Clinton criticizes Romney ad on welfare reform law

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is taking exception to a campaign ad by Mitt Romney that asserts that the Obama administration is weakening the work requirements for welfare.

In a statement Tuesday night, Clinton called the Republican’s assertion “not true” and the ad misleading.

The Romney ad says that President Barack Obama’s plan would “gut welfare reform” by dropping work requirements.

The administration rejects that description and says it’s not unilaterally repealing or waiving the law but giving states the chance to make changes to their welfare programs. Some Republican governors have requested that flexibility.

Clinton says he finds the Romney ad especially disappointing because Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, sought changes in the welfare law that Clinton says could have eliminated time limits important to the reform effort.