(A) Social Policy, Transfers and Entitlements

By Robert L. Woodson Sr. Jan. 15, 2026 – Here is the truth we must confront: Poverty doesn’t produce moral decay. Deprivation doesn’t produce depravity. It never has. We once endured conditions far worse than today without losing our moral compass. During Jim Crow—when racism was written into law—black neighborhoods were safer than today. Elders were respected. Children could walk the streets without fear. Families were intact, churches were full, and black marriage rates during the Great Depression were higher than for any other group in America. We had less money but more order. Less power, but more integrity. Read More

By Phil Gramm and John Early – Dec. 17, 2025 – Yet even as our economy has experienced broad-based growth, real federal welfare spending has soared by 765%, more than twice as fast as total federal spending, and now costs $1.4 trillion annually. Were that money simply doled out evenly to the 19.8 million families the government defines as poor, each household would receive more than $70,000 a year. The source of this dramatic mismatch is a fraud built into how various programs determine welfare eligibility: The government doesn’t count any refundable tax credits or benefits that aren’t paid in cash as income to the recipients. Read More