Fox News contributor Charles Payne recently criticized U.S. assistance programs like welfare and food stamps, asserting they can start to make poverty feel “a little comfortable.”
Payne’s comments were made on Fox’s “Cavuto on Business” program where he said his observations on government assistance were based on personal experience.
“There’s this idea that between the food stamps and the welfare and the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit and the local programs, you know, it gets a little comfortable to be in poverty,†said Payne.
“Listen, I’ve lived it first hand. I’ve seen when people don’t go to work because they get everything paid for them. The incentive is not there.â€
Payne’s commentary echoes a political trend by conservative proponents who stigmatize government assistance programs in an effort to cut federal spending on programs intended for the most poverty-stricken Americans. Reports show that such programs have led to a decline in poverty during the first decade of the 21st century.