The Progressive Legacy
Recently I heard somebody say they thought the President's policies were detrimental to the nation. It occurred to me how differently we view not only the affects of federal policy but the image of America itself. I am going to separate the old style liberals (like FDR) from the modern progressives (like Liz Warren) as best I can. I think it's important to make the distinction. FDR who served for 4 terms during the great depression is notable, in my mind, for two things. He gave Americans hope in that he convinced them that he knew how to get the country out from under the grip of the Great Depression and as part of that endeavor he created what is considered to be the most popular entitlement program in the world - Social Security. On the other hand, Ted Kennedy, whom I consider to be one of the first progressives was instrumental in legislation that has a serious impact on the nation which haunts us to this very day.
What is the difference in ideology?
IMO the old style liberals believed in Civil Liberties and legislated purely out of benevolence, without much thought on what the real affects of those policies would be. The progressive on the other hand has a much more sinister view of America. With progressives it's all about grievances, be it race, gender or sexual orientation. They view their opponents as evil, to be silenced or slandered and to them, the end justifies the means.
Example: the Governor of New York:
"Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) "drew gasps from the crowd" on Wednesday when he belittled America in response to President Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
“We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great ,” Cuomo said during a speech in New York. He went on to argue that only when Democrat priorities like women's rights are realized will this dark, oppressive dystopia known as the U.S.A. ever become great.
https://pjmedia.com/video/gov-andrew-cuomo-shocks-audience-america-was-never-that-great/
Not surprising after we had a progressive (radical) President who called Americans living in middle America "clingers " and a elitist Presidential candidate who called millions of Americans "deplorable ".
That being said, my real purpose is to examine the affects of liberal/progressive policy. I will use a two examples (for now), which I consider some of the most egregious:
The War on Poverty/Welfare
Fifty-four years ago LBJ launched his famous "War on Poverty". Without question a noble idea. The results have been devastating to the nation and to certain groups in particular. Well over $20 Trillion has been spent on this "war" since it began. The US Census bureau reported in 2013 that 14.5% of Americans were "poor" almost exactly what it was in 1964.
So what has all of the welfare expenditures for half a century actually accomplished?
It has created dependency and penalized marriage:
"S ince 1970, out-of-wedlock birth rates have soared. In 1965, 24 percent of black infants and 3.1 percent of white infants were born to single mothers. By 1990 the rates had risen to 64 percent for black infants, 18 percent for whites. Every year about one million more children are born into fatherless families. If we have learned any policy lesson well over the past 25 years, it is that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great. The policy implications of the increase in out-of-wedlock births are staggering."
https://www.brookings.edu/research/an-analysis-of-out-of-wedlock-births-in-the-united-states/
About one year after LBJ initiated this "war," fellow liberal Daniel Patrick Moynihan issued his famous "Moynihan Report" which documented the crisis in the black community and which eventually had serious consequences for all of American society to this very day:
"At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of Negro society is the deterioration of the Negro family.
It is the fundamental source of the weakness of the Negro community at the present time.
The white family has achieved a high degree of stability and is maintaining that stability.
By contrast, the family structure of lower class Negroes is highly unstable, and in many urban centers is approaching complete breakdown."
http://www.blackpast.org/primary/moynihan-report-1965
How pertinent is that to us today?
Immigration Act of 1965
"The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society.
It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs". ...Ted Kennedy
In 1965, after debating the issue of reforming the nation's immigration law, the US congress passed legislation which removed quotas established during the 1920's as they accepted the assurances of the likes of Ted Kennedy and a President bent on doing whatever felt good. Those quotas btw were aimed directly at southern Europe at the urging of newly formed labor unions. The fear was cheap labor. Ted Kennedy was making a different kind of argument - fairness!
“This bill goes to the very central ideals of our country, our streets may not be paved with gold, but they are paved with the promise that men and women who live here – even strangers and new newcomers – can rise as fast, as far as their skills will allow, no matter what their color is, no matter what the place of their birth” he proclaimed from the floor of the US Senate.
Senator Sam Ervin (NC), a different kind of democrat, would say " The people of Ethiopia have the same right to come to the United States under this bill as the people from England, the people of France, the people of Germany, and the people of Holland....with all due respect to Ethiopia, I don’t know of any contributions that Ethiopia has made to the making of America.”
President Johnson who had even bigger fish to fry at the time, managed to get congress to go along. As he signed the new immigration law, he reassured them again. “This bill that we will sign today is not a revolutionary bill.”
