Barack Obama is finally making clear to the voters what he thinks needs to be done about welfare, and what he thinks about the welfare reforms as implemented by Bill Clinton. Should the system stay as it is, or should it be reformed? Were Clinton’s reforms OK? If so, how and why? Although the title at Political Radar is negative – it’s considered proof that Obama is a flip-flopper, empty suit, shifting to the middle, etc. – I think it’s much more important to look at what Obama actually wants to do and at what the welfare reforms meant. What is his plan, were the reforms necessary, and does it make sense, is much more important than ‘did he change his position (somewhat), and, if so, can we beat him up over it?’

I am well aware that this means that I’m taking a different position than most other bloggers but, then again, I’m not like most other bloggers. I’m not American. I’m not Republican, nor Democratic. I simply don’t care about all the partisan bickering, nor about trying to portray one or both candidates as the scum of the earth.

All the more so because all politicians are scum in my book.

But that as an aside.

The question is whether scum has some good ideas.

So, here’s Obama on welfare:

ABC News’ Teddy Davis and Gregory Wallace Report: Barack Obama aligned himself with welfare reform on Monday, launching a television ad which touts the way the overhaul “slashed the rolls by 80 percent.”

In the past he opposed the 1996 federal legislation which precipitated the caseload reduction. But that was then, now is now.

Now, with the Democratic nomination firmly in hand, Obama is going one step further. In an ad airing in 18 states, including 14 carried by President Bush in 2004, Obama is celebrating a reduction in the welfare caseload made possible by legislation he originally opposed.

Watch the ad.

Because we like to make life easy for you, we’ll also publish the ad below:

In other words… well, not much become clear, does it? The ad is pro-work, pro-reforms (which is indeed a shift), but if people are wondering about whether or not this man should win the elections in November, well, it’s not exactly suffice. The media turn it into a ‘flip-flop!’ match, but readers still don’t truly know what to expect.

So, that’s why I’ve taken a look at Obama’s website, and what he has to say about Welfare on it. Here’s the text:

…

That’s not very much, is it? That’s a minor problem; it seems that Obama’s website – filled with issues – doesn’t spend a whole lot of time talking about welfare and about what Obama is going to do about it. Now, don’t get me wrong, the website does deal with related subjects, such as poverty:

The Problem

Poverty Rising: There are nearly 37 million poor Americans. Most Americans living in poverty work, but still cannot afford to make ends meet.

Minimum Wage is Not Enough: Even when a parent works full-time earning minimum wage and EITC and food stamps are factored into their income, families are still $1,550 below the federal poverty line because of the flat-lined minimum wage.
Barack Obama’s Plan
Expand Access to Jobs

* Help Americans Grab a Hold of and Climb the Job Ladder: Obama will invest $1 billion over five years in transitional jobs and career pathway programs that implement proven methods of helping low-income Americans succeed in the workforce.
* Create a Green Jobs Corps: Obama will create a program to directly engage disadvantaged youth in energy efficiency opportunities to strengthen their communities, while also providing them with practical skills in this important high-growth career field.
* Improve Transportation Access to Jobs: As president, Obama will work to ensure that low-income Americans have transportation access to jobs. Obama will double the federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program to ensure that additional federal public transportation dollars flow to the highest-need communities and that urban planning initiatives take this aspect of transportation policy into account.
* Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Supports: Obama will work to ensure that ex-offenders have access to job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and employment opportunities. Obama will also create a prison-to-work incentive program and reduce barriers to employment.

Make Work Pay for All Americans

* Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit: Obama will increase the number of working parents eligible for EITC benefits, increase the benefits available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increase benefits for families with three or more children, and reduce the EITC marriage penalty, which hurts low-income families.
* Create a Living Wage: Obama will raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing.
* Provide Tax Relief: Obama will provide all low and middle-income workers a $500 Making Work Pay tax credit to offset the payroll tax those workers pay in every paycheck. Obama will also eliminate taxes for seniors making under $50,000 per year.

Strengthen Families

* Promote Responsible Fatherhood: Obama will sign into law his Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act to remove some of the government penalties on married families, crack down on men avoiding child support payments, and ensure that payments go to families instead of state bureaucracies.
* Support Parents with Young Children: Obama will expand the highly-successful Nurse-Family Partnership to all 570,000 low-income, first-time mothers each year. The Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families.
* Expand Paid Sick Days: Today, three-out-of-four low-wage workers have no paid sick days. Obama supports guaranteeing workers seven paid sick days per year.

Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing

* Create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund: Obama will create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods.
* Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant: Obama will fully fund the Community Development Block Grant program and engage with urban leaders across the country to increase resources to the highest-need Americans.

Tackle Concentrated Poverty

* Establish 20 Promise Neighborhoods: Obama will create 20 Promise Neighborhoods in areas that have high levels of poverty and crime and low levels of student academic achievement in cities across the nation. The Promise Neighborhoods will be modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone, which provides a full network of services, including early childhood education, youth violence prevention efforts and after-school activities, to an entire neighborhood from birth to college.
* Ensure Community-Based Investment Resources in Every Urban Community: Obama will work with community and business leaders to identify and address the unique economic development barriers of every major metropolitan area. Obama will provide additional resources to the federal Community Development Financial Institution Fund, the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies, especially to their local branch offices, to address community needs.
* Invest in Rural Areas: Obama will invest in rural small businesses and fight to expand high-speed Internet access. He will improve rural schools and attract more doctors to rural areas.

Barack Obama’s Record

* Tax Relief for Low-Income Working Families: Obama created the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families in 2000 and successfully sponsored a measure to make the credit permanent in 2003. The law offered about $105 million in tax relief over three years.
* Housing: In the Illinois State Senate, Obama championed multiple pieces of legislation to help low-income families find adequate affordable housing.

It’s related, but it’s not exactly the same. As an observer I hereby ask the Obama campaign to give Obama’s welfare plan, so that observers and bloggers such as myself can share it with the public, analyze it, and so that American voters know what they’re voting for (or against) in November.

The poverty issue seems quite good, by the way. He’s for a more active government, yes, but not necessarily in a bad way; I get the impression he also wants to encourage people to improve their own lives, instead of letting the government improve it for them.