WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?

The feel-good, guilt-ridden philosophy of wanting to help others, whether they ask for it or not, seems to be the modus operandi of the liberals going back to FDR and more recently, LBJ. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” (like he didn’t have enough on his hands with the on-going Vietnam War), which was going to eradicate poverty in the United States. The liberals (now called the Progressives) were ecstatic and couldn’t wait to implement the policies put forth by Johnson and the Democrats.

So what has happened during the past 45 years this “War on Poverty” has been in existence? For one thing, after spending about 6 trillion dollars on that “war”, the poverty rate has remained constant (for ages 18 to 64). The poverty rate has gone down for seniors significantly mainly due to Social Security and Medicare, but due to the expense of those programs, they are both going broke. The intentions of helping our seniors when they retired, was positive and still is, but the operation and the maintaining of sound fiscal constraints seems to have been forgotten over the years. Waste and fraud alone in the Medicare program alone costs upwards of $65 billion per year (8 times more than the profits of the 10 biggest oil companies). Any attempts to modernize and streamline those programs have been met with great resistance, by mostly Democrats, who hold these programs out to be “sacred cows” that mustn’t be touched, especially by Republicans. President Bush tried to institute a “partial” privatization of Social Security but was shot-down with demagogic fervor on the part of the liberal politicians and the liberal media. Bush was using the report compiled by Democrats Daniel Patrick Moynihan and John Breaux as a basis for his proposal, but regardless of its value, the Democrats didn’t want the credit for saving Social Security to go to Bush. Bush’s proposal was relegated to the trash heap of partisan politics.

The aggressive ”War on Poverty” rhetoric at its inception, created expectations that could never be met then or in the future. In the end, the “War on Poverty” did not end poverty and did not retard the economic isolation of inner city ghettos, which was one of the goals put forth in getting the programs passed in Congress. The CAP (Community Action Program) was a program started to help achieve the goal of “eradicating” poverty in under-privileged areas. It has been a dismal failure. Instead of helping to alleviate poverty, the programs supposedly encouraged sloth, dependency, crime, single parenthood and unproductive citizenship. The unintended consequences far outweigh any benefits these programs were intended to correct.

Critics, led by author, sociologist Charles Murray, in his book, “Losing Ground”, charged that most of the programs were misguided, mismanaged, and mangled attempts at social engineering in which liberal overspending stifled market-based solutions and covered up for the faults of individuals. In fact today, in some cases, we have three generations of families on the public dole and who see no way out except by getting that monthly government check. With all these “do-good” programs directed at the poor people, it has made dependency a way of life instead of as a stepping stone to get free from the chains of government hand-outs. One of the major disasters caused by the “War on Poverty” has been the breakup of the black family. Today, approximately 70% of black children are born out of wedlock with no responsible father at home, as head of the household, to give direction to their offspring or to their families. Crime, unemployment and illiteracy are rampant in these inner city neighborhoods and much of it can be traced to the failed programs of the “War on Poverty” and to the perpetuation of the “Nanny State”, which the so-called black leaders fight tooth and nail to preserve, to the detriment of their constituents and to the country as a whole. These “poverty pimps”, as they are called, make their living and further their extravagant lifestyle on the backs of the poor people they claim they are trying to help.

I guess you could describe the “noble” idea of eradicating poverty, as it is practiced today as “The Road to Hell that is paved with Good Intentions”.

With friend’s like that in government and self-serving leaders like Jackson and Sharpton, the poor people do not need any more enemies!

Written by Chuck Lehmann