President Lyndon B. Johnson, at right on porch, with the Inez family of Kentucky, in 1964, during a tour of Appalachia, as part of his administration’s “war on poverty.”
Today Jan. 8, 2014, fifty years ago in his State of the Union address on Jan. 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced his “war on poverty,” when the national poverty rate was 19 percent. His project created Medicare, Medicaid, a permanent food stamp program, Head Start, Volunteers in Service to America and the Job Corps.
Fifty years later, much has changed, but much remains the same — the national poverty rate still hovers around 15 percent. Does America need another war on poverty?
Do you think things have changed since President Johnson landmark`s initiatives for the poor? Or perhaps you might not have noticed what changes he brought forth?
Needless to say, our own Hunter`s, "food-heat-and-jobs-we-ve-cut-them-all?" appropriately addresses what President Johnson sought to prevent. Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps are currently lined up against the wall to be executed cold blooded by the Republicans. And it appears that they have some on our side working with them. It is bad. It is really bad. Lyndon Johnson and his lovely Lady Bird must be weeping in their graves.
A Democrat and Texan to boot President Johnson`s aim with his war on poverty was to increase opportunities for all Americans. Racism in that era was rampant against people of color and especially the poor, so he wanted to battle racial discrimination, promoted children’s opportunities and aided the elderly and disabled. His era’s ideas and successes are especially relevant today.
Indeed many things since President Lyndon Johnson`s war on poverty have changed. Many are still the same or worst. Discrimination against the poor and people of color is flashed on the news daily, evidenced by this chilling piece at Huffpost this morning:
"As Nation Enters Deep Freeze, Congress Is Making Sure Poor Americans Stay Cold"
"Large sections of the United States are being frozen by the grip of winter, with a weather system known as a polar vortex bringing subzero temperatures and blizzard conditions across the Midwest. With temperatures set to reach as low as 50 or 60 degrees below zero in some parts of the nation, staying warm will be harder than ever for many Americans. And Congress has only made this task more challenging for those most in need"
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No one, especially President Johnson would`ve imagined the word sequestration during his presidency, or in that era fifty years ago. Even political correctness has changed since then, as today this is the negative effect the Republicans bring to the table against the poor, again. This is the new political wave of assaults on the poor raged by both parties in today`s battle for power in the political arenas. And I have personally seen the changes.
Sequestration's budget cuts last year meant that thousands of families were left in the cold this winter. Congress cut funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program by about $155 million, and total funding has decreased from $5.1 billion to $3.32 billion since 2010.
Being one of those left out in the cold this bitter and harsh winter as the energy assistance program here in Wisconsin is struggling to find a place to put my name on their list for engery help to pay heat my home I can see the change. This will be the first winter that I have met this type of hardship with this energy asssistance program to aid my heating bill. But this is just the tip of the iceburg that today`s politicians are chipping away in their war against the poor and poverty, their war against President Lyndon Johnson`s dream for the poor --and they are winning.
His project created Medicare, Medicaid, a permanent food stamp program, Head Start, Volunteers in Service to America and the Job Corps. As we cringe and slap our brows we see how Medicare is now fair game in the secuestration game of chicken as is Social Security, that politicans hold over the elderly, the infirmed and poor who will be the payees of the sufferings.
Republicans are doing all they can in their awesome political elected powers to exterminate Medicaid health coverage for the poor and the most needy as if Medicaid was some type of termite to kill. Most Red state governors opted to stay a Medicaid free zone by foregoing federal monies to pay for Health Care under the ACA doctrine, as some sarcastically refer to as ObamaCare.
Our children, right here in my own back yard have lost Head Start once Scott Walker joined the Koch brother`s assault on the poor. Children are going hungry as families have been strapped with Food Share benefit cuts down to the bone. The assault on the war on poverty law signed by President Lyndon Johnson goes deep into the political Ideological Republican Party set of beliefs -- based on broad views of social, economic and political matters aimed at harming the poor, elderly and needy. Education is on the block for deep cuts. But the changes we see today are the product of the one I strongly describe as the devil himself, Ronald Reagan.
I have to think that Ronald Reagan was the sole beneficiary of the ongoing battle against the safety net for poor people of this country. He personally coined the word "Welfare" as apposed to the correct war on poverty which was President Lyndon Johnson`s motive when he signed into law the Poverty Bill (also known as the Economic Opportunity Act) while press and supporters of the bill look on, August 20, 1964.
I have written about Ronald Reagan`s racists remarks in diaries. So have many others done the same here at Daily Kos when writing about how he blasted the poor Blacks and Hispanics getting government assistance benefits, whether monitary or food stamps, while using bigotry names to whistle his racism across his party base. But Reagan has not been the only thorn in my heart when it comes to politicians dismantling the safety net that for many many years had kept out children well fed, and families living in warm homes during winters.
President Bill Clinton. Yes our own Democrat big dog himself jumped on the Ronald Reagan band wagon when he signed PRWORA into law on August 22, 1996, The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 fulfilling his 1992 campaign (defined by Bill Clinton's promise to "end welfare as we know it. ....No more cash assistance for poor mothers with dependant children signed into law by a good democrat big dog.
Writing this diary has been in the works on my mind for some time. It has never been about me or my food stamps. Nor has it been about engery assistance hardships. And Medicare for me is akin to having an extra arm or leg. It is here to stay with me until I die or if the law is not repealed or dies before I do. For me it has always been about those who are not in my position. And by my position I mean they are still younger and about to become eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Currently they are struggling to get health care for their families, while my own is pretty secure in this area.
There are no children in this household. My lovely wife and I are survivors and will do with what we have. I always think of those who are less fortunate than I am. Households with small children who go to school hungry while the well-to-do enjoy the fruits denied to many. I had never witnessed such political mistreatment of poor Americans as I do today. It is sickening.
Politically, things have really changed since President Barrack Obama moved into the White House and became the first Black President this country has ever had. I can still recall when Republicans refused to hand the keys to Obama new home in the Oval Office -- and sent him packing to a Motel 6, or somewhere else until his office was unoccupied by previous officials. We all understand that the unknown causes fear, and I believe it is this unknown wake up call Republicans suffered after the last presidential elections that has caused these changes to the safety net the poor had enjoyed for so long. Things were bound to change. They were bound to change for the worst. I have seen it clearly.
The words still resonate loudly in my mind, "Yes we can, Hope and change is on the way!"
Like many of you, I too voted for that change and that hope. If only I could had foreseen what was ahead for those who voted for President Barrack Obama, I never would have believed that the Republicans would`ve turned into the bunch of vigilantes that they are bent on dismantling the very lively-hood of their own country men and women, simply because change was the politial topic and a must --of the presidential election.
Sore losers. But I really think they have yet begun to fight. And they have the weapons, the money and the courts. I just hope that I am wrong for what my reasoning is worth.
I will answer my own question. Yes, I think we need another War on Poverty.