my neighborhood and is Eastern European descent. And I said, 637 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,320 Speaker 1: how's business And he says business is great, and business 638 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:26,880 Speaker 1: is awful, And I said, what do you meet us awful? 639 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: And said I'm working six and a half days a 640 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:30,120 Speaker 1: week and I'm tired. And I said, well, we'll hire 641 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,879 Speaker 1: somedvices came here and walked outside the shop and looked 642 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,359 Speaker 1: in the windows. Little cardboard sign and says seamstresses eight 643 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,480 Speaker 1: dollars an hour. And I said, why can't you hire anybody? So? Well, 644 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:39,080 Speaker 1: I can hire plenty of people. They come in here, 645 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 1: but they will only let me pay them in cash, 646 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,640 Speaker 1: because if I give them a payroll check, they lose income. 647 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:46,360 Speaker 1: Now this is eight dollars an hour, which is about 648 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,040 Speaker 1: a dollar fifty above the starting wage rate at the 649 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,360 Speaker 1: minimum level and the city of Indianapolis. And so essentially 650 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:58,000 Speaker 1: what we're doing is providing very irrational subsidies for folks 651 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 1: not to work. I can't create a market based economy 652 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,440 Speaker 1: when we're taxing our citizens to convince others not to 653 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,560 Speaker 1: follow the very values and rules that we think are best. 654 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:08,080 Speaker 1: I met with a group of my I know, these 655 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,319 Speaker 1: are not probably the top jobs you think. I met 656 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,879 Speaker 1: with all my McDonald's franchisees the other day, so I said, 657 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:16,520 Speaker 1: you know how's business and business is great. Actually, Annapolis 658 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:17,920 Speaker 1: has a very low unemployment, right, And we talked a 659 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,680 Speaker 1: little bit about work to work skills and labor market 660 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:22,920 Speaker 1: and the fact that kids can't fill out the applications 661 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:25,840 Speaker 1: because they can't read. And said, what's your biggest competition 662 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 1: for jobs? All right? I think I thought they'd say 663 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:32,440 Speaker 1: Burger King or Wendy's. The answer, Really, the answer was 664 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:35,880 Speaker 1: the welfare department is our biggest competition for jobs in 665 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: the city of Indianapolis. So as we try to create 666 00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:40,480 Speaker 1: a rational system, I think we need to recognize that, 667 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:42,840 Speaker 1: and we need to get government out of the way now. Secondly, 668 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: and very briefly, because I don't want to talk very long, 669 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:49,759 Speaker 1: my great concern about this devolution activity, which I'm all 670 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,000 Speaker 1: for again, is its government. And let me give you 671 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,840 Speaker 1: a couple of examples. I think the welfare delivery system 672 00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,360 Speaker 1: is every bit as broken as the rule of the 673 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,040 Speaker 1: system itself, and that this our effort to reinvigorate, revitalize, 674 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: and revalue America cannot work inside virtually any welfare system 675 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:13,880 Speaker 1: in the country today because they have the wrong values, 676 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:15,960 Speaker 1: they have the wrong incentives, and their government. And let 677 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,440 Speaker 1: me just give a couple of examples. I hired America 678 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,600 Speaker 1: Works to come in Indianapolis to take people off of 679 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:22,239 Speaker 1: welfare and give them jobs. And I pay them. You 680 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:23,960 Speaker 1: know the story. You pay them if they take the 681 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:25,960 Speaker 1: welfare person and they have a job for six months, 682 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,160 Speaker 1: and I pay America Works half of what the person 683 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:29,839 Speaker 1: would have earned had they been on welfare. And if 684 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: the person doesn't keep the job for six months, I 685 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 1: don't pay them anything. This is my full half hour 686 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:36,799 Speaker 1: speech in seven minutes. You have to listen carefully, all right. 687 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:39,120 Speaker 1: So they were there for a while and I called 688 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:41,279 Speaker 1: them back, and everybody's really upset. When I brought a 689 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,840 Speaker 1: for profit company in to get people off of welfare. 