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Republican gubernatorial candidate Stephen Goldsmith scoffed at Indiana's welfare plan, saying he'd move to take recipients off the public dole immediately.
Goldsmith, in a brief campaign swing through Warsaw Thursday, drew a host of comparisons with his rival, Democrat Lt. Gov. Frank O'Bannon.
He claimed the current plan is welfare-based, not job-based.
Goldsmith predicted recipients would be worse off after two years.
A Republican plan calls for immediate removal from government assistance and instead provides transitional medical care, child care and transportation.
Under Goldsmith's plan, recipients would be taken off assistance on "day one, hour one."
"There's a big difference in this campaign about welfare reform," he said.
He also ripped Indiana's educational status and called Indiana's Occupational Safety and Health Administration the fastest growing bureaucracy in America.
As for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Goldsmith said the agency spends more time tormenting businesses rather than improving the environment.
Although Indiana's welfare reform is deemed among the best in the nation, Goldsmith said he wouldn't give recipients two years to prepare for life without government assistance.
Goldsmith admitted he needs as much cash as possible as he wages the most expensive race for governor against O'Bannon.
Goldsmith spoke to supporters at a $35 a seat luncheon at the Holiday Inn.
Earlier in the day, Goldsmith proposed putting $1 billion into transportation improvements over the next five years, and claims it can be done without a tax increase.
He would pay for most of it by extending state bonding authority.
He said the top projects his administration would pursue include a $200 million extension of I-69 from Evansville to Washington, Ind.; developing the Hoosier Heartland Corridor from Fort Wayne to Logansport at a cost of $140 million; $150 million to add a lane to I-65 in Clark County; and $12 million to improve an I-69 interchange at Fort Wayne.
