War on poverty has failed

March 1, 2014

President Kennedy initiated the war on poverty and President Johnson signed it into law 50 years ago. President Kennedy said "We must find ways of returning far more of our dependent people to independence." President Johnson said "The purpose of the war on poverty is to make "taxpayers out of taxeaters. Give a hand up, not a handout." When President Johnson signed the legislation into law, he declared: "The days of the dole in our country are numbered." Fifty years and trillions of dollars later, it's clear there's more government dependency now than ever. One can only conclude that the war on poverty has been a dismal and costly failure.