690 00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,160 Speaker 1: Lot kind of capitalism is bad. So there's a lot 691 00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:47,839 Speaker 1: of teeth nashing. And I called them, so I said, 692 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:49,960 Speaker 1: what's the problem. They said, here's the problem. We've got 693 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,640 Speaker 1: a lot of employers who want our employees. And we've 694 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:55,479 Speaker 1: been in business three months and we receive forty five 695 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:59,280 Speaker 1: referrals from the Indiana Welfare Department. Now I've got twenty 696 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:01,920 Speaker 1: thousand people on welfare. I'm the twelfth largest city in 697 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:04,560 Speaker 1: the country. We have twenty thousand people on welfare, and 698 00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,440 Speaker 1: I've got a for profit organization that has people jobs available, 699 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:10,800 Speaker 1: and they have to receive forty five referrals. So I 700 00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:12,600 Speaker 1: went and I started, I'll go work in the welfare 701 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:14,839 Speaker 1: department for a day. I called the state and asked 702 00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,319 Speaker 1: if I could go work in the welfare department. They 703 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,360 Speaker 1: said no, And this is true. So I kind of 704 00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:21,160 Speaker 1: walked in because I figured they couldn't kick me out, 705 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:24,919 Speaker 1: and then I just stood around and worked behind the counter. Right, Well, 706 00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:27,480 Speaker 1: the folks in that system are not bad people, right. 707 00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:29,960 Speaker 1: The government employees in and of themselves aren't bad people. 708 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 1: But as you watch what happens, their job is to 709 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:36,759 Speaker 1: give out checks, It is to check on eligibility, and 710 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,560 Speaker 1: it is to pay people. And the process of referring 711 00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:41,759 Speaker 1: somebody for a job, which they have these kind of 712 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:46,359 Speaker 1: perfunctory sheets, is intrudes on their business of handing out 713 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,880 Speaker 1: a check. And furthermore, there is no reward in the 714 00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:53,320 Speaker 1: public system when they find a job for a recipient, 715 00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:56,239 Speaker 1: no reward at all. So there's no performance based pay 716 00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,640 Speaker 1: for jobs. There's no alignment of the incentives with the values. 717 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:02,520 Speaker 1: The system is fundamentally broken. And I think if we 718 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,360 Speaker 1: assume that we want to reform welfare, not only do 719 00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:08,280 Speaker 1: we have to do the terrific things that the speakers 720 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,719 Speaker 1: talked about in terms of the rules and the devolution 721 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,359 Speaker 1: that the Governor Angler and the Governor Thompson and others 722 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,920 Speaker 1: are doing, we have to break up the bureaucracy, the 723 00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:22,360 Speaker 1: governmental delivery system itself and reduce these activities to neighborhood 724 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:26,239 Speaker 1: based value creating, mediating neighborhood organizations. That's the way to 725 00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:35,759 Speaker 1: create value in our neighborhoods. Three or four other quick 726 00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:39,359 Speaker 1: examples like everywhere, by the way, let's particulate perverse. When 727 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:40,840 Speaker 1: I leave here, I'm gonna go to a HUD and 728 00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:43,520 Speaker 1: Department of Labor. I'm going to argue with them about 729 00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:45,759 Speaker 1: the following issue. I have a couple grants. I'm to 730 00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:47,239 Speaker 1: tell they do a way for the grant system. I'm 731 00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:50,040 Speaker 1: gonna be out there soliciting, but I want to hire 732 00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:53,399 Speaker 1: people on a performance based system. How many jobs they 733 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,160 Speaker 1: find for people? And I can't use federal money if 734 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,759 Speaker 1: I have performance based for profit contracts and we have 735 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,120 Speaker 1: to lobby that through HUD, which is where I go next. 736 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:05,040 Speaker 1: But more to the point, I think that as we 737 00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:08,600 Speaker 1: look at these activities, we're trying to figure out how 738 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:13,880 Speaker 1: to devolve below the city level charter welfare systems. Just 739 00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:15,719 Speaker 1: a lot of us talked at lunch today and all 740 00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:18,080 Speaker 1: of you are involved in the situation of charter schools, 741 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:20,839 Speaker 1: and we're actively involved in charter schools, trying to get 742 00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:23,320 Speaker 1: permission for this legislature, trying to get a church and 743 00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:26,600 Speaker 1: not for profit groups to open up schools. But I 744 00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,600 Speaker 1: think that we should suggest and we're trying to do 