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Thursday, February 15, 1996 Page:
Conservatives should bow to consensus of governors
Like their liberal counterparts, some conservative groups have come out
against a landmark welfare-and-Medicaid-reform planAnd like their liberal
counterparts, the conservative groups clearly are just as wrong.
“Five conservative groups … said Wednesday a compromise plan offered by
the nation’s governors is too soft on out-of-wedlock births,” the Associated
Press reported.
“In their letter, the Christian Coalition, Traditional Values Coalition,
Eagle Forum, Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America said the
governors `essentially chose to ignore the central problem of welfare —
out-of-wedlock births.
“`This is a flawed approach and one we cannot support.”‘
Ever heard the saying, “The perfect is the enemy of the good”? Well, you’re
seeing a textbook example here. In their zeal to pass a perfect welfare plan,
these groups belittle a bold and realistic plan (endorsed by all 50 governors)
that actually would give them much of what they wanted.
They’ve won the battle, in other words. But they’re too prideful to admit
it, and so are risking losing the war.
The governors proposed giving states maximum freedom to design their own
welfare plans. In other words, if a governor wanted to take a hard-line
approach and crack down on out-of-wedlock births, he or she would be welcome
to do so. And at least one or two governors surely would do just that.
This would put the conservatives’ theory to the test. For that’s all the
out-of-wedlock-birth claim is: a theory. And conservatives especially should
be wary of theories; after all, theories carried the current welfare system to
its current destructive state.
Do out-of-wedlock-births drive the welfare problem? The governors’ plan
would give America a chance to find out. Conservatives should accept this test
with humility, and not force America to adopt their grand but unproven notions
as law.