Paul Ryan: Raised Poor, Stay Poor
on Sunday, January 31, 2016House Speaker Paul Ryan @SpeakerRyan Money Quotation saying that since inception, government safety net programs have not helped to elevate the poor or win the war on poverty. Paul Ryan said:
“We’ve been fighting the War on Poverty for 50 years now. And I don’t think you can call it anything but a stalemate. The federal government has spent trillions of dollars. And yet today, if you were raised poor, you’re just as likely to stay poor as you were 50 years ago” — Paul Ryan
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In this quote, Paul Ryan is criticizing the effectiveness of the federal government’s decades-long “War on Poverty” programs in the United States. He notes that over 50 years and trillions of dollars spent, poverty rates remain largely unchanged – that is, those born into poor families are still just as likely to remain poor themselves.
Ryan implies this represents a “stalemate”, suggesting poverty alleviation efforts have stalled despite massive monetary investments.
The overall message of the quote seems to be that Ryan questions whether the government anti-poverty approach has truly made progress or if a different strategy is now warranted given lack of results relative to the resources allocated over many years.