Democrats Have Not 'Evolved' Since 1964

One of the central tenets of President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ)'s "War on Poverty," declared on January 8, 1964 in his State of the Union speech, was that "[w]e must distribute more food to the needy through a broader food stamp program."  Sargent Shriver, in 1964, after being charged by LBJ to implement and administrate the "War on Poverty," said:

The simplest description of the War on Poverty is that it is a means of making life available for any and all pursuers.  It does not try to make men good -- because that is moralizing.  It does not try to give men what they want -- because that is catering.  It does not try to give men false hopes -- because that is deception.  Instead, the War on Poverty tries only to create the conditions by which the good life can be lived -- and that is humanism.

Where are we today?  In its war on poverty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), who oversees the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP, as the food stamps program is now known), has implemented an "outreach" program to increase the number of people on the food stamp rolls.  Some states have even gone so far as to hire "food stamp recruiters" and have assigned them monthly enrollment quotas.  One recruiter, in her pitch to elderly prospects, says, "Help is available. You deserve it.  So, yes or no?"

The USDA has a web page explaining how states can establish their own outreach programs, and how the states can recover approximately 50 percent of their administrative costs.

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