. >> the case being made here, the recipients are unmotivated to find work because if they do, they will no longer be given a handout. so instead of receiving a fraction of their former income in the form of unemployment benefits, they should just go on welfare. that's really what he was arguing, here's the catch. conservatives also oppose the welfare programs that roy suggests as an alternative. so where are these people supposed to go? it's this myth, this vilization of the poor that makes it so difficult for democrats to enact sufficient policies that actually do fight the war on poverty. joining me now is our rapid response panel, democratic strategist, bob shrum and msnbc contributor james peterson. bob, i want to rely on your institutional memory. it is interesting the way greta van susteren framed it, we have been fighting a war on poverty and it failed, so we need to go back to reagan. but isn't that true that really the time when you saw the income gap widen, when you saw inequality gap really widen, was during the reagan years. >> oh, sure. that's right. look, the history here