745 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:32,440 Speaker 1: this in Indianapolis have a charter welfare department, and we 746 00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,000 Speaker 1: have a center in our city that is run by 747 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:39,160 Speaker 1: a church called the Care Center. They do domestic violence shelter, 748 00:47:39,239 --> 00:47:41,440 Speaker 1: they do food pantry, they do shelter for the homeless, 749 00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:44,719 Speaker 1: they do healthcare, and they do values right there a 750 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,000 Speaker 1: lot better than we are, and we ought to charter 751 00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:51,040 Speaker 1: them to take care of families in that area because 752 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,239 Speaker 1: there's no way government can figure out which people need 753 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:54,719 Speaker 1: to be shoved out the door in which people need 754 00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:57,760 Speaker 1: to be pulled in and helped, and these value creating 755 00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:01,360 Speaker 1: organizations can do that. Now I'm a little frustrated because 756 00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:04,359 Speaker 1: I've been asking for permission to do welfare reform for 757 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:07,640 Speaker 1: seven years, not one year, not two years, seven years. 758 00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:12,640 Speaker 1: I fought with two previous Indiana governors, two previous administrations 759 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:15,360 Speaker 1: in Washington. By the time you come up with something creative, 760 00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:17,640 Speaker 1: you're just tired. So what we need to do is 761 00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:21,319 Speaker 1: completely break up the system and have these charter welfare opportunities. 762 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:25,359 Speaker 1: Bob Woodson's here somewhere. I saw him before. Bob's trying 763 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:29,680 Speaker 1: to help train our neighborhood leaders to deliver services themselves, 764 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:31,960 Speaker 1: to take control of their own streets, to take control 765 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,399 Speaker 1: of the families that are in their neighborhoods. And when 766 00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,360 Speaker 1: we link service providers to churches kind of tell us 767 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:40,879 Speaker 1: little Bob Woodson's stories. I got three more minutes, right. 768 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:43,960 Speaker 1: Bob's got this great story he tells about driving through 769 00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:46,879 Speaker 1: I don't assume it's hypothetical, but perhaps not driving through 770 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:49,640 Speaker 1: a tough neighborhood, having this car break getting out of 771 00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:53,200 Speaker 1: the car. This is you can imagine yourself in the situation. 772 00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:56,800 Speaker 1: Late at night, you start walking and you see six 773 00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:02,680 Speaker 1: really big and strong young male adults start coming towards you. 774 00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:06,040 Speaker 1: And Bob asked the rhetorical question, would you feel more 775 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:11,399 Speaker 1: relieved if you knew that they just left Bible study? Right? Well, 776 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:15,680 Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty helpful example of what our 777 00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:20,040 Speaker 1: issues are, and so we would like to create connection. 778 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,000 Speaker 1: So we are tempting to deliver many of our city 779 00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:27,960 Speaker 1: services through not for profits, neighborhood based and religious based institutions, 780 00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:30,400 Speaker 1: and I think that's the way that we can in 781 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:33,400 Speaker 1: the long run create value. Now, the federal government tends 782 00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:36,000 Speaker 1: to be the arch enemy of this. This is my 783 00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:40,640 Speaker 1: last example. So last summer summer job training money really 784 00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:44,279 Speaker 1: generally doesn't do much good anyway, So we decided we 785 00:49:44,320 --> 00:49:46,239 Speaker 1: would try to change a little bit and deliver our 786 00:49:46,239 --> 00:49:50,200 Speaker 1: summer job training money through neighborhood based mediating institutions, hoping 787 00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:52,680 Speaker 1: that the kids in those neighborhoods would form relationshipships with 788 00:49:52,680 --> 00:49:55,480 Speaker 1: those with those institutions. At the end of the summer, 789 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,600 Speaker 1: I get audited by these kind of federal and state 790 00:49:57,640 --> 00:49:59,760 Speaker 1: police types and they come in and go, you failed, 791 00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:01,560 Speaker 1: get back the money. And I say, what did I 792 00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:03,200 Speaker 1: do wrong? And they said, here's what you did wrong. 793 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,719 Speaker 1: You And this is a voluntary program. Nobody has to 794 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:10,080 Speaker 1: subscribe to religion. They said that you allowed the young 795 00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:14,200 Speaker 1: adults in job training programs to say a prayer before 796 00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:17,560 Speaker 1: they had lunch. We didn't require them. They didn't have 797 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:20,840 Speaker 1: to join a church. We allowed them to say a prayer, 798 00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:23,440 Speaker 1: not even we, just whatever institution they were involved in. 799 00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:27,160 Speaker 1: And so it's a violation of the rules. Well, I'm 800 00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:34,160 Speaker 1: really humbled by, I think, the inability of government to 801 00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:40,879 Speaker 1: produce solutions. Right. I'm a long term prosecutor, and I understand. 