General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bruce Bartlett, former Reagan economic policy advisor: "one of our political parties is insane" [View all]Vox Moi
(546 posts)A strange mixture of Pax Americana, smaller government and among the first to identify the government as an obstacle to the American Dream. And he busted unions.
When Reagan was a Presidential candidate he used to tell an apocryphal story about 'The Welfare Queen' and her Cadillac.
This largely imaginary woman lived in Chicago's South Side and went by 80 names in 30 addresses with an income of $150,000.
The closest match seems to have been a woman who made fraudulent Medicaid claims for $8000.
Reagan's purpose may have been to point out the fraud and inefficiency that belabor welfare and Medicaid but his emphasis was on the individual and not the bureaucracy. It is not that far from Romney's references to people who wanted 'Free Stuff'.
Poor people looking for a hand-out are to the Republicans as the Zombie Apocalypse is to the rest of us, only we know that zombies are not real.
Justified or not, the Republicans have a long-held fear of being cheated by poor people.