Sen. Marco Rubio’s recent comments at a debate in South Carolina on how antipoverty programs should be “turned over to the states” highlighted his lack of awareness about the current welfare system, says this piece. In fact, federal welfare money (TANF) is currently funneled to the states in the form of block grants, which can be used flexibly. And this situation is not always ideal, according to H. Luke Shaefer. He says this money “is used to ease state budgets,” creating “a structure where TANF… is the welfare system for the states rather than for people.”

More about Shaefer on why Rubio got it wrong on TANF >