America's longest and most expensive war: A New War on Poverty [Jeremiah 17]

Examples of the failures of government, large and small, are pretty easy to come by. Solyndra, the Iraq War, the response to Hurricane Katrina, Obamcare: Take your pick. But in terms of both wasted money and human suffering, it’s hard to find a more egregious government failure than the War on Poverty. It was 50 years ago today that Lyndon Johnson announced, as the centerpiece of his first State of the Union address, an “unconditional war on poverty in America.” No one could deny that poverty was a serious problem at the time. Roughly 19 percent of Americans were poor, although the numbers had been falling steadily since the end of World War II. Fully 23 percent of children lived in poverty. The poverty rate for African Americans ran to an obscene 42 percent.

American government responded to Johnson’s call by throwing money at the problem — massive amounts of money. Since 1965, federal, state, and local governments have spent more than $16 trillion on a panoply of anti-poverty programs. Last year alone, the federal government spent nearly $1 trillion on 126 anti-poverty programs, ranging from Medicaid to the Undergraduate Scholarship Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds. There are 33 federal housing programs run by four different cabinet departments, including, bizarrely, the Department of Energy.

And the result of all this spending? Fifteen percent of Americans still live in poverty. Among children, the poverty rate is nearly 22 percent, barely a point below where it was in when the War on Poverty began. The poverty rate has declined significantly for African Americans, but that has more to do with efforts to end overt discrimination than with anti-poverty programs. Besides, it still remains far too high, at roughly 34 percent...

If people were herded en mass to the gates of heaven and the precipice of hell to choose which place to spend eternity, few would jump headlong into the Lake of Fire. However, this is not the choice that men and women are presented with. Each of us is presented with the choice of "heaven" or "the world". Do you trust in God's Word and His earthly and heavenly provision? Or do you trust in man, government, or Caesar to solve the problems of the world?

That last few years have show us conclusively that man cannot solve the problems of the world (regardless of how much he fancies himself as a god). For the epicenter of the world's problems are not Washington DC, or Mecca, Moscow, or Rome. The epicenter of evil and man's problems is not outside of man. It is the heart of man...of every man. Like the prophet Jeremiah stated, "the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked". Since we are all part of the problem, we cannot solve ourselves! We need someone from the outside to help us. A God who knows our makeup, yet can relate to our manhood and pay the penalty for our shortcomings. A God that is knowable and understands our human condition and promises to give us work, food, a spouse, children, and eternal life if we believe. Who do you choose? Jesus Christ, or the World? God or Caesar? Worldly security, or heavenly security?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it?

Well said. I appreciate your tying scripture references to news items. They’re always thought-provoking. I don’t agree with your conclusions 100% of the time, but you’re batting .800 or so. :-)

FRegards and Blessings

The "War on Poverty" has been a huge success. It grabbed virtually all the new voters created by the 24th amendment, and has kept Democrats in power for the last 50 years.

The article just makes the mistake of assuming that the stated intent was the real intent behind the "War On Poverty."

No, it was about Vote farming.

The war on poverty is a great example of the liberals never being held accountable for the results of their policies.

When has anyone, even Republicans, ever reviewed the results of the war on poverty, or criticized some failures of that war??

Do we have more or less poverty now than in 1965?

Have we achieved any of the goals of the war on poverty?

Are people more easily able to escape poverty due to the assistance of all of these government programs created to fight poverty?

Are people born into poverty nowadays more or less likely than in 1965, to live a life of poverty and pass that on to their future generations?? Or are they more likely to escape poverty due to the government programs??

The Democrats created the War on Poverty. They created the government programs to fight poverty. If these programs were so successful, why don’t Democrats ever talk about these successes??? Why do Democrats hardly ever mention LBJ and the War on Poverty?

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