A Better Way to Help Those in Need
Nebraskans have a caring, generous spirit. I have seen it time and time again, from neighbors coming together to clean up after a storm to thousands gathering to welcome troops home or cheer for veterans returning from hero flights.
This inclination to help and support one another is part of who we are.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2016 Cattlemen’s Ball, a popular Nebraska event with a long history of generosity. Since it began in 1998, the ball has raised approximately $13 million for cancer research and local health care initiatives around the state.
A shared desire to give back, combined with economic success, brings people together and enables them to meet the needs in their communities and beyond.
Building on this idea on a national scale, House Republicans introduced a plan this week called A Better Way. The plan is designed to empower Americans to transform their circumstances and their communities rather than encouraging further dependence on bloated, one-size-fits-all government programs.
As Speaker Paul Ryan said of the plan, “No amount of government intervention – no matter how well-intentioned – can replace the great drivers of daily life: our talents and aspirations, our neighbors and loved ones, our communities and places of worship. We are all in this fight together, and we need an approach which reflects that shared responsibility.”
On the Ways and Means Committee, we are working to advance the principles of the plan, which include tying benefits to work or training for work, incentivizing self-sufficiency rather than continued government dependence, measuring results to redirect funds where they can be most effectively used and reduce duplicative programs, and rooting out fraud and abuse to preserve benefits for those who truly need them.
The plan is not only designed to fight poverty. It has six platforms – poverty, national security, the economy, the Constitution, health care, and tax reform – all of which will be rolled out over the next few weeks to outline House Republicans’ ideas for getting America back on track.
Our economy is strengthened by efforts to help more people find jobs, engage in the marketplace, and end their reliance on federal assistance. With a stronger economy, more individuals and community groups have opportunities to use their resources to help others. Our overarching goal must be to expand the cycle of people helping people rather than enabling the cycle of government dependence.
Despite $22 trillion in federal spending on anti-poverty programs over the past five decades, Americans are just as likely to remain in poverty today as they were in 1966. We clearly need to revamp our efforts, and the best place to look for inspiration is in our own communities.
There is a better way to help those in need, and it comes not through government handouts but through empowering individuals to reach their true potential and then help others do the same.