Commentary
-
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
One great mystery is the persistent refusal of those on the left to abandon what is clearly not true.
Why do they keep insisting that the means for reducing the burden of poverty is more government spending?
The lie entrenched in the 1960s under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
LBJ declared in his 1964 State of the Union address an “unconditional War on Poverty in America.”
Yet, despite tens of trillions of spending since then, the conviction of progressives is that poverty can be wiped out with tens of trillions more government spending.
We now face the latest round of this misguided lie with the expansion of the Child Tax Credit in the Build Back Better Act — now derailed thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin.
Fellow Democrats are now all over Senator Manchin for allegedly not caring about child poverty.
President Biden’s so-called ‘Build Back Better’ Act would have increased the credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000, or $3,600 for children under 6.
Yet, in a particularly destructive move, the BBB detached work requirements from receiving the Child Tax Credit, which a team of University of Chicago economists’ estimate would result in 1.5 million parents leaving the workforce.
More government, less work. This is somehow the answer that Democrat Party leadership is serving up to us for how to build a better future for our nation.
It is becoming more obvious by the day that Democrats have used LBJ’s War on Poverty not to improve the lives of the poor, but as a weapon to dramatically expand government into the lives of the non-poor.
Equally revealing, the more you listen to these progressives and delve into their legislative agenda, is what does not interest them at all.
A little more than a decade ago, Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill at the Brookings Institution publicized what they called the “success sequence.”
The success sequence consists of three steps in behavior to avoid poverty.
Complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 before getting married and then having children.
According to testimony of Haskins in 2012 before the U.S. Senate, those following the “success sequence” have a 2% chance of being in poverty and a 75% chance of reaching the middle class.
But the success sequence doesn’t much interest progressives because the focus is about individuals taking personal responsibility for their lives in a free country.
The “personal responsibility” part and the “free country” part have little standing in the Democratic Party.
Also, of little interest to progressives is that larding down our economy with massive amounts of government retards economic growth.
Why would anyone think slow economic growth is good for the poor?
One big challenge for Americans to allow themselves to be convinced by progressives that government is the answer to anyone’s life’s problems – is that our society then becomes more likely to abandon faith and religion: the very pillars which provide the light and principles for individuals to take control of their own lives.
New data from the Pew Research Center shows the toll that secularization is taking on our country.
According to Pew, 63% of Americans in 2021 identify as Christians, compared with 78% in 2007.
In 2021, 29% indicated they have no religion, compared with 16% in 2007.
In 2007, 56% of Americans said religion was “very important” in their lives, yet in 2021 this was down to 41 percent.
If as a nation we really have desire to help folks in need, whether the need is child- care or to escape poverty, perhaps rather than allow politicians to expand government reach, we should again recall the words of America’s first president, George Washington, in his farewell address.
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. … And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.
“Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
I think we should memorize our first president before these liberals and these progressives destroy our great country.
-
Biden using taxpayer dollars to buy voters is indefensible
In July 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned President Biden’s attempt to cancel more than $400 billion in student debt. Biden has since been exploring ways to bypass the ruling. Recently, he announced that over 270,000 individuals enrolled in his income-driven repayment plan (SAVE) will have $7.4 billion in debt canceled. This action brings the…
-
Trump should move ahead with federal abortion bans
Decades-long Republican efforts to roll back abortion access are now paying off in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade. And yet today, an overwhelming majority of Americans say that they believe at least some abortion access should be protected. GOP presidential candidate Donald…
-
Biden’s White House shows hostility toward Christianity on Easter
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden recently hosted an education-themed Easter egg roll at the White House, while also acknowledging International Transgender Day of Visibility. Some Republicans criticized the White House for banning religious themes from designs in the children’s egg decorating contest. Straight Arrow News contributor Star Parker argues that the White House…
-
Kamala Harris’s abortion clinic visit endorses crime against humanity
Kamala Harris became the first American vice president in history to visit an abortion services provider while in office on Thursday, Mar. 14. That visit was a part of her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, which she hopes will mobilize Americans concerned about dwindling access to reproductive healthcare and abortion services. Straight Arrow News contributor…
-
Schumer must stand down on attacks against Israel
On March 14, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, issued a stark warning that Israel was at risk of becoming a “pariah,” and advocated for a new election to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schumer’s remarks on the Senate floor, notable given his history of unwavering support for the Jewish state, sparked widespread controversy among…
Latest Opinions
-
Australia seeks global ban on violent video posted on X; Musk pushes back
-
Voyager 1 sending data to Earth for first time in five months
-
White House imposes staffing requirements for nursing homes
-
Protests lead to arrests across college campuses
-
Conservative media isn’t covering Kari Lake Supreme Court dismissal
Popular Opinions
-
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.