DeMint Urges Supercommittee To Take On Welfare Spending

By Lisa Kellman

Republican Senators revealed during a press conference Wednesday a new area to cut spending and lower the federal deficit: Welfare.

“What we need to do is to redirect these programs in a way that encourages states to promote self sufficiency, put caps on spending and to make sure what we’re doing is helping those in need,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) who authored the “Welfare Reform Act of 2011.”

This bill would require the President’s budget submission to declare all welfare expenditures, mandate work requirements to the food stamp program, give states that decrease poverty and enhance their self-sufficiency $300 million, and place an “aggregate spending cap” on all expense to return to its 2008 levels.

“The best way to kill these programs and every other federal program out there is to do nothing, allow them to continue to operate on autopilot just as our interest payments gradually cripple our ability to fund everything,” stated Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

DeMint noted that the Supercommittee has considered cutting Medicare and Medicaid, but have yet to look at welfare.

“They’re not considering modernizing and looking at the real spending that’s coming from these 77 welfare programs.  It makes no sense,” declared DeMint.

According to the South Carolina lawmaker, this new program would help the poor and develop their skills while saving America $2.4 trillion in 10 years.

To avoid concerns that it would hurt the poor during the recession, the bill would be enacted when unemployment falls below 7.5% or by 2015, whichever comes first.

Senate Republicans offering "American option" for economy

In a meeting today at the Heritage Foundation, Senator Jim DeMint (R- SC) stated that the economic stimulus plan which President Obama is presenting is "indifferent to obvious economic principles." DeMint believes that it is designed to treat the symptoms and not the causes of the failing economy, and will not create economic stability.

"Only about 11% could actually be called economic stimulus, its a grab bag of spending wish lists that's been hanging around here for years," he said.

The Senator went on to present the plan which the Republicans have created, the "American option," which seeks to made current tax rates permanent in order to create stability and predictability which will allow for economic growth and job creation.

"We know it will work, the facts are with us. Basically, it goes back to the idea, let's leave the money in the economy, let's not take quite so much out. Let's leave it with the people who are working, producing, and investing, and saving; that's going to actually create the jobs," he stated.

Advisors say Obama doesn't size up to McCain on Afghanistan

Experts discussed the Afghanistan policies of Barack Obama and John McCain during a conference call. Following Obama's recent foreign policy speech, the experts referred his record on the Afghanistan issue.

Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said that McCain was able to come up with a strategy in Iraq that worked. Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy advisor for the McCain Campaign, questioned the timing of Obama's foreign policy speech. Scheunemann noted that it is strange for Obama to discuss Middle East foreign policy when the senator has not visited Iraq in 900 days, has never been to Afghanistan, or met privately with Gen. David Petraeus.

Kori Schake, another senior foreign policy advisor for McCain, outlined McCain's strategy in Afghanistan. McCain will work with allies to make sure their is unity of leadership, appoint an Afghanistani official to better organize U.S. policy, and increase the amounts of troops by three brigades, Schake said. Two brigades would be for combat and one would be for training, Scheunemann said. McCain will also increase non-military assistance, such as counter narcotics strategy and regional diplomatic issues.

Scheunemann said Obama contradicted himself when he said that 10,000 to 20,000 additional troops would make no significant difference back in 2007, but then, in January 2008, argued that he said more troops would be beneficial. Obama has a commitment to leave Iraq, but not to win, Scheunemann said. Obama, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, chose to cut off funding for Afghanistan despite never holding a hearing about it.