Free Republic

It’s hard to have sympathy for anyone in the Ferguson affair — the cops, the demonstrators, the pontificating politicians, the exploitative media or we its pathetically loyal audience that keeps tuning in. The whole event plays out like the umpteenth rerun of the famous quote from Marx about history repeating itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. By that accounting we should all be at Aristophanes, Moliere or Groucho (pick your favorite farceur) times ten by now. Unfortunately, however, it’s farce with virtually no comedy, no humor. The Ferguson affair is a grim business indeed, particularly...

Garry Cobb played football for USC and then for 11 years with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is now running for New Jersey’s 1st District seat as a Republican, and his explanation of why he is no longer a Democrat is very compelling. Explaining that he kind of discovered that he was Republican due to his upbringing, he said that the massively negative effects of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty had the most impact: This was an incentive for the man to leave the home and it’s destroyed African-American families throughout the country. I didn’t realize it but as I started...

July, 1964. Fifty years ago this month. The Republican Party nominates Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater for president. The resulting uproar was somewhere north of hysteria. And that was just from the GOP establishment of the day. Followed famously by a November landslide Goldwater “defeat” in which the Arizonan carried a mere five states in his race against Democratic President Lyndon Johnson. Goldwater was the first conservative Republican to win nomination since the 1924 selection of Calvin Coolidge (the vice president who had succeeded Warren Harding after his death). From 1928 all the way through 1960, every GOP nominee from Hoover...

Fifty years and trillions of dollars after the “War on Poverty” was launched, poor Americans aren’t much better off, according to a study published by Republican reformers in Congress. The War on Poverty has barely made a dent in actual poverty, states the 205-page report unveiled last month by the House Budget Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).

Take a look at the graph below. From the end of World War II until 1964 the poverty rate in this country was cut in half. Further, 94% of the change in the poverty rate over this period can be explained by changes in per capita income alone. Economic growth is clearly the most effective antipoverty weapon ever devised by man. The dotted line shows what would have happened had this trend continued. Economic growth would have reduced the number in poverty to a mere 1.4% of the population today ? a number so low that private charity could probably...

Since this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the "war on poverty," we can expect many comments and commemorations of this landmark legislation in the development of the American welfare state. The actual signing of the "war on poverty" legislation took place in August 1964, so the 50th anniversary is some months away. But there have already been statements in the media and in politics proclaiming that this vast and costly array of anti-poverty programs "worked." Of course everything "works" by sufficiently low standards, and everything "fails" by sufficiently high standards. The real question is: What did the "war...

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the follow statement regarding President Obama's "Promise Zones" announcement: "It's altogether fitting that President Obama is today talking about income inequality because income inequality has increased dramatically as a direct result of his economic policies. Out-of-control government spending, debt, taxes, and regulations have killed millions of jobs. Unfortunately, rather than stop Washington's job-killing policies, President Obama proposes yet more government spending and debt. People need jobs. All of America needs to be a real 'Promise Zone'--with reduced barriers to small businesses creating private-sector jobs--and we should start by repealing every word...

Within a matter of days, it has become cliche to make note of President Obama's new commitment to ending "income inequality" in America after returning from a vacation in Hawaii that costs taxpayers millions of dollars. And as my longtime friend Newt Gingrich has most articulately argued this week, the "war on poverty" has been an abject failure from the day Lyndon Johnson first uttered the declaration. I recommend reading Gingrich's comments to receive an education on its long and costly failed effort. In an effort to propose constructive policy, may I suggest that, rather than play at the margins...

President Barack Obama is set to speak on Thursday about how he will target job creation, housing, law enforcement and education in the poorest U.S. communities, part of his pledge to narrow the gap between rich and poor in America. Obama signaled last month that he plans a new focus this year on income inequality, which he called "the defining challenge of our time", pushing to raise the minimum wage and find new ways to help poor children break out of the cycle of poverty. As part of this effort, Obama will create "promise zones" in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los...

When Lyndon Baines Johnson announced his War on Poverty in 1964, I wonder if he expected we’d still be waging it 50 years later? We’ve now spent over $20 trillion on the War on Poverty, and what have we got to show for it? A welfare system that has been institutionalized into one of the country’s main industries, the creation of a new, permanent, underclass of non-contributing members of society, and the destruction of the black family: in short, a system that does more to perpetuate the existence of poverty than eliminate it. You could call it collateral damage. By...

