title:  Republican Presidential Candidate Reveals Their New Plan To Starve The Poor
text: Jeb Bush just unveiled a key component of his welfare reform package. The Republican presidential candidate wants to completely scrap the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. It should be noted that  Right to Rise  is the name of Bush s Super PAC.Bush wants to replace those programs with one that gives states  Right to Rise  grants, to support state-run programs aimed at alleviating poverty. Bush refers to the current programs in place as  failed programs  of the war on poverty, on account of there being 47 million people who are still poor in the United States. In the place of these failed programs, states will be given Right to Rise Grants. These grants will allow states to meet the needs of poor families, in the way that makes most sense in each state. As governor of Florida, I saw first-hand how states could be the laboratories of democracy. I know that giving states more flexibility will open the door for transformative ideas to eliminate poverty and increase opportunity,  Bush wrote on his campaign website, on Friday.Bush does not have any interest in reforming welfare to help fight the war on poverty. He wants to further the Republicans war against the poor. This proposal is just an attempt to dismantle the welfare system in the United States, in order to create a less efficient government.If Bush cared at all about the poor, he would support raising the federal minimum wage to a point where working people no longer need to go on assistance programs. Bush doesn t want to raise the minimum wage. In fact, he has publicly stated that opposes the very concept of the minimum wage. As with welfare, Bush thinks that the minimum wage is a matter for the states to work on, not the federal government. There is disagreement between economists on what effect raising the minimum wage might have on job creation, yet almost every economist agrees that raising the minimum wage would lift many people out of poverty. Now, if a candidate, Republican or otherwise, seriously wanted to reform welfare in a way that acts as scheme to lift people out of poverty, they should be looking at what Finland is doing.Featured Image Credit: USDA via Flickr