Marion Barry says welfare is a "miserable failure"

and he wants to limit TANF benefits to 5 years in DC. The bill will probably never see the light of day but kudos to Marion Barry and Yvette Alexander for actually caring about people trapped in generational poverty.

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The proposed five-year benefit limit, sponsored by council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7), would bring the District in line with most other states, but the proposal is drawing warnings from advocates that it would lead to more homeless families, hungry children and crime.

"For far too long, we have cradled a large part of the population, and our cradling has actually handicapped people," Alexander said. "Many of our residents view government assistance as a way of life, and in my opinion we are actually hurting our residents instead of helping them."