Why Some Oppose Government Aid to the Poor

With food stamp eligibility standards tightening and extended unemployment payments ending, many on the left are harshly criticizing those on the right for seeking to roll back some of the social safety spending that has exploded recently (and over the longer term of the past half century). This column will not seek to define the correct level of safety net spending, but rather focus on a more accurate characterization of why many of those who oppose some of this spending do so. It is not because of any bad feelings toward the poor.