So now we have melting snow, rain, and high wind warnings.
A real slop fest.
This is a hand held, four exposure HDR. ISO:200.
Ruminations On The War On Poverty
While visiting Samizdata, a very well written blog, I came across this comment, "The United States, since the times of the “Great Society”, has spent approximately 24 trillion dollars on anti-poverty programs, while the percentage of those considered to be in poverty has remained the same. With a 50 year track record as evidence of the utter failure of the welfare state, it amazes me that the public continues to buy into this form of wealth re-distribution."
An insightful observation.
Needless to say, you always get someone to disagree. So I decided to look it up as best I could in a short amount of time. Here's what I came up with after a brief search.
Federal spending, population and poverty totals [iii]
Total People in Welfare Expenditure Population[iv] Poverty[v] Expenditures[vi] Per Person (Millions) (Millions) (Billions) In Poverty
1960 179.5 39.9 $17.7 $445
1970 202.2 25.4 $43.9 $1,726
1980 225.0 29.3 $128.8 $4,399
1990 248.6 33.6 $138.2 $4,116
2000 278.9 31.6 $205.4 $6,503
2010 305.7 46.2 $349.6 $7,571
2011 308.5 46.2 $369.2 $7,983
2012 310.6 46.5 $356.8 $7,674
These figures came from the Federal Safety Net site.
That totals $52,245 for a family of four even though the Poverty Threshold for such a family is $23,492
Next I went over to Wikipedia.
So, what's a person to make of this?
I think we could conclude that the 24 trillion dollars spent to fight poverty have been a failure.
Yet we continue to spend ever larger amounts to combat poverty and now also it's evil cousin income inequality. Our current occupant of the White House has publicly stated he wants to "spread the wealth around."
I paraphrase a definition of insanity (and stupidity) as 'doing the same thing over & over but expecting a different result.'
I fervently hope that it begins to dawn on those who still think this type of waste is actually good and a better alternative than growing the economy, that it is NOT about helping the poor. It never has been. It's about power, control, creating a dependent underclass who will always support you out of necessity.
Or as Lyndon B. Johnson said, "I’ll have those n*****s voting Democrat for the next 200 years."
His words, not mine.
Finally, let me leave you with two items via American Digest.
The first this comment.
"There are 8 levels of control that must be obtained before you are able to create a fascist state. The first is the most important. 1) Healthcare – Control healthcare and you control the people
2) Poverty – Increase the Poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.
3) Debt – Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.
4) Gun Control – Remove the ability for citizens to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state.
5) Welfare – Take control of every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing, and Income)
6) Education – Take control of what people read and listen to – take control of what children learn in school.
7) Religion – Remove the belief in the God from the Government and schools
8) Class Warfare – Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.
Does any of this sound like what is happening to the United States "
And finally,
