Egocentric Headline of the Day

How's this for a headline in the NY Times:

How We Ended Welfare, Together

By BILL CLINTON

Did you know welfare had ended? Boy, I sure didn't. Thanks, Bill!

Oh, and don't pay any attention to this chart which indicates there are still 2 million families drawing welfare payments as of 2002. I don't think everybody's off the dole just yet.

And I wouldn't pay too much attention to this chart which shows that only 34% of adults receiving welfare payments in 2000 worked. That sort of flies in the face of the NY Times headline, and we know how meticulously they fact check their pieces. I think perhaps the Times decided to give Clinton a 60th birthday present by allowing that headline to go unchallenged.

You can find more on welfare reform and it's successes and failures at the Heritage Foundation.

While the welfare reform bill was undoubtedly successful (some stats here), it's the height of arrogance to claim that welfare has ended and that Bill Clinton, who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to sign the bill, had anything significant to do with it.