Letter: Look what those awful liberals did

Lately the term “liberal” has been bantered around in a negative manner. Let’s examine the record.

These are just a few of the accomplishments those big bad liberals have brought to fruition:

Women’s right to vote 1920-present, bank deposit insurance 1930-present, labor laws 1930-present, end of child labor, 40-hour work week, workplace safety, overtime pay — all passed by those bad liberals and fought tooth-and-nail by conservatives.

Also the GI Bill and the Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe and was the principal reason communism was halted and eventually defeated.

Plus environmental laws 1970s-to present, food safety laws, workplace safety laws, Social Security, the space program, the Tennessee Valley Authority, universal public education, the National Weather Service, public universities, the earned income credit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with disabilities protection, the Consumer Protection Agency and the Interstate highway system proposed and started by Franklin Roosevelt and carried through by Dwight Eisenhower.

You know, the very things we never need and passed by those big bad liberals.

Jerry Broussard

radiology technician

St. Amant

Comments

1) Comment by agagent - 22/10/2012

"Obama’s Trick to Get Around Work Requirements - Today the Obama Administration issued a new directive stating that the traditional TANF work requirements can be waived or overridden by a legal device called the section 1115 waiver authority under the Social Security law (42 U.S.C. 1315). . . . The work provisions of the TANF program are contained in section 407 (entitled, appropriately, “mandatory work requirements”). Critically, this section, as well as most other TANF requirements, are deliberately not listed in section 1115; they are not waiveable. In establishing TANF, Congress deliberately exempted or shielded nearly all of the TANF program from the section 1115 waiver authority. They did not want the law to be rewritten at the whim of Health and Human Services (HHS) bureaucrats. Of the roughly 35 sections of the TANF law, only one is listed as waiveable under section 1115. This is section 402. . . . The authority to waive section 402 provides the option to waive state reporting requirements only, not to overturn the core requirements of the TANF program contained in the other sections of the TANF law. The new Obama dictate asserts that because the work requirements, established in section 407, are mentioned as an item that state governments must report about in section 402, all the work requirements can be waived. This removes the core of the TANF program; TANF becomes a blank slate that HHS bureaucrats and liberal state bureaucrats can rewrite at will." --Heritage Foundation

2) Comment by Scrooge - 21/10/2012

agagent says taxpayers are buying the election for Obama? So no taxpayers are funding anybody else, say like Romney, maybe? So where are these non-taxpaying fundraisers coming from? China? South America? Russian oligarchies? This agagent guy needs to get out and smell the roses, might clear his head of the specious nonsense. Buying elections is not the exclusive province of any particular political persuasion, see Citizen's United and if interests who do not pay taxes are buying our elections, then the implications are far more sinister than the moronic liberal/conservative media contrived divide to generate advertising revenue. Muddle headed thinking will continue to rule the day. Personally, I don't need any "job creator" to tell me how to vote and live.

3) Comment by agagent - 20/10/2012

The main point is the same: Obama is trying to buy the election with taxpayer money, just like many other liberals do.

4) Comment by agagent - 20/10/2012

One point to correct: the $1 trillion was combined federal and state spending-$750 billion was from federal and $250 billion was from states

5) Comment by agagent - 20/10/2012

"According to Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, means-tested welfare programs soared to over $1 trillion last year. The federal government accounted for $750 billion of that, while $250 billion came from the states, which leveraged federal payments into even larger expenses."--Kudlow Report

6) Comment by gvm - 19/10/2012

@agagent: "The federal government spent $1 trillion on welfare last year." Please cite your source. Hopefully it isn't the Drudge Report or some similar rag. "To make matters worst Obama has unilaterally removed work requirements for welfare." This has already been proven to be a lie - again, please cite your source. You know, it would do you a world of good to get out of that backward parallel universe you reside in.

7) Comment by agagent - 19/10/2012

The federal government spent $1 trillion on welfare last year. Liberals might look at this as a badge of honor. A sensible evaluation of our liberal-created welfare system shows utter failure. Instead of temporary assistance to help citizens on hard times, welfare has become a way of life for too many. To make matters worst Obama has unilaterally removed work requirements for welfare. Liberal policies have led to wasted taxpayer money and wasted lives.

8) Comment by Bouncer - 19/10/2012

Liberals, in general, are hand-wringing, whining pantywaists who enjoy chiding others and lecturing them like a school marm, while conservatives, in general, are religious, gun-wielding, faux-Christian fanatics. Neither side is very amenable to reason or common sense, and the most hardcore among them is patently offensive, so I do not identify with or willingly associate with either.

