Roughly Speaking

Picking up on a favorite subject of Republicans since Ronald Reagan -- the assumption of widespread abuse of the country's social safety net -- the Trump administration has ordered an audit of federal welfare programs while supporting efforts by some states to attach work requirements to food stamps and Medicaid.Dan's guest: Michael Reisch, an expert on social policy, professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a one-time resident of public housing in New York.Reisch explores why many Americans who in some way benefit from the social safety net -- or have it as backup -- believe that it’s rife with fraud. A letter from a Sun reader in western Maryland provides Exhibit A of that attitude.