In contrast, children are voiceless, so they are the age group most likely to be poor today. That’s a practical and moral failure. I don’t want anybody to be poor, but, if I have to choose, I’d say it’s more of a priority to help kids than seniors.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Today it's the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty. Did you know that? So today we're celebrating 50 years of defeat in the War on Poverty. But it's a valiant effort that we continue to make, 50 years of defeat in the War on Poverty. Robert Rector has rerun the numbers. The amount of money that we have spent in income redistribution is stunning. I have that number. I have to make my own number here. Take a break. We'll be back and continue in mere moments. Don't go away. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Robert Rector, Heritage...

As a child of the 80s, I remember We Are the World. Yeah, the song is terrible, but it was nice to see rock stars care about charity. Back then poverty in Africa was in the news all the time. But things have been changing in Africa and in other “third-world” countries. More countries are opening up their markets. China, Russia, India, and Botswana are all much freer economies than they were in 1970. But even I was shocked when I saw this graph: Mark Perry, an economics professor at UM-Flint said it best: Well, the chart above could perhaps qualify...

The right loves to demonize unions, but economic factors are much more important to success in the classroom Google the phrase “education crisis” and you’ll be hit with a glut of articles, blog posts and think tank reports claiming the entire American school system is facing an emergency. Much of this agitprop additionally asserts that teachers unions are the primary cause of the alleged problem. Not surprisingly, the fabulists pushing these narratives are often backed by anti-public school conservatives and anti-union plutocrats. But a little-noticed study released last week provides yet more confirmation that neither the “education crisis” meme nor...

Chris Hayes is a leading light in MSNBC's brain trust. The network casts him as a serious intellectual bringing serious solutions to America's problems. Which makes his simplistic and manifestly mistaken proposal that much more maddening. Making a peek-a-boo video-clip appearance on today's Melissa Harris-Perry's show, which focused on finding solutions to poverty in America, Hayes was seen holding up a hand-written sign with his solution, reading "Giving people money: It's actually that easy." View the video here.

A lesson in economics. Learning from Obituaries.... It seems that every couple of days New Orleans loses one of its treasured ENTREPRENEURS . Lets get the players straight before we go on with this. interpretation of data not verified but... LARMONDO "FLAIR" ALLEN His Companion (NOT married with children: Kawanner Armstrong His Sons : Christian Allen Kwan Allen Larmondo Allen, Jr. His Daughters: Deidra Allen Larmenshell Allen Lamonshea Allen Larmomdriel Allen Larmerja Allen Korevell Allen AT AGE 25 - He had 9 Children. (Could Kawanner Armstrong Possibly Be The Mother Of All Of His Kids?) His Father: Burnell Thompson His...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker made a statement on HBO's Real Time Friday that should please gun rights advocates across the fruited plain. Despite being for stronger gun laws, Booker said, "Legal gun buyers are not causing murders in Newark and Chicago and other places" … CORY BOOKER, NEWARK MAYOR (D-N.J.): To me, the data should drive our decision making. So I know, I’m not afraid of people having guns who are law abiding citizens. In the analysis of gun murders and shootings in my city, I could only find one in the entire time I’ve been mayor...The guns that are...

In September 2010, the Associated Press prepared an advance report on the expected surge in the Census Bureau's official poverty rate, which rose from 13.2% to a 15-year high of 14.3%. Their stated preoccupation was not with the associated pain, but with "the unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when Congress is at stake." Well, this year's official poverty rate will very likely be the highest seen since the mid-1960s, and there's a presidential election coming up. What's the AP, aka the Administration's Press, to do? It looks like the strategy is to get...

“The vast majority of current programs are focused on making poverty more comfortable … rather than giving people the tools that will help them escape poverty.” (CNSNews.com) – The federal government is not making much headway reducing poverty despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a study by the libertarian Cato Institute. Despite an unprecedented increase in federal anti-poverty spending, the national poverty rate has not declined, the study finds. “[S]ince President Obama took office [in January 2009], federal welfare spending has increased by 41 percent, more than $193 billion per year,” the study says. Federal welfare spending...

Formerly Great Cities All Over America Are Turning Into Open, Festering SoresJanuary 1, 2012 Once upon a time, the people of the United States constructed beautiful, shiny cities from coast to coast that were the envy of the entire globe. We had the largest and most vibrant middle class that the world has ever seen and life was quite good in America. But now all of our prosperity is coming crashing down and many of our formerly great cities are turning into open, festering sores. Unfortunately, we are drowning in so much debt that we can barely even slow down...