802 00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:44,520 Speaker 1: I think that if I had a police officer on 803 00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:48,520 Speaker 1: every corner. The Bill Clinton gave me hundreds of thousands 804 00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:50,560 Speaker 1: of police officers, and I had one on every corner, 805 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:53,719 Speaker 1: if the people in that neighborhood didn't have a belief 806 00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:55,880 Speaker 1: in a supreme being, there are still going to be 807 00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:58,000 Speaker 1: people shot, and they're still going to be cracked, sold, 808 00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:00,200 Speaker 1: or there's still going to be homes broken in too. 809 00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:03,840 Speaker 1: There is no way that I can succeed as government 810 00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:09,759 Speaker 1: without finding a better relationship with organizations, families, and institutions 811 00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,759 Speaker 1: that create value. And just finally, let me say, I 812 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:14,560 Speaker 1: think all of us in the room, in fact, most 813 00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:18,279 Speaker 1: Americans would if you ask them some fundamental questions, we 814 00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:20,839 Speaker 1: have almost a consensus in this country. Should work pay 815 00:51:20,840 --> 00:51:24,440 Speaker 1: more than welfare? Virtually everyone today says yes, it doesn't. 816 00:51:24,920 --> 00:51:28,920 Speaker 1: Should crime not pay? Everyone says sure, crime shouldn't pay. Well, 817 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:33,000 Speaker 1: in most urban communities, crime pays. Crime pays, It pays 818 00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:35,279 Speaker 1: to sell crack, it pays to shoot people as long 819 00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:37,399 Speaker 1: as you don't kill them, and pays the break into 820 00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:39,839 Speaker 1: their homes. If we say, do we believe that there 821 00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,040 Speaker 1: should be a belief in a supreme being? As a 822 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,880 Speaker 1: speaker mentioned, most of us would say yes, Yet we 823 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:50,360 Speaker 1: use our federal dollars to subvert that value. And finally, 824 00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,600 Speaker 1: if we said, do we believe that whenever it's possible 825 00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:55,960 Speaker 1: that children should be borne into a two parent family, 826 00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:58,279 Speaker 1: most of us would say yes, yeah, we use our 827 00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:01,480 Speaker 1: dollars to subvert that I come before you as the 828 00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:05,160 Speaker 1: kind of the lowest level on the run. Today I'm 829 00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,319 Speaker 1: still at too higher level. Even as the lowest guy 830 00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:10,640 Speaker 1: on the ladder, I'm at too high level. And the 831 00:52:10,719 --> 00:52:14,320 Speaker 1: individuals and their families and their religions and their neighborhood 832 00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:18,320 Speaker 1: based organizations are the only way to create sufficient value 833 00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:21,680 Speaker 1: to dramatically reform what has happened in forty years of 834 00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:24,960 Speaker 1: failed federal policy. And I think cities can succeed if 835 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:27,040 Speaker 1: they get back to the fundamentals. Thank you very much. 836 00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:34,200 Speaker 1: Thank you to the University of West Georgia Ingram Library 837 00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:39,000 Speaker 1: Special Collections and specifically the Catherine and Jeff Breedlove Political Collection. 838 00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:42,200 Speaker 1: They provided us with digital copies of the GOPAC tapes. 839 00:52:42,719 --> 00:52:44,920 Speaker 1: You can learn more about the GOPAC tapes on our 840 00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:48,560 Speaker 1: show page at newtsworld dot com. Newts World is produced 841 00:52:48,600 --> 00:52:53,200 Speaker 1: by GWI Street sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is 842 00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:57,000 Speaker 1: guarden Ce Sloan, our producer is Rebecca Howe, and our 843 00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:01,040 Speaker 1: researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show was 844 00:53:01,080 --> 00:53:04,520 Speaker 1: created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at 845 00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:07,960 Speaker 1: GINGWIS Street sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope 846 00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:10,719 Speaker 1: you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with 847 00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,839 Speaker 1: five stars and give us a review so others can 848 00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,919 Speaker 1: learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of newts 849 00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:20,120 Speaker 1: World can sign up from my three free weekly columns 850 00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:24,480 Speaker 1: at gingwistreet sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich, 851 00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:25,759 Speaker 1: and this is Newtsworld