President Carter and the ‘Yes Party’ [2]

Tue, Dec 11, 2012

Editor: “Among a large class, there seemed to be a dependence upon the government for every conceivable thing. The members of this class had little ambition to create a position for themselves, but wanted the federal officials to create one for them.{{more}} How many times I wished then and have often wished since, that by some power of magic, I might remove the great bulk of these people into the country districts and plant them upon the soil – upon the solid and never deceptive foundation of Mother Nature, where all nations and races that have ever succeeded have gotten their start – a start that at first may be slow and toilsome, but one that nevertheless is real.” – Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery

“Helping those who have been struck by unforeseeable misfortunes is fundamentally different from making dependency a way of life. Although the big word on the left is “compassion,” the big agenda on the left is dependency. The more people who are dependent on government handouts, the more votes the left can depend on for an ever-expanding welfare state,” – Thomas Sowell.

“To achieve these greater gains, one step, above all, is essential—the enactment this year of a substantial reduction and revision in Federal income taxes. For it is increasingly clear—to those in Government, business, and labour who are responsible for our economy’s success – that our obsolete tax system exerts too heavy a drag on private purchasing power, profits, and employment. Designed to check inflation in earlier years, it now checks growth instead. It discourages extra effort and risk. It distorts the use of resources. It invites recurrent recessions, depresses our Federal revenues, and causes chronic budget deficits,” address to the 88th Congress, – President John F Kennedy [Jan. 14, 1963 Jan. 14, 1963].

Romney’s Ignorance

In 1963, the ‘Yes Party’ — the tax and spend party — told Kennedy — their president — ‘No’, but because he was later assassinated, obliged. The result was an exploding economy which got all the way to Nixon’s second term. It was

halted only by an oil embargo by our OPEC friends. That history seems to be lost on most, even Romney, when challenged by Obama “that what Romney was proposing never happened”. Romney had no response. Paul Ryan barely mentioned it in his debate with Biden who jumped in with “Kennedy?” when Ryan said Kennedy had done it.

It is, in fact, the extra cash which was generated by the Kennedy tax cuts that saw the government handout expanding and the policies which led to the destruction of the black family. Presidential candidate Herbert Humphrey [Democrat] predicted it. Democrat Patrick Moynihan, while he was not yet a senator, railed against it, but failed to support Jimmy Carter even though Carter wrote personally to him.

“Thank you for your continued interest in welfare reform and for your helpful counsel. I know you will give these proposals careful consideration. I believe that they provide an opportunity to make important progress in this Congress. I hope to have your active support. I look forward to working with you.” – Sincerely Jimmy Carter…

Voting cattle

As you will see from the Carter proposal, what a policy that gives a woman and child more money if the father was not in the home would encourage. “In Michigan, a two-parent family with the father working at the minimum wage has a total income, including tax credits and food stamps, of $5,922. But if the father leaves, the family will be eligible for benefits totaling $7,076.” [From President Carter’s address] Is the party that supports that policy interesting in helping people out or creating permanent dependency? Imagine young girls telling you that they cannot wait to get pregnant so they could get welfare — free housing, free food and more babies qualify you for more money? In 1990, a legislator from Camden, New Jersey, introduced legislation to end “the babies, more money policy”. He was not called a racist — he was black and a Democrat. Last week you were given the illegitimate birthrate of blacks by 1980; what is it today? Among U.S.-born white women, 30 per cent of births were to unmarried women in 2010. The figure among U.S.-born blacks was 78 per cent; Hispanics, 58 per cent; Asians, 31 per cent, [Figures just released December 8, 2012].

“…politicians…conditioned by short-term requisites of corralling ‘voting cattle’ — as they contemptuously perceive the electorate…” – Ralph Gonsalves, Ensuring Our Tomorrows, address to UPW, Barbados, March 16, 2000.

Is there any doubt that that is how Democrats in the US see the electorate? Why did they reject President Carter’s proposal: To the Congress of the United States:

As I pledged during my campaign for the Presidency I am asking the Congress to abolish our existing welfare system, and replace it with a job-oriented program for those able to work and a simplified, uniform, equitable cash assistance program for those in need who are unable to work by virtue of disability, age or family circumstance. The Program for Better Jobs and Income I am proposing will transform the manner in which the Federal government deals with the income needs of the poor, and begin to break the welfare cycle.

In May, after almost four months of study, I said that the welfare system was worse than I expected. I stand by that conclusion. Each program has a high purpose and serves many needy people; but taken as a whole the system is neither rational nor fair. The welfare system is antiwork, anti-family, inequitable in its treatment of the poor and wasteful of taxpayers’ dollars. It provides incentives for family breakup. In Michigan, a two-parent family with the father working at the minimum wage has a total income, including tax credits and food stamps, of $5,922. But if the father leaves, the family will be eligible for benefits totaling $7,076. It discourages work. In one Midwestern state, for example, a father who leaves part-time employment paying $2,400 for a full-time job paying $4,800 reduces his family’s income by $1,250.

Those who wish to support policies which contribute to the decimation of the black family have the freedom to so. Do not expect me to join you.

Frank E da Silva