Actually, making welfare into a loan is a terrible idea, and here's why:

I'm assuming you were referring to a deferred loan, which means that they don't have to start paying back the loan until they're off welfare.

Most people exiting welfare do so by getting a job at or near minimum wage that almost never includes health insurance. So, at the minimum, a person in this example would immediately begin paying for rent, food, telephone service and health insurance, not to mention taxes.

If the American dream is to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps, how many more years will it take for this person to begin saving money for the future if they are also paying back a "welfare loan?" Wouldn't you rather they spend the money on, say, higher education? Then they'll have a chance to get a better paying job and put more money back into the system in the form of taxes.

By the way, I have a message to you kids that were enjoying that "silly blacks" comment posted by spankaveli earlier in the thread: even if you think Colin Powell is a swell guy and Condi Rice is doing a great job, you're still a racist. Don't be proud of it.