Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2015: on Welfare & Poverty

Carly Fiorina: Progressive policies bad for poor that they claim to help

And the reality is the human impact of progressive policies is to keep people unemployed. We have record numbers of people who are no longer working or who have quit looking for work. We have record numbers of people on food stamps. We have record numbers of people living in poverty.

Jeb Bush: Poverty programs are ineffective, despite trillions spent

BUSH: No, to the contrary, I think we need to make our case to African-American voters that fixing a few big complex things will allow people to rise up. Six million more people are in poverty today than the day that Barack Obama got elected; 2,000 fewer dollars in disposable income for American families. We spend a trillion dollars a year on poverty programs and the net result is the percentage of people in poverty has remained the same. We should try something different: fix our schools, fix our economy, lessen the crime rates in the big urban areas and I think people in poverty could be lifted up.

John Kasich: There are moral and practical reasons to help the poor

KASICH: First of all, it's not about being a Christian--the Jewish and Christian principles of this country say basically the same thing. Look, I'm a public official, but I'm also a leader in terms of how this country ought to move. My sense is that it is important that we do not ignore the poor, the widowed, the disabled. I just think that's the way America is. And I think there's a moral aspect to it. In my state, there's not only a moral aspect where some people's lives have been saved because of what we've done, but it also saves us money in the long run.

John Kasich: Matthew 25 commands us to aid the less fortunate

For those in need of a New Testament refresher: In Matthew 25, Jesus admonishes his followers to aid the less fortunate. Kasich has cited the passage repeatedly of late in defending his ObamaCare-fueled Medicaid expansion--an act of Republican apostasy that prompted widespread dismay among his party brethren.

He gets back on track: "With this whole spiritual element, let's get away from the judgment side of it. I think it's actually what the Pope's trying to do. The Pope's saying, 'Why don't we get into the feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and helping the imprisoned and helping the lonely? That's what we're commanded to do. To me, this is a gift that I've been able to feel this way."

Jeb Bush: 1994 Phoenix Project: end welfare culture

Under the plan, Florida would refuse to accept federal funds to aid the state's poor families, and restrict benefits to just two years of assistance. To be eligible for benefits, poor women would be required to "identify the fathers of their children, submit to random drug tests and work if jobs were available," according to a Herald story from March 1, 1994.

Bush's welfare plan was an early sign of the sharply conservative tone that would come to characterize his entire campaign.