9) Comment by DMJ - 19/10/2012

Women shouldn't be allowed to vote?! Wow. Surely, you realize this offends all women, not just liberal women, right?

10) Comment by [e-mail] - 19/10/2012

With tongue in cheek I point out that Mr. Broussard is a little too liberal with his praise and he credits Liberals for any good and blithely ignores the harm done out of good intentions; consider "Women's right to vote".

11) Comment by MBW - 19/10/2012

Being_Stupid- Please check your history. The stock market crash that caused the great depression happened in 1929. Roosevelt was not president then and could not have caused it.

12) Comment by MBW - 19/10/2012

The realignment of the political parties in the US began under Roosevelt, as small government politicians left the Democratic Party....and it concluded in the 1960s and 70s when pro- segregation Democrats bolted the party after the Civil Rights Act. In other words "Republican" has not always meant "conservative" and "liberal" has not always meant "Democrat"

13) Comment by Old Man Kensey - 19/10/2012

Unemployment is up? I think you two need to turn the graph over. You are reading it wrong.

14) Comment by krl777 - 18/10/2012

We liberated around a million Vietnamese just to prove to them that we, not they, get to choose their government. We liberated them from their bodies. That is, we killed them. Around a million. Hard to count.

15) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

'rereading your stuff that is quality irony' is what i meant

16) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

i hope phil nimby marchiafava and the rest are also being ironic or god help us all!

17) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

oh i see you are right then more fool me. sorry being stupid but looking back i see now. i should have just read the name i guess but your right it is kinda funny and the jokes on me. fair play to you though i like irony as much as the next man and redeading your stuff that quality irony

18) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

simple minded reflexive and slavish adherence and subservience to a party label is basically an admission of a partiality to authoritarianism, is abjectly opposed to self determination and individualism, is an abdication of free will, was the scourge of those that founded this nation who warned against party afilliation in all its earliest forms, and is sure as heck nothing to be proud of.

19) Comment by DMJ - 18/10/2012

Don't engage Being Stupid. He's not an actual moron. He's just being ironic to be funny...which he kind of is

20) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

do we invade them first, or syria, then saudi arabia then qatar then Iran, or is Iran first. then cuba, then the sudan and uzbekistan and dont forget myanmar and turkmensitan. then when do we go into zimbabwe or angola? if we do suadi arabia then we run out of gas real quick and its lights out and factories and power plants closed. nigeria too. after that there are about 15 subsaharan countries in africa that oppress their peoples with some degree of tyrrany so what order do we invade them in? i forgot about lebanon, somalia, armenia, albania, and kazhakstan. then dont forget nuclear pakistan. and of course the big one china with lots of nukes and billions of people and a lot of our money and trade. i guess we invade them last. and i suppose russia is back on the list with its current crackdowns under putin so we have to liberate them too. thast most of the world and plenty i left off so when do we start? i bet you volunteer. i think you were just joking around werent you?

21) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

but we didnt and now they hav a bunch of nuclear bombs and your hero W knew that and left well enough alone. its a lot easier to beat up on some arabs with toy guns than a real threat and anyone who even tried to understand geopolotics knows that. well almost anyone.

22) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

I support the invasion of North Korea to free those people from starvation and tyranny. We should have invaded them like 60 years ago when we were fighting the Korean War, unfortunately Democrat President Truman held General MacArthur back and later fired him, preventing him from completing the task of freeing Korea from Communism.

23) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

please reread all the comments about confusing liberal with democrat with and so on cause it aint hard to understand

24) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

Republican Party has always stood on the RIGHT side of History. They abolished slavery under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass, ended Communism in Russia, Europe, and Latin America under Ronald Reagan, ended Terrorism and Tyranny under the Bushes. Republican Party = Party of Freedom.

25) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

LIBERAL = Democrat = Socialist = Communist

26) Comment by DMJ - 18/10/2012

For those citing all the Republicans who did liberal things, please notice how the the letter praises "liberals" and not "Democrats." Party platforms shift over time. There was a time when liberals were Republicans- like during the Civil War, for instance. It was only after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts and Nixon's Southern Strategy, that Republicans starting becoming less and less liberal. If only there WAS such a thing as a liberal Republican these days. They were ran out of the party in 2008 and 2010.

