Maybe the Democrats would be wise...

[billky]

to just stop using the word "welfare". They could just call it public assistance for the many people who have lost their jobs because of Bush. We forget that there are people who have never asked for public assistance before but now they have to. I bet they're all glad it's there to help them until they do find a job. That's what the program is for; a helping hand until you get back on your feet.

[grasswire]

1. there should be some acknowledgment that these people are taxpayers too --

...and have paid taxes all their working lives into the same programs.

That's why we should probably drop the word "entitlements" from the lexicon as well.

Workers have invested their wages into these programs, which are actually a form of insurance.

Time to re-frame.

[alc]

2. they should also be the first to acknowledge that there is abuse

And they should be out in the lead stopping it, rather than defending every attack. Is it ok to buy beer? I don't have an opinion - it doesn't bother me. But I do know that a couple of times a month while I'm buying meat that expires today and generic products I see people using their EBT card to buy higher quality cuts of meat at full price and non-generic products. And if the EBT card doesn't have enough balance they pull out a wad of cash to pay the rest. MOST people with EBT cards are not doing that. But enough are that I see it multiple times a month.

I have no idea how common that is nationwide or even in my store for that matter. Democrats can fight to try to make the above acceptable. I doubt they will change many minds. Or they can take the lead in saying welfare is a helping hand until you get back on your feet and not a way to help you eat better than others. They can demand it be used responsibly and take the lead in defining what "responsibly" means. MOST people already are using in in a way that most critics would be fine with. But, the 1% or 5% or 0.1% who aren't get the attention and make the entire system look bad. Even if you think the above is acceptable, you may want to consider changes if you're worried about image.

[Herlong]

3. Better off herding cats

One reason I love KO was he took no prisoners.

[ck4829]

4. It's a good idea, but it's in the wrong arena

Republicans are big with words, framing the debate is pretty much their strategy to connect with people who wouldn't benefit from their policies.

Just like how liberals are still afraid to call themselves 'liberal' because of their framing with that and basically creating a Pavlovian response from the freeper types whenever 'liberal' is mentioned, if we shy away from calling it welfare, we are letting the Republicans frame the debate and we are running from their words.