Which President do you think did more for the poor than any other?

[matt0611]

It is the government's job to help the poor. It does so in order to promote the General Welfare of the United States as per the constitution.

Negative, the general welfare clause is qualified by the powers that are laid out in the constitution, its not a blank slate to do anything to "help the poor" in the interest of the general welfare.

 

[thebomb]

Negative, the general welfare clause is qualified by the powers that are laid out in the constitution, its not a blank slate to do anything to "help the poor" in the interest of the general welfare.

That is the Madisonian view which over the course of the 20th century has not been supported by the courts. The Hamilitonian implied powers doctrine has so far prevailed. So yes, it is the government's job to help the poor as per the constitution.

 

[matt0611]

That is the Madisonian view which over the course of the 20th century has not been supported by the courts. The Hamilitonian implied powers doctrine has so far prevailed. So yes, it is the government's job to help the poor as per the constitution.

I will admit that the original intent of the constitution has been thrown out the window, correct. The size and scope of the federal government today makes that quite clear.
Why even lay out the powers of the federal government? Seems rather pointless in hindsight. A topic for another day I suppose.

 

[Anarchist420]

OP, hint, it's not the President nor government's job to help the poor.

I never said it was I believe that the free market helps the poor the most.

A lot of FDR's supporters were wealthy and FDR hurt the poor by getting off the gold standard and stimulating the great depression. He also created the most regressive tax in history and put the country further into debt. All that bastard had to do was go to a gold coin standard, get rid of the Fed, and establish a national 100% reserve mandate while creating bankruptcy legislation that forgave a fraction of private debt. If he did all of that and lowered taxes, the market would've corrected itself from there and we probably wouldn't have been in so much debt.

LBJ's medicare somewhat raised the cost of health care and he likely created many more poor people. He also spent so much that Nixon felt it necessary to get completely off the last remnants of the gold standard. His Fair Housing Act certainly didn't help many poor white people either.

 

[DaveSimmons]

(DMCA) It punishes poor people who try to get digital media for free. It was the Hollywood Establishment Enforcement Act.

LOL, "the poor" with computers and fast internet connections, using torrents to grab warez. Or using computers to make "burn and return" copies of rentals.

The real poor can go to their nearest public library to legally check out books, CDs, and DVDs.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Clinton? TANF was a great piece of public policy.

Don't forget NAFTA and GATT!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Too bad none of the presidents enacted TANSTAAFL instead.

Hurray for more massive deficit spending, approved by both parties.