NBC's Williams: 'Astounding' Food Stamp 'Numbers Would Come As a Huge Disappointment to' LBJ
On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams reported on another development in the Great Obama Recovery:
"We saw some astounding new numbers that came out today. They showed the number of Americans relying on food stamps has hit another all-time record. These numbers would come as a huge disappointment to President Lyndon Johnson, who launched his War on Poverty back in 1964. Nearly 46 million of your fellow citizens are receiving food stamp assistance. That represents 21 million American households. Numbers went up in 49 out of 50 states."
Certainly discouraging numbers, but not astounding. Unless, of course, you somehow expected the machinations of President Barack Obama & Associates to do anything other than kill any hope of economic recuperation.
President Lyndon Johnson may have been disappointed, but the chief warrior in the War on Poverty shouldn't be given total credit, if that's the correct word, for the food stamp program. That distinction belongs to another liberal hero, John F. Kennedy.
According to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum's Web site, on February 2, 1961, Kennedy asked "Congress for program to help end recession, including food stamps, extended benefits for unemployed workers and welfare payments for their children." This was followed by his first executive order, which announced a three-year food stamp "pilot" program. We all know what happens to temporary government programs; his successor and Congress made it permanent with the Food Stamp Act of 1964:
The Department (of Agriculture) estimated that participation in a national FSP would eventually reach 4 million, at a cost of $360 million annually.
Kennedy brother-in-law Sargent Shriver ran LBJ's Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1967, when about $700 million a year was devoted to food assistance programs, Shriver estimated that another billion dollars would permanently solve the problem of hunger in America. That was $66 billion ago.
If anything's astounding, it's that most in the mainstream media never question why, after trillions of tax dollars spent on fighting poverty, there's so little, if any, improvement. And it's questionable that Kennedy and Johnson, both of whom thought Washington had the solutions, would be all that disappointed to see so many Americans dependent on government for help.
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Comments
Difference
Submitted by hydrodynDM on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:10pm.
Interesting how Williams seems to assume that everyone receiving food stamps actually relies on them.
Why not actually act like a reporter and do an investigative piece to justify that assumption rather than simply asserting it as if it were a fact.
Investigation occurs only
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:43pm.
Investigation occurs only during a GOP Presidency, or against conservatives ... Can't trust em ya know.
Correct DtM2, if this was a
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:53pm.
Correct DtM2, if this was a Republican in the White House they would be wailing about the corruption in the system. How folks are using the food stamps for things other than what they are for.
Nightly we would be subjected to folks buying booze, cigarettes and other things while their children go hungry.
But since we only govern 1/2 of 1/3 of the Government we hear nothing but crickets.
But, see?
Submitted by almostacowboy on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:50pm.
Just like people using heroin for the first time, they don't rely on it at first. And, they think, "Wow! That was really cool! And see? I'm not hooked like they said I would be." Then, they use it again..........
Hey, I can quit anytime I
Submitted by lsudolemite on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 5:10pm.
Hey, I can quit anytime I want!
By the way, is this a WIC item?
Its working
Submitted by boscokraft on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:11pm.
America is so freaking fat now...thanks dems. Like a famous Russian once remarked "I want to live in a country where the poor people are fat"..
Thanks democrats for putting the market in a free fall. Now lets really cut spending or we are headed for a depression.
You'd think that indicators
Submitted by rbosque on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:21pm.
You'd think that indicators like these would snap liberals back into reality, but I guess they love living in their dream world with the Obamessiah.
Maybe we didn't spend enough....ya think?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:22pm.
...don't hit me...just kidding
Shriver estimated that
Submitted by 98ZJUSMC on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:24pm.
Shriver estimated that another billion dollars would permanently solve the problem of hunger in America.
Just how pathetically braindead would you have to be to believe that?
Oh......wait....
braindead
Submitted by Mike Bates on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:30pm.
Well, we have to keep in mind that these are Democrats we're talking about, right?
Where in the world have you
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:26pm.
Where in the world have you been...ya moron!?
LBJ would also be astonished at free cell phones.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:33pm.
Heck, he'd be astonished at cell phones period.
bush's fault
Submitted by right of way on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:36pm.
on obama's watch we have record high's in people dependent on food stamps, misery index, budget and national debt, depreciation in the housing market, and forclosures. but obama gets no blame at all from the lame stream media! i remember while bush was in office and unemployment barely went over five percent for the first time in a long time to about 5.2%, the lame stream media went nuts bashing bush, and said that we were in a depression. here we are at nine percent for about a year and not one bad word about obama. for john stewart to say there is no bias in the media just goes to show how much of an idiot or liar he is.
