Welfare Programs Cause Crime

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"Controlling violent crime is largely a state and local responsibility," declare Robert Moffit, Edwin Meese, and Patrick Fagan of the Heritage Foundation. "State and local officials," they say, "should take the initiative to identify and target the hard-core criminals who are committing the majority of crimes and implement tough policies to put them behind bars and keep them there. Mounting evidence shows that this approach works."

Attacking the root causes of crime also makes sense, provided those causes are correctly identified. Poverty, for instance, does not cause crime. "The real root cause of crime is family breakdown," the three analysts contend. They point out that "fatherless children - regardless of socioeconomic and racial background - are most likely to commit violent crimes as teenagers and adults. And, because of the rising rate of illegitimacy in the United States, teenage crime will continue to rise. Long-range economic and so...

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...e virtues and self-discipline necessary for success in society, rather than passively subsidizing ever-escalating levels of social pathology."

Rector points out that "welfare reform has really affected only one program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The other 75-plus federal welfare programs," he observes, "remain substantially unchanged." Rector recommends extending the AFDC reforms "to other programs as well, such as Food Stamps and public housing."

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