The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

DELRAY BEACH – That phrase cannot be attributed to any one particular person, but the gist of that saying gives poignancy to today’s liberal (a/k/a Progressive) thinking of the many government policies and programs that have not turned out the way they were originally intended. Do any government policies ever turn out the way they were intended?

Many of the social programs of the 20th Century were enacted with the intention of doing “good” for society, but after trial and error, the results, of these social experiments, have been less than was envisioned by the “benevolent” people (mainly liberal politicians) making those proposals. Feel good legislation, like trying to help the needy and downtrodden, trying to make amends for the “sins” of the past, and trying to even the “playing field” to make situations more “fair”, have, in many cases, turned out badly, much to the chagrin of the proponents of these misguided programs, but still they push on. The old saying, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up” seems to be the “modus operandi” of today’s liberal (a/k/a Progressive/Socialist).

A perfect example of the effects of this phrase is the consequences that resulted from the enactment of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1965. The intentions of making life more livable for the old and the poor were honorable and compassionate, but the results have been less than fulfilling and, in many cases, downright disastrous. This was the epitome of trying to institute the “Nanny State” mentality into the fabric of our society, and which the Obama Administration tried to do in the 8 years of its presidency in trying to complete the job started by Lyndon Johnson. 

Not only has it not eradicated poverty, but it has had some very harmful effects upon some of our most vulnerable citizens. Medicare and Medicaid were setup to make life better for both our senior citizens and the poor. No doubt Medicare has helped seniors who have or had health problems, but like most all benevolent government programs, waste, fraud, and inefficiency were prevalent in the administration of this program.  Both these programs are going broke in a few short years, and in order to sustain them; massive infusions of government (our tax dollars) money will be needed to keep these programs afloat. Along with Social Security, these programs are nothing more than a government “Ponzi” scheme that will come crashing down in the near future, especially since the “baby boomers” are retiring at a really fast clip. It’ll make Bernie Madoff look like a piker.

The “War on Poverty” also exacerbated a problem in the inner cities by encouraging couples not to marry, thereby causing the out-of-wedlock births in the black community to approach 73%, thereby relegating many of these poor people to remain on the government dole with little hope that many of them will be able to free themselves of being dependent on the government for a handout.

Another area where good intentions have gone awry has been in the area of so-called “climate change” (a/k/a global warming). Most all of us, if not all, want clean air, clean water and less pollution in our lives, but some people have perverted this cause by trying to cash in financially by purposely scaring the people into believing that more rules and regulations are needed or we will be confronted with dire environmental consequences.  In other words, they think they can change Mother Nature, an almost impossible task. Of the bills that the Democrats have pushed in the past, one was called “Cap and Trade” (the word tax should be used in place of the word trade), this was a perfect example of government sticking its nose into places that it has no business to be in. If it had passed (no chance today since Republicans control the presidency and the Senate), it would have raised all our taxes dramatically (it would be especially harmful in this time of economic progress) and it would’ve put a dagger through the heart of our job generating private businesses. It was an anti-business, anti-free enterprise piece of legislation that would’ve prolonged our slow recovery well into the future. Even if it was passed, it would have had little or no effect upon our environment, as man, as stated before, cannot control Mother Nature, even if  “faux” recipients of the Nobel Prize, Barack Hussein Obama and Al Gore, have told us otherwise.

Yes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, but we can bring back some rational reality in our country and in our lives by electing politicians with a strong conservative background, like we did on Nov. 8, 2016, and a philosophy of helping people to help themselves with a minimal amount of government interference. A helping hand instead of a handout is the role of a compassionate government. This philosophy is one of the reasons why President Trump was elected.  Let’s hope he can get it passed into law.