The federal government should stick to what it is good at — providing resources to fight poverty — rather than trying to dictate solutions, said Rep. Paul Ryan.
"What I think the federal government has done is displaced local problem-solving with top-down, one-size-fits-all, and it's not working," Ryan said Sunday on
"Face the Nation."
An outcome-based approach is needed to rework and overhaul poverty-fighting strategies, he said.
Poverty programs should be made flexible so that states can do what works best for them, Ryan said. As it stands, people often get trapped in poverty because they are disincentivized from finding work because they would lose money from multiple programs.
After the 2012 presidential campaign, where Ryan was the vice-presidential candidate on the Mitt Romney ticket, Ryan toured several inner city areas to study poverty.
"I found that there are incredible stories of redemption going on right now under our noses, in the poorest communities of America, that are just absolutely jaw-dropping inspiring," Ryan said.
Poverty rates are as high today as they were at the start of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty 50 years ago, Ryan noted.
"This isn't a Republican and Democrat thing," he said. " We as country need to say that's not good enough. … I think the best thing we can do is listen to people who are fighting poverty right now – especially those who are overcoming it."
The recent protests and rioting in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a near-severed spinal cord after being taken into police custody, point to the hopelessness many in the black community feel, Ryan said.
"The American idea is that the condition of your birth doesn't determine outcome of your life," he said. "Anybody in this country can overcome their current circumstances, can make a better life for themselves and their kids. … We believe that. There are lot of people who don't believe that. I think that's one of the lessons you get from Baltimore."
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