Arizona's leaders cut off help to 2,700 kids

In the dead of night, in the waning hours of this year's legislative session, our leaders decided to cut off support to families with children who are living in poverty.

But not to worry. It's for their own good. Really.

Starting in July 2016, Arizona will have the toughest welfare policy in the nation when it comes to offering assistance that may well be the difference for some children between eating or not, between having a bed or not.

In recent years, Arizona has been one of only a handful of states that put a two-year cap on the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Most states offer five.

Next year, Arizona will stand alone in cutting off support after one year.

Today we learn the ramifications of that late-night vote by the Arizona Legislature.

At least 1,600 families who get help through the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program will be cast adrift, according to the state Department of Economic Security. That includes 2,700 children.

Those kids, after all, need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and hey, what better way to do it than to make sure they can't afford the luxury of boots?

Just ask state Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City.

"I tell my kids all the time that the decisions we make have rewards or consequences, and if I don't ever let them face those consequences, they can't get back on the path to rewards," she said, said during debate on the budget. "As a society, we are encouraging people at times to make poor decisions and then we reward them."

Yeah, how dare us "reward" all those freeloading little children with the opportunity to go to bed in a safe place, with a full stomach?

Meanwhile, the latest round of corporate tax cuts worth $100 million is set to go into effect in July.

Shameful. Just shameful.