Has our nation really survived Lyndon Johnson? Yes, the continent
is still here, but what of the fabric and integrity of the Republic?
Johnson prosecuted an unjust, undeclared, unwarranted, and immoral war
(I know; I fought in it) which divided this country more than at
any other time since the War Between the States. (Clinton ranks third in creating
a divisive environment) The fabric of our nation began unravelling
during the Johnson years and has never really repaired itself.
Yes, Johnson's legacy is a marvel to behold. He severed the
currency's link with silver in 1965 and exceeded this folly in
1968 by removing the 25% gold backing of the US dollar held domestically.
(Nixon closed the international gold window in 1971) Johnson's
inflated view of himself bolstered his concept that he could fund
"guns and butter": the war and a host of social welfare and
government spending schemes. To do this without raising taxes, which would
have threatened the plan, he printed and borrowed the money. The gold
and silver standard had to go in order to allow him the flexibility,
nay, impunity to do this. This set the stage for the ravages of
inflation to follow. The 1996 dollar is worth about 20+ cents in
1964 dollars. Worst of all, severing the dollar from gold has
allowed political control of the currency and within the context
of chronic deficits and debt financing, given the Federal Reserve
inordinate power over the private economy. The legacy of Johnson's
social programs has effectively bankrupted the country. Medicaid
began as a $500,000 program. It has grown to a leviathan
$190,000,000,000 program. Indeed, the federal budget was an
"extravagant" $100,000,000,000 (so-called by Republicans in 1960);
in 1996, it tops $1,600,000,000,000. Johnson, also, in league with
Ted Kennedy, changed the immigration laws, making it much easier for
people from impoverished nations to enter our borders than it would
be for people from Europe and the United Kingdom.This has had
a profound influence on the ethnic mix and income distribution
in our country, and has set the stage for impending civil strife.
If FDR launched the New Deal, Johnson sent it into orbit. Now it
is approaching the sun. By dint of the plethora of Great Society
social programs, Johnson inaugurated an age of dependency on
government and relinquishment of personal responsibility.
By expanding programs like AFDC, Johnson facilitated
underclass families to break up since the presence of a father,
married or no, disallowed the mother from collecting the dole.
In 1950, the illegitimacy rate was 12% among blacks; in 1995,
it was almost 60%, not to mention the abhorrent rate of
out of wedlock births to teenagers for all races. The
welfare system, expanded and sanctioned under Johnson, gave
financial incentives to spawning ilegitimate progeny.
And on and on.
BTW, my money is on the freshman Republicans. They represent the
citizen Congress. This is a concept we must return to
if we have any hope of this nation surviving,
let alone, surviving intact. But the worst scenario of
all would be a return to Democrat Congress and Democrat President.
We just unshackled ourselves from 40 years of corrupt, arrogant
Democrat control of the House of Representatives during
which time the nation has become spiritually depraved, morally
bankrupt, crime ridden, "patriotically challenged", increasingly
fragmented into selfish, grasping, back-biting self-interest groups,
educationally ill-served and "dumbed down", and on the verge
of a financial apocalypse that could make the World Depression
of the 1930's look like a school-age Joe who has just lost his
lunch money. I wonder whether there could be any connection.
The only hope we have is with the newly energized Republican party
and its freshman vanguard. I can't imagine hope coming from the corrupt,
stale, vested interests of the unions, the NEA, and the trial lawyers. |
