Oh shoot, I just remembered, we aren't supposed to be saying anything nice about the "other" party...
Welfare reform was a huge doing, no matter who did it. The engine of this economy historically has been greed. When people lose that sense of want, and settle for getting a piece of crap pittance from the government every month, the whole economy suffers. There is nothing wrong with making able bodied people earn their wages, instead of getting them for nothing. Obviously you need some sort of a safety net for the unemployable and such, but when we start talking about a welfare state is when it got rediculous.