Who were America's first 48 welfare queens?

Initiate a discussion about welfare, and inevitably the name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt pops up. Often times FDR comes up in the first sentence.

Problem is, this simply is not historically accurate. It is true to say that FDR supercharged welfare, but anything else is fake history. Not only did welfare in America exist prior to FDR, but the first welfare program for citizens was repealed in 1929.

The interesting story, however, is that it was not people who were first at being put on welfare by the federal government. That's what makes the issue of the first 48 welfare queens so interesting. Here are their names:

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Long before Ida May Fuller, the states themselves were being manipulated by the progressives using national money. So what I blogged about earlier about the first welfare program being put in place in 1921 (repealed in 1929), this is not actually true in the fullest sense. (Normally, welfare is only thought of in connection with individual citizens and in that sense, it is true. This is a grave mistake however. The states have consistently been on welfare now for 103 years and it is time to use that terminology - its accurate.)

The first welfare program had its foundation laid in 1914 and expanded in 1917. The 1917 initiative is especially caustic, stating that:

in order to secure the benefits of the appropriation for any purpose specified In this act, the State board shall prepare plans showing the kinds of vocational education for which it Is proposed that the appropriation shall be used; the kinds of schools and equipment; courses of study; methods of instruction; qualifications of teachers; and, in the case of agricultural subjects, the qualifications of supervisors or directors; plans for the training of teachers; and, In the case of agricultural subjects, plans for the supervision of agricultural education as provided for in section 10. Such plans shall be submitted by the State board to the Federal Board for Vocational Education, and If the Federal board finds the same to be In conformity with the provisions and purposes of this act the same shall be approved. The State board shall make an annual report to the Federal Board of Vocational Education on or before September 1 of each year, on the work done in the State and the receipts and expenditures of money under the provisions of this act.

In other words, big daddy government will gladly give you money, but you have to accept these strings attached and do as you're told. The marionette has met its puppetmaster.

This is the real reason why state-level DOTs, and DOEs, and every other department you can name exist. They are not there first and foremost to deal with state-wide policy, they are there to distribute funds from big daddy. I'm sure they do have state-policy input, but that is secondary.

Each Department of X is there to ensure that your state remains a proxy, a purchased agent. An empty suit.

As long as your state continues to receive its welfare dole, it is a slave.

It's time to set the states free from their bondage.

https://tinyurl.com/ycqtnrfr

"What more can I do"

There it was again, I heard that question again. "What more can I do" There's fifty different ways this question can be asked, but I wanted to make sure this time I blogged about it for future reference.

Rush talked to a millennial listener of his, and this was the context:

CALLER: How do we get people to understand the beauty and the power and the greatness of capitalism? Like, what can I do every day?

This question will be answered, because we cannot rely on politics and the political process for answers.

https://tinyurl.com/yd2cwg6e

Donald Trump targets the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt

I can't tell you how excited I am about this.

Many if not most of the problems we have trace their lineage back to PROGRESSIVE Theodore Roosevelt, and in particular, Theodore Roosevelt's abuse of executive orders to get around congress and enact his conservation agenda.

All this Bundy Ranch stuff? Thank you Theodore Roosevelt.

All the land grabs over the last few years? Thank you Theodore Roosevelt.

"I gots my pen and my phone, I don't need congress" - Obama. Thank you Theodore Roosevelt. He was the first one. TR had his pen and phone too. Conservation was arguably the biggest piece of TR's huge government agenda, and he was the first president to issue over 1000 executive orders. No president prior to TR comes even close.

Enter the announcement of Trump's executive order regarding the Antiquities Act. Quick little fact: Who are the two presidents who used (abused) the Antiquities Act the most? FDR and Obama, of course. If only we could get a full-scale repeal of the Antiquities act, that is exactly what we need. With the Antiquities Act, there is no baby in the bathwater, so it is safe to chuck it out the window. The states are more than capable of this work.

I'm not a fan at all of executive orders, they smack of monarchist decrees and we separated away from King George precisely because the "King Thing" is a proven failure. However, we have to recognize the position we are in: much of the garbage of progressivism was born of executive orders, so for the most part only executive orders are going to undo other executive orders. That's just how to get progressivism from our current position.

Hopefully, we see more of this. The sooner we can overturn much of this Theodore Roosevelt-era garbage, the sooner we can put an end to progressivism once and for all. The fact is that we cannot rid ourselves of big government progressivism(in part), until we get past the Antiquities Act and the notion that only big national government is sufficient. I trust the state of Arizona with the Canyon. I trust Tennessee, North Carolina with the Smokies. I trust the state of Oregon with Crater Lake. I trust New York with Niagara. I trust Texas with the Sabine and Crockett forests. I trust Florida with the Everglades. I trust Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, etc etc with the Great Lakes. We do not need big daddy big nanny to do it. Big government does more harm than good. Always.

(As an aside note, I wish I had my own cartoon of a guy with a jackhammer going after the foundation, because that's the proper imagery needed to convey here. TR is the deepest foundation of big government progressivism.)

Politico has this headline: "Teddy Roosevelt Is Rolling Over in His Grave"

Good, I want to make them roll more frequently and roll faster. If more progressives are rolling in their graves, that means we're moving toward smaller government. When government loses, the people win.

There's nothing better than that. Progressivism has destroyed way too many people's lives, enough is enough.

https://tinyurl.com/yaduzbdx

Yes, a welfare program has in fact been repealed.

Have you ever heard of the Sheppard-Towner Act?

No, of course not. That's because it was repealed in 1929. Specifically it was allowed to expire and congress did not move to act, to renew the bill.

In 1921, this bill created the first national welfare program in the United States, which as you probably guessed it, was "for the children", and "for the women", and blah blah blah. Progressives always recycle the same foolishness.

"For the children" and "for the women" - these are generally the primary schemes that the progressives always use as an excuse to grow government, isn't it? Yeah, well, back then Americans weren't putting up with it.

The program was administered by the Federal Children's Bureau, and the American Medical Association bravely stepped up to help us all get rid of this garbage, and as a result the welfare program lasted less than 10 years.

Compared to modern welfare programs it was incredibly modest, and many of us might not recognize it as a welfare program today considering how welfare programs have evolved and "made progress" over the last 100 years. Nonetheless, that's exactly what it was until it was repealed.

If a welfare program can be repealed once, they can be repealed again.

https://tinyurl.com/ydbkv7tg