RECOMMENDED READING
The American Rescue Plan, which President Joe Biden signed into law today, contains a provision that represents a qualitative break from the welfare-to-work policies that have been in place since the 1990s. The change is also scrambling party politics — especially on the Republican side — in a way that could have lasting implications.
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Oren Cass at American Compass, a conservative economic think tank, offers an alternative plan that, like Romney’s, begins by supporting parents even before their children are born. The crucial difference is that support in any given year is capped by the amount the family earned in the previous year. In essence, under Cass’s plan the government would be willing to double the income of poor families — so long as the parents work.
This approach has been pilloried by commentators across the political spectrum for penalizing poor children whose parents don’t work. But the proposal deserves to be taken seriously.
Its central points are that unconditional cash payments treat children as if they were distinct from the family, and the family as if it were distinct from a larger society that values work. Families that don’t buy into the values of a work-centric society would not only undermine popular support for cash payments, according to Cass, but they would also leave their children ill-prepared join that society.
Recommended Reading
Is the Republican Party’s Refusal to Raise Taxes Fiscally Irresponsible?
American Compass’ Oren Cass and Club for Growth’s David McIntosh debate whether the Republican Party’s refusal to raise taxes is fiscally irresponsible.
Trump Lost the Race. But Republicans Know It’s Still His Party.
Jeremy Peters highlights American Compass as a leader in building a post-Trump conservative movement by bringing together Capitol Hill staff and policy experts to debate the successes and failures of the past four years.
The Once and Future Republican Orthodoxy
The American Enterprise Institute has just released a new white paper that defends the CARES Act against arguments from the right. Contra deficit hawks and libertarians in Congress, Jay Cost argues that recent deficit-financed economic stimulus falls squarely within the “parameters of Republican orthodoxy on economic conservatism.”
