FactCheck: Romney's Welfare Ad

This report is based on work by our partners at FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan project of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.


A new ad from Mitt Romney's campaign makes some claims about President Barack Obama's plan for the welfare system.

From the ad:

Announcer: Do you support work for welfare? Barack Obama has a long history of opposing work for welfare.

Obama speaking in ‘98: I was not a wide supporter of the plan that was signed in 1996.

Announcer: On July 12 Obama quietly ended work requirements for welfare. You wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job.

Watch the ad here:

Eugene Kiely, deputy director of FactCheck.org, said these claims are false.

“The central claim of the ad is that Obama is dropping the welfare to work requirement. He’s not," Kiely said. "What he’s doing is giving the states the opportunity, if they want, to develop their own welfare to work plan. And the states would be held accountable for that."

Kiely said this ad can leave the impression that all people currently on welfare are working for their cash assistance. That's not true.

In fact, fewer than 30 percent of welfare recipients are actually engaged in the so-called work activities that are required by law.

And, it's important to point out that the administration is not dropping the work requirements. They're giving states the option to draw up a plan they think is going to work better.

“Any time that people are feeling that somebody else is getting a free ride, whether it’s a bailout for Wall Street or a welfare check to their neighbor, I think it’s gonna strike a chord with some folks,” Kiely said.

For more on this story, see "Does Obama's Plan Gut Welfare?" on FactCheck.org.

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