Target
Practice

Welfare reform is
little more than an exercise in
scapegoat' ng.

JAMES D. BESSER

WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

New immigrants may be adversely affected.

T

il he great American sport of immi-
grant bashing has not lost its polit-
ical charm, as the recently passed
welfare reform bill demonstrates and
President Clinton's reluctant approval
confirms.
The issue, Jewish activists contend,
isn't whether the old welfare system
needed an overhaul. Even diehard liberals
grudgingly accept that something has gone
awry in a system originally intended to help
the nation's most vulnerable citizens, but
which evolved into an endless cycle of pover-
ty and dependence.
But the bill that emerged last week was
never about "reform," according to Jewish
leaders across the political spectrum. To be
charitable, it was about passing big election-
year cuts in social service spending without
angering critical voting blocs; to be less kind
but probably more realistic, it was a cynical
effort to win political points by playing on the
public's persistent search for convenient
scapegoats.
Although Mr. Clinton tried to portray him-
self as a victim of the Republican Congress
who accepted the harsh plan only under
duress, his willingness to play along chilled
many Jewish activists.
"This is even worse than the bill the pres-
ident vetoed in January, from the standpoint
of its blanket prohibitions on benefits to im-
migrants," said Richard Foltin, legislative di-
rector for the American Jewish Committee.
"It's wrong because tax-paying people who
are here legally will be denied benefits, and
it's bad because it feeds that anti-immigrant
animus that seems to be growing across the
nation."
Jewish groups fought the welfare legisla-

tion on three different levels. The first em-
phasized the broad humanitarian impact of
the barrage of cuts and policy changes pro-
posed in a Congress driven by the upcoming
elections.
Last week, the National Council of Jewish
Women joined a protest in front of the White
House, arguing that the new law represents
a "shameful milestone in our nation's long-
standing commitment to providing for the
basic needs of poor children and their fami-
lies," according to the group's president, Nan
Rich.
"For over 60 years, our nation has recog-
nized the need for a safety net for our most
vulnerable children," she said. "The bill the
president intends to sign reverses this his-
toric commitment."

"Ultimately,
other minorities will be
targeted, as well."

— A Jewish activist

Turning a diminished welfare allotment
over to states in the form of block grants,
many Jewish activists contend, is just a ve-
neer covering big cuts in services; rigid work
requirements and time limits on benefits can't
work without expensive, well-designed pro-
grams for job training and ambitious new
child-care services.
Liberal groups have been strong on com-
plaints, weak on solutions; too often, they
have opposed welfare changes without of-

fering better alternatives to a foundering sys-
tem.
But they make a point that's hard to re-
fute; even if the current system is counter-
productive, it is socially irresponsible to
demolish it in an act of election-year expe-
dience without thinking through its wide-
ranging human consequences and planning
programs to deal with those consequences.
A second level of concern emphasized the
particular impact of welfare reform propos-
als on Jews and on Jewish institutions.
Under the new law, legal immigrants, in-
cluding some Soviet Jews, would be barred
from a long list of government services and
programs, from Supplemental Security In-
come to food stamps.
In fact, almost half of the projected savings
over the next six years envisioned by back-
ers of the welfare bill come from cuts to legal
immigrants.
The impact of these changes on the Jew-
ish community will not be overwhelming.
Most Jews from the former Soviet Union en-
ter this country as refugees, a status that has
not been affected by the congressional bud-
get marauders.
Realistically, many Jewish immigrants
have sponsors who can pick up the slack. Jew-
ish organizations, more efficient than most
in raising money and delivering services, have
the ability to provide a vital lifeline, although
at great cost to givers.
Jewish leaders are far more worried about
the third dimension to the debate — the un-
derlying social message sent by this official
assault on immigrants.
Approval of the new welfare law, many be-

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