(CNSNews.com) — Despite an unprecedented increase in federal anti-poverty spending, the national poverty rate has not declined, the [Cato Institute] study finds.
“[S]ince President Obama took office [in January 2009], federal welfare spending has increased by 41 percent, more than $193 billion per year,” the study says.
[…]
While the study concedes that some of the increased spending under Obama is a result of the recession and the counter-cyclical nature of anti-poverty programs, it also finds that some of the increase is deliberate, with the government having expanded eligibility for welfare programs….”But the dramatically larger increase also suggests that part of the program’s growth is due to conscious policy choices by this administration to ease eligibility rules and expand caseloads,” the Cato report says. “For example, income limits for eligibility have risen twice as fast as inflation since 2007 and are now roughly 10 percent higher than they were when Obama took office.”
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The study faults the way poverty programs are designed, saying that the increase in spending and largely unchanged poverty rate showed that the issue is not a matter of money, but a matter of what the programs aim to achieve.
“The vast majority of current programs are focused on making poverty more comfortable – giving poor people more food, better shelter, health care, and so forth – rather than giving people the tools that will help them escape poverty.”
For all the misinformation foisted on the public at large that Republicans hate the poor, this study should, but likely will not, change people’s minds on that. Broadly speaking, Conservatives seek to help the poor climb out of poverty by ‘teaching them to fish’ (See: Fair Enough?, Equal Outcome Or Equal Opportunity, Political Hokey Pokey). Liberals have for years pushed for more funding as the answer to America’s social woes even though this has never worked.
This failure of increased spending in an effort to lift people from poverty is seen in real-time. President Obama has increased spending on welfare programs at mind-boggling rates. For instance, food stamp spending is up 100% since Obama has taken office which — coupled with looser standards for qualifications — has seen an increase of 50% of participants of the program, and even spends money on advertisements promoting them.
The fact that throwing money at a problem does not influence the number of people in poverty should cause people to take second look at Liberal economic policies. It’s time to teach people to fish.
Sifting Reality 
Any Thoughts?