So, How’s That Workin’ Out For Ya?

by: doug edelman | published: 11 23, 2011

I have determined the time has come to examine the last few decades of American History, do some analysis, and ask some poignant questions to allow the reader to draw some conclusions and to question some presumptions.

Let’s start with the 60s. A time when racism was common, segregation, discrimination and bigotry were institutional, and “the man” truly was keeping the black community down.

But “the man” wasn’t your typical right-wing conservative! It was primarily the DEMOCRATS!

The early civil right movement was supported and encouraged by the GOP and conservatives. Civil rights legislation was OPPOSED and even filibustered not by those evil right-wing conservatives, but by the LEFT WING Democrats! (The filibuster of the Civil Rights Act was led by 18 Democrats and a lone Republican, and the HIGHLIGHT of the show was Senator Robert Byrd!)

Bull Connor, whose name is practically synonymous with racism and civil-rights opposition, was not only a Democrat; he was Democratic National Committeeman for Alabama! He ran for Governor on the Democrat ticket. He led the Alabama delegation to the 1948 Democratic National Convention to walk out over a civil-rights plank in the platform!

Another iconic Democrat, George Wallace, served as Governor of Alabama. In his INAUGURAL SPEECH he made the following statement: “In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!”

Lyndon Johnson is hailed today as a liberal pioneer and champion of civil rights, but Johnson himself was a notorious racist and no lover of our black brethren. He did, however, view them as a malleable resource. He did not oppose civil rights legislation (which, by the way, was supported by the GOP and opposed by many democrats, and would never have passed without the GOP). Instead he supported it as a means of securing power for Democrats. He is famously quoted as saying “I’ll have these (n-words) voting Democrat for the next 100 years!” He was right! For the last half of that predicted century – the black community has been a monolithic voting bloc, supporting democrats about 97%.

How’s that workin’ out for ya?

Johnson doubled down on Civil Rights – sensible, reasonable, moral and appropriate legislation – and ushered in the “War on Poverty”.

Vastly expanding on FDR’s New Deal Welfare State, Johnson ushered in a whole new culture, creating generational dependency and a paradigm of the entitlement mentality.

By providing a bare subsistence, but requiring nothing from the recipients; by subsidizing out of wedlock childbearing; by setting the “soft bigotry of low expectations”; a new “system” was created and the “underprivileged” soon learned the rules of the game to receive a meager but adequate living at government expense… without having to learn, earn or contribute to their own subsistence. Add to this the deference to the Educational Cabal which promoted the teaching unions and denied vouchers and school choice, and the urban schools became cesspools where thriving educationally was virtually impossible. A new dependency class was born – and could be counted on to vote for their “benefactors”.

How’s that workin’ out for ya?

The “war on poverty” is lost! More people live near or below the poverty line than when the programs were started. And for the record, there are as many poor whites as blacks, gaming the same system. There are as many whites on assistance or food stamps today as blacks. The “dependency culture” is not melanin specific!

Now let’s look at the 70s

Carter instituted the “Community Reinvestment Act” – ostensibly ending the banking practice of “redlining” which essentially declared entire neighborhoods to be bad loan risks. A laudable purpose… but the real result of the Act was to force banks to abandon sound underwriting principles and risk assessment, and to make unwise loans to those who were at high risk of default. This was the beginning of the “Sub Prime” Housing Debacle!

Nevermind that Carter’s other leftist policies drove the country to a “malaise” that brought us to the brink of another 30s style depression. The CRA (and Clinton’s doubling down on it under the direction of ACORN in the 90s) set in motion the mortgage crisis, the Fannie/Freddie crisis, the banking crisis and ultimately all the economic woes currently being blamed on George Bush!

So how’s THAT workin’ out for ya?

The 80s saw a brief respite! Reagan’s tax cuts DOUBLED revenues and spurred economic growth unparalleled in at least 30 years! Despite the Tip O’Neal Congress increasing spending $1.84 for every dollar in new revenue, thus creating the so-called “Reagan Deficits”… the economy generally thrived and expanded. Unemployment was down. Interest rates came down. Inflation came down. Standards of living went up. There was optimism in America.

Are you old enough to remember? Do you miss those days?

The 90s were a mixed bag. Clinton strengthened and expanded the Community Reinvestment Act – placing even more odious regulations on the banks and essentially telling them they MUST make loans to people who can’t afford them. The mentality that homeownership is a right superseded the notion that Americans have a right to purchase any home they can afford! The stage was set for collapse, and collapse it did in the latter half of Bush’s 2nd term. But remember that it was the Bush Administration and the GOP in Congress who raised the red flag in 2005, with the Fannie Freddie Hearings (check ‘em out on YouTube!) They sought to curb the problem while it WAS addressable…while the powerful Dems – Dodd, Frank, Waters, Clay etc. all stood up to defend Fannie/Freddie and it’s leadership. “Nope, no problems here! Nothing to see here, folks, move along. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

How’s THAT workin’ out for ya?

Still there was a silver lining to the 90s. In 1994 the Gingrich Revolution and the Contract With America swept the GOP into power in the Congress. With Newt at the helm, Clinton was dragged kicking and screaming to a balanced budget and the first actual SURPLUSSES in 50 years – which of course Clinton took credit for, and which the complicit press has turned into accepted fact over the subsequent decade! The positive numbers continued until 9/11 and the War on Terror.

The millennial decade is largely misunderstood. Bush is touted by the left as the worst president ever. They blame him and the wars for our economic difficulties at the end of his presidency. But the reality is different from the narrative.

It’s true that the dot-com bubble burst, 9/11 and the wars took a toll on the economy. We fell from surplus to deficit as we ramped up military action.

Still, Bush’s WORST deficit in his first 6 years (while he had a GOP Congress) was around $430 Billion in 2003. Yup, His WORST deficit was around half the cost of the Obama Stimulus alone! Still, that was a big number for its time. So what did Bush do? He instituted the Bush Tax Cuts that are once again in the news today! The result? 3 consecutive years of reducing deficits! The last year with a GOP Congress, the deficit was cut to only $120 Billion, a reduction of nearly 2/3 in 3 years. Still, six years into his presidency, Bush was soundly and rightly criticized four raising our 4 Trillion Dollar National Debt by 50% to 6 Trillion. And the reins of Congress were turned over to Pelosi/Reid. By the time Obama took office, Pelosi/Reid had added a TRILLION to our annual deficit, and 3 more Trillion to the Debt! NOTICE that in 2 years Pelosi and Company added 3 Trillion, while it took Bush and the GOP 6 years to add 2 Trillion.

So Obama comes into office with a 9 Trillion dollar debt. In his time occupying the White House, we’ve seen the debt balloon from 9 Trillion to 15 Trillion… more than a 50% growth in 3 years!

How’s THAT workin’ out for ya?

Are you starting to notice a pattern here?

It’s been said that if you tax something, you get less of it. If you subsidize something you get more of it. Why, then, do we tax success and subsidize failure?

How’s that workin’ out for ya?

add a comment