|
Heritage
Foundation
Taking
America from Welfare
State to Opportunity Society
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
February 6, 2013
“I
must go to college!”
insists eight-year-old Pierre William.
Such
planning may seem
unusual in a second grader. But Pierre is lucky. He’s attending a
private
school in the District of Columbia using funds from the D.C.
Opportunity
Scholarship Program. That’s opened his eyes to the possibilities that
only a
college education can provide.
His
mother Patricia William
says the program has taught her how to be a better parent and to be
involved in
her children’s education. She insists she’ll remain involved. “I try to
stay
focused and not get discouraged,” William says. That matters for her
children,
and the other 1,600 benefiting from the scholarships.
This
is just one American
Dream—Pierre’s dream. But every American should have the opportunity to
pursue
his own dream. This week, we are highlighting America’s Opportunity for
All,
The Heritage Foundation’s plan to help people secure these dreams.
Yet
our modern,
cradle-to-grave welfare state is structured in such a way that it
hinders
rather than boosts upward mobility. Despite a massive array of programs
and
colossal budgets, poverty rates remain high, our public education
system is
failing us, and the family—whose importance for the future well-being
of
children cannot be overstated—is falling apart among poor and
low-income
Americans.
President
Obama made clear
yesterday that he is more interested in additional tax increases than
serious
entitlement reforms. At the same time, the Congressional Budget Office
was
projecting that health care entitlement spending will be bigger than
defense or
even Social Security spending in just two years.
For
some, the entitlement
mentality of the welfare state breeds a culture of dependency.
Conservatives
propose a different approach, one based on empowering all Americans. We
intend
to encourage upward mobility for poor and low-income Americans. We
intend to
strengthen an anxious middle class. We intend to reduce concerns about
health
care and retirement security. And we intend to protect those throughout
society
who have earned success for themselves and their families.
Read
the rest of the
article at the Heritage Foundation
|