The results have been significant to say the least. A stellar example of immigration without limits! From that day to the present day we have seen a sea change in immigration. First our immigrants no longer come mainly from Europe, they mainly come from Latin America, Africa and Asia. CA agriculture has developed a dependency on cheap labor. The southern border became porous and we have an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens and refugees. The illegal immigration rate is estimated to be growing by 700,000 per year (according to The Heritage Foundation). Most important of all is the threat this immigration chaos poses to the nation's security. Unfortunately, both Republicans and democrats have incentives to keep this chaotic system in place.
These are only two of the well meant "changes" liberals & progressives have brought to American society and these are just two that came out of the Johnson administration alone. Such legislation was compounded by decades of policies, laws and judicial appointments which have done far more harm than good.
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This may only be part 1. There is so much to cover here. So much damage done to this country.
For your approval, I submit what progressives have done
no worries.... the other side of the progressive legacy is very good news.
people are leaving the dnc in droves and taking their money with them
less than 90 days away from midterms and the dnc is dead broke
not much support left for progressives or socialism
cheers
You made my day
they are losing more of the black and hispanic vote as well.
in 2008 I said time was the progressives worst enemy.... and this is exactly what I was talking about.
someone like trump? was easily predictable.
dem-pocolypse 2018 :)
Dem-pocolypse!
I love that? Mind if I use it?
LMAO!
That there is funny, I don't care who you are!
carry on
Vic, I wouldn't want to be a black person in this country for this reason. The Democrats, Socialists, The Left or whatever they are going by now have worked their tails off trying to convince blacks they are victims, a whole lot of whites, especially in the south look down on them and actually hate them. I wouldn't want anyone to put me in a position like that, where I couldn't help but feel like a lot of people were against me and didn't like me and most of all, I wouldn't want people to think I wasn't able to take care of myself. But the Democrats have put blacks in this position. In fact all of the Liberal Media has been working overtime to convince blacks they are not equal to everyone else and they need them to protect them.
In another article I saw a comment about the drunk man calling the people the n-- word and the comment said it happens everyday. That's simply not true. We know there are racists, but nowhere near the numbers the Liberals try to make it out to be. Actually I hear the n-- word quite often and I hear it from one black to another and never hear it anywhere other than articles put up by Liberals or some white racist site that some Liberal puts on this site in an article.
I don't frequent any sites that are racist and I don't treat blacks any different than I do anyone else. The Liberals need the blacks to be convinced the country is filled with racist whites in order to keep them hating or feeling like victims. They have not helped the blacks in my opinion by pushing this narrative over and over.
So I want to put this video from Thomas Sowell, who I respect greatly and let anyone who is willing to listen to his perspective. I'm putting two up. One is for all of us and the other will be for Buzz, should he stop by. By the way, this is a very good article. Hope it produces an intelligent debate. We all have our own opinions and this is mine.
Thanks. I like the perspective and it is something we all need to think about.
We should try and put ourselves in the shoes of others from time to time.
The Democrats, Socialists, The Left or whatever they are going by now have worked their tails off trying to convince blacks they are victims, a whole lot of whites, especially in the south look down on them and actually hate them.
Have you lived in the south? That sounds like you have seen it.
I wouldn't want anyone to put me in a position like that, where I couldn't help but feel like a lot of people were against me and didn't like me and most of all, I wouldn't want people to think I wasn't able to take care of myself. But the Democrats have put blacks in this position. In fact all of the Liberal Media has been working overtime to convince blacks they are not equal to everyone else and they need them to protect them.
They are playing with fire. How did we get here? Partly because of what Ted Kennedy & LBJ did with immigration. The scoundrels on the left have decided that the old silent majority is declining in numbers and as you point out (via the great Thomas Sowell) are using victimology and identity politics to win elections they had a hard time winning on merit.
You obviously didn't read the WHOLE article that you linked. While it starts out sounding like it supports your agenda, the article actually REFUTES to idea that 'welfare' promoted out of wedlock births. You really should READ the whole thing instead of just the first paragraph.
BTW, the statement 'one million more children are born into fatherless families' has nothing to do with welfare, it has to do with the failure of men to PARENT...
Oh, but I did.
While it starts out sounding like it supports your agenda, the article actually REFUTES to idea that 'welfare' promoted out of wedlock births.
Ya, I know. It is after all the Brookings institute - a left wing think tank. I wanted the the numbers, which they try to refute. If you read my article you might notice that I referred to the Moynihan Report. Daniel Moynihan was also a liberal and he fixed the blame where it belongs. Something his fellow liberals turned on him for.
I will grant you that the pill which made sex more gratuitous via so many willing partners has actually hurt poor women. Men simply feel they no longer have to be accountable. However, welfare based on single parent households has exacerbated an already bad situation. Again, government benevolence having the opposite affect. Progressives will never learn it seems.