Elsewhere in this edition I have commented on Amity Shlaes’s book, Great Society: A New History, and reflected on the degree to which the over-confidence, ambitions, and hubris of the public sector elite of the 1960s produced the most massive transformation of America in history, even more so than the New Deal in size and scope. Well, in Joe Biden’s American Families Plan, get ready for an even more comprehensive transformation, which, according to John Cogan and Daniel Heil of the Hoover Institution will extend the reach of federal entitlements to 21 million additional Americans, the largest expansion since, you guessed it, Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. If it is fully adopted, for the first time in history more than half of all Americans would be on the federal dole. And the size and scope of the expansion is not the major element of the threat it represents, which is the fact that the programs in the plan are not intended as “safety net” items that are temporary; most of the plan’s entitlement benefits would go to middle and upper income households as “universal” and explicitly designed to make the middle class dependent on government, all of which would make them politically durable.
And as Cogan and Heil note, improving the safety net is one thing, but spending more than $1 trillion on mainly middle-class entitlements and financing it with debt robs future generations while enriching today’s–pure generational theft by another name, and unforgivable. Anyone who votes for this abomination is complicit.
Neither political party has been serious about deficits for a very long time. The debt already heaped upon posterity is egregious and morally reprehensible.
Since you are highlighting LBJ to some degree you should know that on Aug 6 the LBJ Monument Park will be dedicated in Houston. It is next to the federal courthouse and is a fine looking park. This will be on the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act which is being eroded. There will be many dignitaries there including maybe Kamala Harris. Charles Foster led this effort as he did for the Bush Sr and James Baker statues downtown. I helped him as I have been an LBJ fan for many reasons including that my father grew up with him. He is usually ranked in the top 10 for presidents by historians. Trump is being ranked last or in the last four.
Do you live in Russia? Devoted Communist?
David Redford:
I disagree with your presidential ranking totally. Having a friend as a POTUS does not qualify him as a top=tier president. Policies make the difference. LBJ said, ” If we pass this Civil Rights Bill we’ll [Democratic Party] own the nig ers for the next hundred years”, or words very close to that. Plus he was corrupt as all get out.
I pay attention to policies and actions, not personalities, and by that criterion Trump was the greatest POTUS since Coolidge.
I agree !
I am 84, voted for John Kennedy. Last Democrat. My brother in law was a liberal Democrat. After 2 years listening to that “give
to save those that won’t work…I dumped the red flag.!
You are outnumbered, David, in this crowd, but sadly not in our deceived country.
You’re on the mark once again Jim. As for LBJ, he was no doubt a master politician, arm twister, manipulator and corrupt. I knew Secert Service agents on his protective detail and according to them, he was a loud, rude, profane, sexist, whiskey drinking and uncouth man, but they liked working for him.
LBJ was an abject failure as POTUS. We still have generations of fatherless children due to his Great Society that rewarded women for having illegitimate children; was duped into escalating a losing proposition in Viet Nam; and, was elected into his first federal office by documented voter fraud in south Texas. Is there anywhere else in the US that has a statue of let alone mention of LBJ? Yet again democommunists rewriting history to glorify their ilk. LBJ was a known racist and bigot. Sick and tired of democrats vilifying republicans for the slaves that republicans emancipated, protected, and defeated Jim Crow on their behalf. Look at the writing and pushing through the Voting Rights act, that in fact LBJ did not want to sign into law.
News, Danny: The Secret Service works for Americans, not for POTUS!
Ann–it is a rough crown
Tom–I have $50 that says you cannot find that quote by LBJ from any credible source and that there is any historian who agrees that Trump was the best since Coolidge. Hell Fox News would not agree with you. Let me know. Ann will tell you I pay my debts. Yes many fine historians rank LBJ in the top ten.
Too many historians are Leftists, and they are the ones polled.
I applaud Trump because, unlike others, he kept his campaign promises, got the Abraham Accords, and his administration brought an increased median income to both blacks and middle-class whites for the first time in 20 years. His tweets were not the measure of the man, IMHO. Pay attention to his decisions and policies!
The left-wing historians polled rate Obama much higher than Trump. Obama, whose mission was and is to “fundamentally change America”…into what? We see the change with Biden: authoritarianism and corruption, China is not our enemy, cancel Keystone, and boost the Russian oil pipeline to Germany, as examples.
LBJ said that to George Wallace, Alabama governor, in the White House. There was another man in the oval office who noted it in writing. Reference is a bio. of Wallace by Lesher. LBJ had many foul features, but foolishness was not one of them. Book was published in 1994 and it has been a while since I read it, but this made a memorable impact.
Tom–I will await your evidence on my offer on both counts. Is Trump the best of all time or is he second to Coolidge? Yes historians tend to be highly educated and would rank Trump at or near the bottom. They would consider his truth telling. Obama being born in Kenya; Mexico paying for the wall and his winning the election or the big lie. Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. The country need to follow this to be great and each of us need to be make it our goal.