Congressman Gohmert: I got into politics to stop paying poor women to have kids

bizpacreview ^ | 1/9/14 | Joe Saunders

[listenhillary]

Liberal heads probably exploded all over the Beltway on Wednesday when Texas conservative Congressman Louie Gohmert took to the House floor to do something libs truly hate:

Tell the truth about welfare checks and unwed mothers – and say he got into politics to do something about it.

President Lyndon Johnson’s so-called War on Poverty led directly to an explosion of illegitimate births in the United States, Gohmert said, which led directly to Gohmert going into national politics.

“If it weren’t for the policies in this War on Poverty declared 50 years ago, it may well be that I would not have ever run for Congress,” Gohmert said.

“Because what got me thinking about it first as a state district judge back in Texas was seeing more and more young women, single women coming before me — single moms — charged with welfare fraud.

One women had had 15 kids, didn’t even know where they all were, that was the most that I ever dealt with. It began to really eat away with me that in the ‘60s the federal government, desiring to help poor moms who were dealing with deadbeat dads, decided, ‘We’ll help, we’ll give a check for every child you can have out of wedlock.’

And guess what happened? More people had children out of wedlock.

In 1963, one year before Johnson’s absurd declaration of “war” against a universal part of the human condition, the white illegitimacy rate in the United States was 3.07 percent, according to the Department of Labor. The black illegitimacy rate was 23.6 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Fifty years into the war, the illegitimacy rate – THE SINGLE MOST CONSISTENT PREDICTOR OF POVERTY – is 25 percent for whites, 42 percent for Hispanics and a truly staggering 72 percent for blacks.

Refreshingly, at least, this isn’t a question about race, it’s a question about reality. Democrats declared “war” on poverty in 1964, then spent the next 50 years deliberately and proudly subsidizing the one factor — single motherhood — that ensured children will be born into poverty, and in turn have even more children born poor.

So it was the insane, cyclical failure of Texan Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” that got Texan Louie Gohmert into politics.

The liberal website Raw Story published a story about Gohmert on Thursday under what its editors probably thought was a mocking headline: “Louie Gohmert: I became a congressman to stop single moms from getting welfare checks.”

To libs, accusing Gohmert of going into politics to stop welfare checks to single mothers is an insult.

With Gohmert, it’s just the truth. And something to be actually be proud of.

[DoodleDawg]

We didn't get here overnight and the solution won't be an overnight fix...

No argument there, but if we agree with Gohmert that there are a lot of abuses in the system then solutions need to be identified. What solutions are Gohmert proposing? Something? Anything?

I'm tired of the people in Washington getting up and spouting the obvious and just leaving it at that. A lot of people abuse the welfare system? Well thank you Captain Obvious, tell us something we don't know. Gohmert says he got into politics to put an end to it? Well he's been in office for 9 years. If that was his motivation then surely he's come up with some ideas for a solution. What is he waiting for?

[DoodleDawg]

I don’t know what we will do with the massive herd of people ill equipped to function in society. The first step is to stop increasing the herd.

Cutting off benefits won't slow the increase in the size of the herd. Cutting off something else might, and might be an incentive for the baby daddies.

[Arrowhead1952]

One women had had 15 kids, didn’t even know where they all were,...with deadbeat dads

Wonder how many "dads" were involved. Thank you LBJ, you sorry lowlife bastard.

[Freee-dame]

bump

[Betty Jane]

We can't cut off benefits for those already on them, but we can stop increasing the size of the herd by denying benefits to future kids. If welfare cash and housing benefits were denied for any child born 9 months from the day of passage, the illegitimacy rate would fall substantially in a year.

For some girls, having a baby is their plan for the future. Take away that option, put the cost of their actions back on them and their parents, and all of a sudden having a baby at 16 is an act of financial stupidity in their eyes. Marriage might even come back in style.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“Tell the truth about welfare checks and unwed mothers – and say he got into politics to do something about it.”

I saw a documentary like 25 years ago and they were interviewing the welfare mothers. They all said the same thing, they got pregnant so they could get on welfare and get out of their mother’s house and get their own apt.

Then they interviewed a few older ones sitting around playing cards in the afternoon and they all said they didn’t try to get a job because they could live on welfare. At that time they were raking in about $23,000 per year.

[JimRed]

And guess what happened? More people had children out of wedlock

Since if there was a man in the house, no check, it made economic sense.

[Theodore R.]

A lot of the American people truly like the welfare state, and it is here to stay.

[Theodore R.]

LBJ was already thinking of ways to induce permanent Democrat voters to the rolls; I guess he thought his immigration bill wouldn’t be enough to do the trick. Still, he would be grateful Cornball is around to back up Great Society measures.

[Jacquerie]

Yep, the rats couldn’t breed enough rats so they have to import them. Just as the pubbies went along with motor voter, they will slit the neck of a dying republic when the House passes amnesty for illegals. Democracy is death to a republic.