I remember reading a few years ago
Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:39pm.
that state food assistance programs were actually tasked with quotas to sign people up for food stamp programs. I guess they did a pretty good job. We could cut that number of recipients if we deported all 20 million illegal aliens and their children.
Remember, the more the government gives you, the more they control you.
Absolutely
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:34pm.
Federal and state food stamp programs are a growth industry. Prescription Drug program (Medicare D) They WANT to grow to help build the demand for bigger government. Government is operating as a true criminal enterprise.
Brian are you that stupid or just another lying Koolaide addict?
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:44pm.
You're surprised that there are more people getting cheese from the government? It's votes you fool. They're just buying votes.
Communists in the media & government!
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 3:50pm.
Communists in the media & government! Maybe that is why... Communist plans from the 1950s & later are now in place. 6 min. video is a pretty good summary of some of the agenda and how fast things change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQf_QfitmKE
Would you say they have done a good job of weakening & shredding our unified society?
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
I think they've weakened and
Submitted by johnsonl on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:01pm.
shredded the weak minded liberals in our society. The majority of us are prevailing and will take our country back.
Have faith.
So it's a failure!
Submitted by CobraMan on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:01pm.
Thank you, Brain, for showing us all just what a failure that program, and the other "War on Poverty" programs the federal government has instituted in the last 50 years, really is. Despite decades of application, despite BILLIONS of dollars spent in just this program alone, it has failed to prevent, or even reduce, poverty in America. Don't you think it's time we try something else?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
No sweat
Submitted by JLin on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:32pm.
They're all starving and on food stamps but thankfully they all have their iPhones and 56" flat screens too.
democrats just don't understand
Submitted by ohio granny on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:32pm.
When you subsidize something you get more of it. When you tax it you get less of it. Very simple to understand for rational people. Apparently not so easy to understand for democrats and their pimps in the MSM.
LBJ Poverty Program was a Great Success.
Submitted by Comrade Jim on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 4:48pm.
It increased poverty for many future generations.
True dat, Comrade.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 5:32pm.
"huge disappointment to President Lyndon Johnson" my ass. This is exactly what the liberals want.
Nothing would make them happier than for everyone (except the really smart leaders, of course) to have to report to the government food warehouse every week to pick up our ration of food. Of course they will be eating the good stuff while we are dining on dog meat.
LDJ would be damned proud of how this has all worked out. He set the table and Obama is completing the Fascist takeover.
Is this a great country or what?!?!
Just like feeding pidgeons
Submitted by OxyCon on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 5:06pm.
...before you know it they're at your feet, on your shoulders and hanging off your arms...then you're completely surrounded.
It's extremely important that the government provide assistance
Submitted by Rush Fan on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 5:10pm.
with food stamps, welfare checks, extended unemployment benefits, school breakfast and lunch programs, and other government assistance programs to those in need. After all, let's not forget who the recipients of this generous welfare are. To speak bluntly and honestly, they are the victims of the rich class in this country. Whether it is due to racism, lack of education, or other discriminatory practices, poor people have been unfairly treated by this country's wealthy, who refuse to pay their fair share.
All of us have a moral obligation and responsibility to help those who are less fortunate then ourselves, due to circumstances that are not their fault and beyond their control. Personally, I have tried to set an example, by giving as much as I can from my own stash. But if we are to succeed in eliminating poverty in this great nation, as well as capturing the votes of those who are dependent on me, we must all sacrifice for the good of the collective.
regards,
BHO
Exactly
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 6:44pm.
When the freebies dry up, the collapse of communism ensues. Then people have to earn what they eat.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
obama's re-election
Submitted by grammajane on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 5:58pm.
"Are you better off then you were two years ago" This is one line he won't be able to preach this time around. To even report how many people are relying on food stamps in this great country, is so very sad. Thanks libs for all your great poverty programs that are total failures.
The Truth Is
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 7:21pm.
America is too big to bail. Not all the taxes in the country can save us from economic meltdown. It's just a matter of time before Obama can declare "mission accomplished".
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
Comrade Johnson would be ecstatic with the food stamp numbers
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 08/04/2011 - 10:43pm.
After all, he was the second communist president, and government dependence is king with that crowd.
Just ask our third communist president.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Dave, I would have thought
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Fri, 08/05/2011 - 8:35am.
Dave,
I would have thought he was our 3rd. Wilson being the first and FDR being the second.
Yes, a disappointment to LBJ
Submitted by deerjerkydave on Fri, 08/05/2011 - 5:16pm.
Yes, a disappointment to LBJ and Karl Marx. But not NBC News which refuses to accept that socialism does't work.
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"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. -James Madison