Coleman’s welfare stats only tell part of the story

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman hailed the successes of the 1996 welfare reform law, signed by Bill Clinton ten years ago today, citing that “passage of this law has brought nearly a million and a half children out of poverty.” Although crediting a single law for ameliorating a problem as complex as chronic poverty seems simplistic, there have been measurable successes. Between 1996 and 2004 the poverty rate among African-American children declined by 17% and by 28% for Hispanic children, Coleman says, and employment among single mothers has increased to 63 percent. But a look at other numbers suggests Coleman’s cherrypicking the best stats.US Census figures do show that overall poverty was at 20.8 percent in 1996, and by the last census, it was at 17.8 percent. What’s missing, however is the ironically smiley face