- indexing Social Security to the cost of living
- increasing food stamp support
Nixon's domestic agenda proved less divisive. Both his instincts and his blue collar strategy pushed him to seek a middle ground on economic issues. Making no effort to roll back Great Society programs, Nixon's administration continued the federal war on poverty. With his approval, Congress raised food stamp support and indexed Social Security to the rising cost of living. The president also proposed the Family Assistance Plan, which would have replaced welfare payments with a federally guaranteed income of sixteen hundred dollars for a family of four. In this case, Nixon's middle ground proved less popular. Conservatives balked at the idea of government handouts, and liberals objected to the notion that a family could survive on such an income. The plan died in the Senate. Still, Nixon could claim credit for having tried to reform welfare, and his defeated proposal did no political harm.