[live+let_live]

To get a rock to roll all the way to the bottom of the mountain takes several pushes along the way.

[cgbg]

I guess I should expand on my post a little bit.

Three of LBJ's creations have been incredibly destructive of the fabric of the nation:

(1) Medicare--this long term entitlement will ultimately grow faster than any part of the Federal budget. It is a sacred cow to pay for senior health care, and with the baby boomers reaching their senior years and the growth in expensive (and effective) health care technology expanding life expectency and survival rates from previously fatal diseases will create an unfunded federal and state liability beyond our wildest imaginations.

(2) Medicaid--Our failure to enforce the immigration laws has turned this "health care for the poor" program into a feeding frenzy that has had explosive growth since LBJ's day. It will exceed Social Security in its long-term impact on the Federal debt.

(3) HUD--Visit any major or mid-size US city and tour the residential areas in 1960 vs. today. The results speak for themselves. A nation without great cities where people are safe and comfortable can not long survive as a great nation. Every HUD program to fix poverty just seems to make it worse. What HUD could have done would have been to oppose the environmental lobby and the local regulatory frenzy to support privately funded truly affordable housing. Instead they have chosen to just add to the problem with another layer of bureaucracy that increases the costs of housing in all cities.