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President Donald Trump

Clete Wetli is a liberal political activist living in Huntsville and a regular contributor to AL.com. Email Clete at decaturclete@gmail.com or visit cletewetli. com.

In another boorish effort to sound tough and perpetuate the myth of the 'Welfare Queen', Trump threw red meat to the GOP saying, "But some people are really taking advantage of our (welfare) system from that standpoint, and we are going to be looking very, very strongly, therefore, at welfare reform."

Sure. Who exactly is taking advantage of the system?

If you talk to average Republicans in Alabama, they'll tell you how illegal immigrants are on food stamps, welfare, unemployment, and even get free smart phones. Well, except that isn't happening. Although it feeds the time honored conservative narrative that there is a whole class of lazy folk living on the government dime, have any of these conservatives actually seen what it takes to get these benefits?

Now it may be different other places, but you're not getting diddly squat in Alabama unless you can prove you're a US citizen. On top of that, the maximum unemployment benefit in Alabama is $265/ week. It's not exactly an incentive to risk jail time to commit fraud for unemployment benefits.

The same is true with food stamps and welfare. For welfare, the cash outlay for a family of three is well under $300/month and there's a slew of requirements to continue receiving benefits. So, this cockamamie idea that there are hordes of people scheming to defraud the government is laughable. Yes, conservatives can point to rare cases of fraud and they are more than happy to do so because it bolsters the delusion that masses of people are content on the government dole. It's just not true and it doesn't even qualify to be an alt-fact.

Yeah, you can't get TANF unless you're a citizen and you also need a Social Security number. But, the GOP really wants you to believe that bajillions of illegals are soaking up the benefits and dining on lobster while washing it down with Dos Equis.

Since Reagan, it has been a cherished GOP talking point to vilify the poor as lazy freeloaders. Now, it seems Trump has decided to pick up this worn out cliche and see how it flies with his immigrant-hating base. Of course, he wants to slash benefits and make it harder for the poor to get the help they need.

If that's his idea of welfare reform than it's nothing more than a sick joke and no one is laughing.

The only reform the welfare system needs is to be funded properly so that families might have a real, fighting chance to get back on their feet. One would think the GOP learned this lesson when they insisted on drug testing food stamp recipients only to find that a scant few were abusing illegal substances. The GOP said it would save money, but it ended up costing taxpayers a small fortune.

Like so many of Trump's schemes, it doesn't seem like he's thought it all the way through. Wasn't he the guy that had the best plan for healthcare, the ultimate top-secret plan to eradicate terrorism, and the bigly-est plan for tax reform? America just keeps discovering that Trump is all talk and that he has no plan whatsoever unless it's destroying something put in place by the Democrats.

Maybe, Trump's idea of reform is to eliminate these programs altogether. His proposed budget shows that he places a much higher priority on an unnecessary border wall than making sure impoverished American families know where their next meal is coming from.

Slashing welfare while giving the rich more tax breaks under the guise of tax reform is nothing more than another cruel, sick Trump joke.