No Devil In Devolution

WASHINGTON, D.C., has demonstrated that it cannot win a war on poverty, despite having spent $5 trillion in the attempt. The best thing Washington could do is get out of the way—quit hoarding money and power so that our states, communities, and private charities can offer genuine help of the sort the poor need to improve their lives.

In recent years, reform-minded governors repeatedly went to Washington and practically begged to be allowed to fix a broken system. Now, with the 104th Congress in session, there are welcome signs that the days of groveling may soon be over. But, as the NR article by Robert Rector exemplifies, some conservatives, especially inside the Beltway, remain skeptical of my call to get Washington out of the poverty business. They do not think no-strings-attached block grants constitute real reform. They complain that the proposal 1) puts no conservative principles such as work requirement in place; 2) is not fiscally prudent, since one group of politicians is spending money raised by another group of politicians; and 3) plays into the hands of state welfare bureaucracies that supposedly are even more liberal than the federal welfare bureaucracy.

JE

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John Engler

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WASHINGTON, D.C., has demonstrated that it cannot win a war on poverty, despite having spent $5 trillion in the attempt. The best thing Washington could do is get out of the way—quit hoarding money and power so that our states, communities, and private charities can offer genuine help of the sort the poor need to improve their lives.

In recent years, reform-minded governors repeatedly went to Washington and practically begged to be allowed to fix a broken system. Now, with the 104th Congress in session, there are welcome signs that the days of groveling may soon be over. But, as the NR article by Robert Rector exemplifies, some conservatives, especially inside the Beltway, remain skeptical of my call to get Washington out of the poverty business. They do not think no-strings-attached block grants constitute real reform. They complain that the proposal 1) puts no conservative principles such as work requirement in place; 2) is not fiscally prudent, since one group of politicians is spending money raised by another group of politicians; and 3) plays into the hands of state welfare bureaucracies that supposedly are even more liberal than the federal welfare bureaucracy.