Although this "supernation" boasts of the "American dream," where the poor become rich overnight, the typical American citizen does not have a "super" lifestyle. Based on the average income of Americans, "one in every five U.S. nonelderly households are poor, one in four young households are poor, and over half of all households headed be a lone parent are poor." (Packet, pg.1) Though the United States has tried to mimic the welfare systems of that of Europe, the bureaucratic "red tape" and the conflicts that reside between the legislature and executive branches of the government have hindered the progress towards an effective welfare reform policy.

In order to understand the progressions towards refining the wounded welfare system of the United States, one must first know what welfare means.

Even though the world sees that the United States needs to broaden their "safety net" for its citizens, political strife continues to shorten welfare's reach to those who are in need. The most serious cut to arise from the political blood bath to create the Welfare Reform Bill is the limiting of food stamps to three months out of every three years for unemployed adults under the age of fifty who do not care for any siblings. (Atlantic Monthly) Instead of cutting down the cow (the food provided by the government), why not cut the cash cow that many of our legislative and executive officials enjoy having on a regular basis? The news gets better for welfare recipients. There is now a five year cap on welfare aid to all recipients, a cap of $16.4 billion annually for funding, with no new funding for jobs and work training, and the states have been given absolute power of decree to do as they wish with their appointed sums of welfare revenue. Was it not the goal of the welfare system to prevent an uprising in case of economic turmoil and instill peace-of-mind that there would be preventive measures in place in the instance of an unforeseen tragedy? In the case of the new reform bill passed by Congress and the President, welfare will most likely cause upheaval instead of preventing it. If this were

Robert Heilbroner, "Benign Neglect in the United States," in Transaction, October 1970, Vol.7 #12. (Packet)

centers, suitable housing, health/recreational spas, and regulate wage differentials and offering generous social assistance to the jobless, the United States recently passed a bill

1. security against socio-economic deprivation (especially with the current Capitalistic system which families base their entire lifestyle on the outcome of the economy)

Peter Edelmaun, "The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done," Atlantic Monthly, March 1996.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Europe United, Congress President, Bill Gates, Monthly Instead, Professor VonDoepp, Reform Bill, France Netherlands, Atlantic Monthly, Western Europe, United America, welfare system, welfare reform, welfare programs, atlantic monthly, reform bill, welfare reform bill, people square mile, minimum standard, standard living, square mile, welfare programs european, safety net, united kingdom, current welfare system, minimum standard living,
Approximate Word count = 1458
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)