Lyndon Johnson?   Seriously ? ….   That a “conservative” would even think to espouse such advocacy should send chills down the spine of anyone who would self identify behind conservative principles. 

(TEXAS – Via Miami Herald) Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush said he would strive to be like Lyndon Johnson, the Democrat famous for expanding the U.S. welfare state through the “Great Society,” if he were elected president.

According to the Miami Herald, Bush made those comments Wednesday night in San Antonio, Florida at Saint Leo University, while speaking about education, immigration, and energy policy.

Bush did not address Johnson’s Great Society and War on Poverty programs, about which Ronald Reagan once famously quipped, “We had a war on poverty, and poverty won.”  (read more)

It should also be noted that LBJ was not the great Crusader of Civil Rights. President Johnson made a 360— turn in his civil rights position when he became President, from 1940 to 1960 Johnson voted with the South 78% on civil rights issues. Prior to 1957, Johnson voted with the South 100% on civil rights issues. He also voted against the C.R.A. of 1957 and 1960.

Were you aware that in order to break the racist ways of Southern Democrats, it was Republican President Eisenhower who sponsored both Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and it was a LBJ lead Senate who fought tooth and nail against them? Ike finally signed a watered down Civil Rights Bill.

Yes, let me repeat that, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower sponsored and signed the first Civil Rights Bill. Did you know that?

In 1957 President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was intended to guarantee the voting rights of all African Americans. This was the first Civil Rights legislation to pass since Reconstruction. He also was forced to send Federal troops to Little Rock Arkansas to escort black students entering a formally all white school.

Now today all we hear in regards to Civil Rights legislation centers around the 1964 C.R.A., but this is leaving out some of the most important parts. Including the fact that LBJ, prior to moving up to the Executive Office, opposed legislation favoring civil rights for African Americans in this country. One should ask, why this is no longer taught in our schools to children?

I apologize for the following language but we have to understand the truth that is not being told any longer. The following quotes are LBJ quotes:

“I’ll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.” —Lyndon B. Johnson to two governors on Air Force One –

“These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.”—LBJ

You can find this in Ronald Kessler’s “Inside The White House”

Let’s go back to FDR again, many like to hold FDR up as one of the more progressive presidents that helped champion the plight of the poor, one of the first to implement social justice for all. This social justice and equality excluded one of the poorest segments of the population at the time, discrimination in housing, transportation, public accommodations and the armed services went virtually unchecked by the Roosevelt administration.

It was not until 20 some years later that a real effort was made to change this, but the efforts to do so may have led to the breakdown of the family unit and created even greater dependency on the government by those in the African American community.

What it did, as LBJ pointed out, was insure that African Americans would be compelled to vote Democratic for generations to come by not giving a hand up, but by giving a hand out! He did this through what is called the “Great Society” and the war on poverty. As we know today though, that war has virtually been lost despite the billions thrown into the battle.

Today we have some of the highest poverty rates in America, and we have one of the highest amount of citizens dependent on food assistance through programs such as Food Stamps. As a progressive program this has developed into an utter failure, even if it was perceived initially as a compassionate response to some of the ills that faced many in this community. Corruption and waste is rampant, along with abuse and increasing dependency.

In the mad dash to vilify the Republicans and Conservatives today many have forgotten the fact that it was the Republican Party that was the champion of Civil Rights and freedom for African Americans. Today that story goes either untold or when it is told, those that do so are immediately under attack and accused of being a racist.

Many today would like you to believe that just because conservatives would rather assist in moving people off the rolls of welfare or any number of assistance programs, we do not care about those that have been conditioned to be dependent on those programs, and that is one of the most fatal mistakes that progressives make. Conservatives understand that people need assistance, but we also understand that it cannot become a lifestyle, that is passed down to generations to come. (read more)