Okla-homey
7/23/2008, 07:33 AM
July 23, 1964: LBJ pushes through anti-poverty legislation
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1600/lbj36lyndonjohnson14x18ob7.jpg
44 years ago today, shortly after being shoved into the top spot in the White House on the death of his predecessor JFK, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson began pushing an ambitious slate of social initiates through the legislative chain.
Along with watching over the passage of a landmark civil rights bill, Johnson marshaled the government's forces in a so-called "War on Poverty." Though it had been U.S. President John F. Kennedy's brainchild, Johnson transformed the War on Poverty into one of his pet projects.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9163/lbjandfletcher520xn2.jpg
Indeed, LBJ aimed to do nothing less than eradicate poverty. Towards that end, he intended to utilize federal funds to train indigent Americans and, to a lesser degree, offer them financial aid. In the spring of 1964, Johnson called on Congress to earmark $962,000 for the opening salvo in his War.
Legislators acceded to the President's request on this day in 1964 and handed over $947,000 for a melange of literacy, drug rehabilitation and employment programs.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2671/lbj0723wajt4.jpg
The War on Poverty was not without its critics.
William L. Anderson, who teaches economics at Frostburg State University, wrote an opinion column explaining why he believes the war on poverty has caused more harm than good. To show his point, he compared two poor immigrant families to each other. According to Anderson, one family lived in a very small apartment. The parents obtained entry level jobs, and were eventually able to afford a larger apartment. A few years later, they had purchased their own home, and were now middle class. The other family started collecting welfare and food stamps, and living in Section 8 housing. Several years later, they were still dependent on those government programs, and had done nothing to improve their circumstances. Anderson concludes "... the Great Society programs... actually made things much worse."
In 2004, economist Thomas Sowell, a very conservative black author, writing about the war on poverty, stated,
"The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life."
The concept of a war on poverty waned after the 1960s. Deregulation, growing criticism of the welfare state, and an ideological shift to reducing federal aid to impoverished people in the 1980s and 1990s culminated in the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," that Bill Clinton claimed "end[ed] welfare as we know it." Nonetheless, the legacy of the War on Poverty remains in the continued existence of such federal programs as Head Start and Job Corps.
While the War on Poverty was borne of high ideals and good intentions, it met with only modest results. Johnson's programs did help precipitate a decline in America's poverty rolls between 1962 and 1973; however, the War hardly came close to fulfilling LBJ's grander goals.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9264/lbj44274ul7.jpg
Notwithstanding its modest successes and ultimate general abandonment, the debate on government's proper role in the eradication of poverty continues...
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1600/lbj36lyndonjohnson14x18ob7.jpg
44 years ago today, shortly after being shoved into the top spot in the White House on the death of his predecessor JFK, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson began pushing an ambitious slate of social initiates through the legislative chain.
Along with watching over the passage of a landmark civil rights bill, Johnson marshaled the government's forces in a so-called "War on Poverty." Though it had been U.S. President John F. Kennedy's brainchild, Johnson transformed the War on Poverty into one of his pet projects.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9163/lbjandfletcher520xn2.jpg
Indeed, LBJ aimed to do nothing less than eradicate poverty. Towards that end, he intended to utilize federal funds to train indigent Americans and, to a lesser degree, offer them financial aid. In the spring of 1964, Johnson called on Congress to earmark $962,000 for the opening salvo in his War.
Legislators acceded to the President's request on this day in 1964 and handed over $947,000 for a melange of literacy, drug rehabilitation and employment programs.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2671/lbj0723wajt4.jpg
The War on Poverty was not without its critics.
William L. Anderson, who teaches economics at Frostburg State University, wrote an opinion column explaining why he believes the war on poverty has caused more harm than good. To show his point, he compared two poor immigrant families to each other. According to Anderson, one family lived in a very small apartment. The parents obtained entry level jobs, and were eventually able to afford a larger apartment. A few years later, they had purchased their own home, and were now middle class. The other family started collecting welfare and food stamps, and living in Section 8 housing. Several years later, they were still dependent on those government programs, and had done nothing to improve their circumstances. Anderson concludes "... the Great Society programs... actually made things much worse."
In 2004, economist Thomas Sowell, a very conservative black author, writing about the war on poverty, stated,
"The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life."
The concept of a war on poverty waned after the 1960s. Deregulation, growing criticism of the welfare state, and an ideological shift to reducing federal aid to impoverished people in the 1980s and 1990s culminated in the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," that Bill Clinton claimed "end[ed] welfare as we know it." Nonetheless, the legacy of the War on Poverty remains in the continued existence of such federal programs as Head Start and Job Corps.
While the War on Poverty was borne of high ideals and good intentions, it met with only modest results. Johnson's programs did help precipitate a decline in America's poverty rolls between 1962 and 1973; however, the War hardly came close to fulfilling LBJ's grander goals.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9264/lbj44274ul7.jpg
Notwithstanding its modest successes and ultimate general abandonment, the debate on government's proper role in the eradication of poverty continues...