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| | == The "Great Society" == | | == The "Great Society" == |
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| − | A tough politician from Texas named Lyndon Johnson became President immediately upon the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963. He became known for two things: pushing through the "Great Society" programs, and starting the Vietnam War. We review each in separate sections here. | + | A tough politician from Texas named Lyndon Baines Johnson ("LBJ") became President immediately upon the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963. '''LBJ became known for two things: pushing through the "Great Society" programs, and starting the Vietnam War.''' We review each. |
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| | The "Great Society" was an attempt by the Democrats who controlled both the White House and Congress from 1963 through 1968 to expand government in order to "end poverty." Also known as the "War on Poverty," Johnson started pushing his vast new and expensive federal government programs through Congress in 1964. This established the modern "welfare state," giving people millions of taxpayer-funded programs without requiring them to work for it. It was a massive and permanent expansion of the approach taken by the New Deal. The "Great Society" or "War on Poverty" included: | | The "Great Society" was an attempt by the Democrats who controlled both the White House and Congress from 1963 through 1968 to expand government in order to "end poverty." Also known as the "War on Poverty," Johnson started pushing his vast new and expensive federal government programs through Congress in 1964. This established the modern "welfare state," giving people millions of taxpayer-funded programs without requiring them to work for it. It was a massive and permanent expansion of the approach taken by the New Deal. The "Great Society" or "War on Poverty" included: |
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| | :Department of Housing and Urban Development (1965): establishing housing for the poor in cities | | :Department of Housing and Urban Development (1965): establishing housing for the poor in cities |
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| − | Jesus said that "you will always have the destitute with you."<ref>Mark 14:7 (NIV).[http://bible.cc/mark/14-7.htm]</ref> President Johnson promised that his programs would eradicate and eliminate poverty. Jesus was right and most of the programs of the Great Society are failing today. In fact, many concluded that the "Great Society" did more harm than good, as in giving people an incentive ''not'' to work and even for mothers to divorce so they could claim welfare. Future Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York, who had served as an assistant secretary in the Labor Department of the Johnson Administration,<ref>http://www.americandaily.com/article/1531</ref> was later critical of the Great Society. Moynihan's later message "to messianic Great Society liberals - we thought we could do anything [-- was that "the] central psychological proposition of liberalism is that for every problem there is a solution."<ref>http://www.americandaily.com/article/1531</ref> | + | Jesus said that "you will always have the destitute with you."<ref>Mark 14:7 (NIV).[http://bible.cc/mark/14-7.htm]</ref> But President Johnson promised that his programs would eradicate and eliminate poverty. Jesus was right and most of the programs of the Great Society are failing today. In fact, many concluded that the "Great Society" did more harm than good, as in giving people an incentive ''not'' to work and even for mothers to divorce so they could claim welfare. Future Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York, who had served as an assistant secretary in the Labor Department of the Johnson Administration,<ref>http://www.americandaily.com/article/1531</ref> was later critical of the Great Society. Moynihan's later message "to messianic Great Society liberals - we thought we could do anything" but "the central psychological proposition of liberalism is that for every problem there is a solution."<ref>http://www.americandaily.com/article/1531</ref> |
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| | Rather than achieving "an end to poverty as we know it," as Johnson promised, thirty years later it became necessary to repeal some of the Great Society. Public outrage at welfare grew so great that fellow Democratic President Bill Clinton felt compelled to sign a partial repeal passed by the conservative Congress in 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Clinton's press secretary (the official who addresses the media for the president) quipped, this "ends welfare as we know it."<ref>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59557</ref> | | Rather than achieving "an end to poverty as we know it," as Johnson promised, thirty years later it became necessary to repeal some of the Great Society. Public outrage at welfare grew so great that fellow Democratic President Bill Clinton felt compelled to sign a partial repeal passed by the conservative Congress in 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Clinton's press secretary (the official who addresses the media for the president) quipped, this "ends welfare as we know it."<ref>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59557</ref> |
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| − | In February 2007, Barack Obama began his campaign for president by declaring, "Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America."<ref>http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/147157/its_official_sen_barack_obama_joins.html?page=2&cat=7</ref>
| + | But in February 2007, Barack Obama began his campaign for president by declaring, "Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America."<ref>http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/147157/its_official_sen_barack_obama_joins.html?page=2&cat=7</ref> |
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| | ==The Vietnam War== | | ==The Vietnam War== |