only a few months or a year. i know, i was on assistance. what they don't tell you is that there's at least one working adult in 48% of households with children on food stamps. only 13% don't have jobs. in a time of national economic crisis, when so many people are struggling to find a job, the republicans are calling the country weak. americans dependent and repeatedly criticizing millions for their work ethic. let's bring in jonathan alter, msnbc political analyst and columnist for "bloomberg view." let's get to the point, jonathan, does welfare make americans dependent? >> first of all, we don't have welfare anymore. we got rid of welfare in 1996 with welfare reform. up to that point, there was an argument that was a pretty persuasive one that aid to families with dependent children, afdc did create some dependency, but then we moved under the clinton administration to a welfare to work program,