Wilbur Mills Quotes

We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.

I see an America where poverty is defeated by opportunity, not enabled by a government check.

When I left, there were over 1 million fewer people on welfare in New York state than when I took office, replacing dependency with opportunity.

We need to make sure our government programs encourage work, not dependence.

With the right support, a child growing up in a dysfunctional household, who was destined for a lifetime on benefits could be put on an entirely different track - one which sees them move into fulfilling and sustainable work. In doing so, they will pull themselves out of poverty.

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.

Speaker Newt Gingrich says that what is wrong with the present system is not that people abuse welfare but that welfare abuses people.

Too many Mainers are dependent on government handouts. Government dependency has not - and never will - create prosperity.

Today we are ending welfare as we know it.

Almsgiving tends to perpetuate poverty; and does away with it once and for all. Almsgiving leaves a man just where he was before. Aid restores him to society as an individual worthy of all respect and not as a man with a grievance. Almsgiving is the generosity of the rich; social aid levels up social inequalities.

Reduction of dependency is the greatest unmet need in social policy today.

In order to advance the public weal efforts should be made to afford work to every able-bodied citizen on terms that will secure his existence… Any person unable to support himself or his dependants shall, where no other person is responsible for his or their maintenance, be entitled to receive public assistance …

Some welfare programs in the past have not been well-designed. They increased dependency.

We don’t want to turn this [social] safety net into a hammock that ends up lulling people in their lives into dependency and complacency.

Is our national goal to place as many people on welfare, food stamp support, as we can possibly put on that program? Is that our goal? Is that a moral vision for the United States of America, just to see how many people we can place in a situation where they're dependent on the federal government for their food?

I do not want to get rid of the safety net, I want to get rid of dependency.

And I have a plan to do even better, to end welfare as we know it

It's time for all Americans to get off of welfare and get back to work. You're going to love it!

Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in their manners. ... Six days shalt thou labor, though one of the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase, and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing all your estates among them.

When have handouts ever worked? In the United States, we learned that welfare for our own citizens not only turned into a debilitating crutch, it created a more or less permanent underclass.

The first priority of any serious program against poverty is to strengthen the male role in poor families.

But we will say something else. That for far too long in this country, people who can work, people who are able to work, and people who choose not to work: you cannot go on claiming welfare like you are now.

I'm not saying that people on welfare don't contribute in their own way, but as many as possible should be encouraged to be economically active as well as socially and culturally active.

We don't want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into complacency and dependence.

I see a New York where people who are down on their luck can get back on the road to responsibility, a job and dignity.