THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 28, 1994 TAG: 9411250371
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
Regarding ``In America: It's scapegoat time'' (Another view, Nov. 20): Columnist Bob Herbert has missed the point about welfare, just as have most of his liberal friends who are now looking for work after the past election.
His point that the lack of decent and secure employment is the root cause of welfare is not disputed by anybody. However, his implication that somehow the government can provide solutions by throwing money and bureaucratic control over the problem is the ``single biggest factor driving herds of discontented voters into the GOP camp.''
It is typical that a ``compassionate'' liberal like Herbert would describe U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas as an unfeeling bigot. This is common whenever a conservative attempts to gore one of the liberal's sacred cash cows.
What Herbert fails to understand is that in trying to make a less cruel place we have created large inefficient bureaucracies to help social victims. The population of victims rewarded for acting like victims grows. The solution is to break the vicious circle of government support and instead provide tools for creating individual responsibility.
IAN WALKER
Virginia Beach, Nov. 20, 1994 by CNB