After all these years, ‘welfare reform’ is the same racist dog whistle it always was
“When President Trump started going on about ‘welfare reform,’ I wasn’t immediately sure what he was talking about (neither was he, I’m sure). For wonks who have been around for a few years, ‘welfare reform’ was a Bill Clinton era initiative that turned the old Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) program into a block-granted funding stream featuring time limits and work requirements under the title of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. ‘Welfare’ used to mean AFDC, or cash benefits to poor families.”