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Republican Budget Amendment "Takes
from the Needy and Gives to the Greedy"
House of Representatives - October 20, 2005

Mr. Speaker, there was a phrase they used to use around here during the Reagan years called "take from the needy and give to the greedy." Well, we are back in session with that same thought going.

These cuts in this budget amendment we just heard about, the gentleman from South Carolina said we were not willing to make the cuts. Let me tell my colleagues just what one of those cuts was so we get a feeling for what they are up to.

There was a rule in many States that if you were from a poor family and you went to a rich family as a foster kid you did not get any money. If you went to a poor family, you would get some money. They went into court, and the court said it did not make any difference what kind of a family you were living in; it was what the child had access to and every child ought to receive foster child payments in the United States, no matter where they were or what situation they were in.

What the Republicans want to do in this bill is repeal a court decision. They do not like what the courts did. The same thing is true about kinship care. If a child is picked up by a foster home, they get money; but if they are picked up by their grandmother, they are not entitled to it, no matter what the circumstances are. That is the family friendly Republican budget cuts.