27) Comment by potkcalb - 18/10/2012

Commas at both of the sites you cited are optional jed, but it's encouraging to have a literate writer commenting.

28) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

"Obviously my comment was not directed at you DMJ" you forgot the comma at the beginning indicating a pause between Obviously (the qualifier), and the main thrust of the clause, and again at the end where a comma should partition "you" and "DMJ". Grammatically speaking you should have written "Obviously, my comment was not directed at you, DMJ". But hey, who's keeping score

29) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

im a liberal atheist should that embarrass me? strangely it doesnt and it didnt bother founding father Thomas Paine either or Thomas Jefferson for that matter (i know not really an atheist but certainly no christian)

30) Comment by LSULaw2009 - 18/10/2012

This letter reminds me of Jimmy Smits' character Matt Santos' speech on the meaning of "Liberal" in the debates from the last season of The West Wing. http://youtu.be/xVdz985HTJk

31) Comment by potkcalb - 18/10/2012

Obviously my comment was not directed at you DMJ. You know how to write.

32) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

yes

33) Comment by potkcalb - 18/10/2012

Am I being too picky by asking if there is any reason that comments can not be written in recognizable English? I'm a Mississippian whose family has lived on the same spot of land for 232 years, but I cringe with embarrassment at the thought that many must view citizens of the state as illiterate..

34) Comment by DMJ - 18/10/2012

Great letter, Jerry. I've had the term "liberal" thrown at me my whole adult life as if it were a pejorative word. It's not. I'm a proud liberal. Liberals fight for the working man. They fight for civil rights, for equal rights. There's a reason social conservatives have been on the losing side of every social issue that I can think of. To all those who call me a "liberal" with a smirk or a sneer, Eff you. You think I'm offended? I'm not. True, liberals have our shortcomings, but who doesn't? The world is a better place because of liberal policies and for those who can't understand that...well, that's your problem. That being said, I do believe in responsible conservatism as well. In a perfect world, liberals would set the priorities and policies and conservatives would help us figure out how to fund them.

35) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

oh, and colin powell. thats 4.

36) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

crickets, crickets, crickets

37) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

as for the tyranny of oppressed peoples everywhere garbage how many conservatives here today right now beleive we should militarily invade north korea to save its starving people. right now, this month, with a ground force and air strikes. i mean sure they aint a-rabs, but they aint white folks neither, so it fits pretty much the only right wing requriement. a show of hands who is up for invasion this month of N korea to save its people from communist tyrrany.

38) Comment by BigRock - 18/10/2012

FDR caused the Great Depression? Hardly. I guess those who are so apt to rewrite science books are also willing to allow their histories to be rewritten to fit in with their belief structure. Had we all been better students of history, we wouldn't have spent the last 30 years tearing down the New Deal leading and slowly handing the country over to Wall Street, which is precisely why the economy crashed a few years ago--under the policies of Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes.

39) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

and i always thought conservatism opposed international meddling except under the terms of the monroe doctrine funny how party labels mean pretty much nothing over the course of history isnt it but thanks for illustrating the point. i forgot to mention that those bitter working class whites in the 1960s took a few (but only a very few) self loathing black americans with them to the GOP its funny how that tends to happen. you even get gay republicans these days and for a counterpoint every church has an atheist in there somehwere every sunday morning. for some people raised with self loathing there seems no escape. tell me again about condi, allan west, and jc watts

40) Comment by Scrooge - 18/10/2012

I read an opinion piece that said that agagent's "research" is made up by him. Of course, that is my opinion. Conservatives increased entitlement spending by about $900 billion in 8 years and then blamed the deficits on the wars, the prescription drugs program, and tax cuts. The worst problem with conservatives is they never foresee the unintended consequences for their policies. According to tradewinns, agagent must be a liberal since "liberals have never seen/heard a lie they didn't like." but if agagent is a conservative then tradewinss must be a liberal. Stellar intellects, not. There must be a name for a psychological inclination to never accept responsibility, a pathological need to shift blame elsewhere ( as in "liberal") , Rush Haniitybeck have made good livings preying on the less astute and insecure. The irony is that no matter who is President or what party holds the day, life will still be insecure and indeterminate, no matter how much one arms oneself in church. Fear rules the day while determinacy is the province of football until the next game, but many obviously enjoy the illusion.

41) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

Marshall Plan supported by liberals? Give Me a Fricking Break! When is the last time LIBERALS ever cared about people living overseas? The liberals wanted us to pull out of Vietnam and give them up to Communist Tyranny, which we did. The Liberals Today have forgotten about 9-11, want us out of Afghanistan, and want Al-Qaida and the Taliban to take back over. Afghanistan had absolutely no freedom and lived in total fear under the Taliban. The Liberals played down the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in Iraq. The Liberals almost seemed to root for Saddam Hussein and his sons to keep their brutal control over Iraq and for our troops to lose in Iraq. They played down the cheering of Iraqi People and taking down of the Saddam Hussein Statue. The Liberals worship Tyrants like Fidel Castro in Cuba. THE REPUBLICANS FIGHT FOR FREEDOM & REBUILDING OF COUNTRIES OVERSEAS, NOT THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS & ISOLATIONISTS.

42) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

as for FDR causing the depression thats some shoddy history the market crashed in 1929 (october) and he didnt even take office until 1933 and the depression was in full steam by then. its not cool to tell lies you know

43) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

im joking sure but c'mon we all know a democrat today aint what a democrat was in 1960 or 1900 and the same for the republicans in fact heck there are plenty of conservative democrats today and head up to new england to meet some liberal republicans who would want nothing to do with the southern good ol' boy types we think of. north eastern liberal republicans like, i dunno, pro choice pro gun control pro gay marriage mitt romney remember that guy? the labels mean nothing in a historical context

44) Comment by jedleland - 18/10/2012

i'll repeat what bighug already stated and its pretty obvious nowhere does the lettter say republican or democrat as those labels have shifted in meaning especially since the civil rights era when black equality sent millions of bitter working class whites to the GOP and Nixon welcomed them in. forget about the R & D labels and focus on progression/regression or liberal/backward country hick bible thumping hatemongering racist middle school dropout you know the terms used in learned piolitical science circles

45) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

The only reason Child Labor Laws were passed was because of the Great Depression caused by the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. Adults were so hungry for work that they were willing to take jobs that were mostly reserved for children and paid low wages. The Child Labor Law was passed for one reason only, to get kids out of the workforce, so more jobs would be available for Adults. Quite frankly, as a child I preferred having work where I could make a little extra money.

46) Comment by Being_Stupid - 18/10/2012

Women's Rights to vote was led mostly by Leaders that sided with the Republican Party during the teens and 1920s. Democrat President Wilson ignored their protests for equal voting rights. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution which prohibited state or federal sex-based restrictions on voting was passed by mostly Republicans, NOT Democrats. The Ayes included 36 (82%) Republicans and 20 (54%) Democrats. The Nays comprised 8 (18%) Republicans and 17 (46%) Democrats. It was ratified by sufficient states in 1920. 82% of Republicans vs 54% of Democrats supported Women's Right to Vote.

47) Comment by tradewinns - 18/10/2012

liberals have never seen/heard a lie they didn't like.

48) Comment by agagent - 18/10/2012

I read an opinion piece saying that liberals “outsource their personal responsibilities to do charitable work to the government.” Research has shown that liberals tend to be less charitable; are more likely to cheat and lie; and less likely to take responsibility for the care of a sick spouse or parent. Reminds me of how Obama says we are our brothers’ keeper while his aunt is living on public assistance and his half brother is sick and living in a shack in Kenya.

49) Comment by agagent - 18/10/2012

Liberals increased entitlement spending by about $900 billion in 4 years and then blamed the deficits on the wars, the prescription drugs program, and tax cuts. The worst problem with liberals is they never foresee the unintended consequences for their policies.

50) Comment by Chucky - 18/10/2012

I think a lot of people were for some of those ideas and would not call them selves liberal. A lot of citizens are for issues that but not for the label given to the issue this is a conservative or liberal matter makes little sense to me.

51) Comment by jdk944 - 18/10/2012

Mr. Broussard, let's say for the sake of argument that all you have stated are correct. There ISN'T enough space to discuss ALL those things which conservatives have done for this country!!! I am sure you feel better though in writing it.

52) Comment by gary - 18/10/2012

@Bighug: how correct you are. Scotb gets his talking points/comments from fauxnews and rushbimbo.

53) Comment by Bighug - 18/10/2012

You should read the letter again, ScotB. Nowhere does it use the words "Republican" or "Democrat." Perhaps you are too young to remember when the roles were reversed, and the Democrats were the party fighting integration.

54) Comment by ScotB - 17/10/2012

A California Republican Senator named A.A. Sargent introduced the 19th Amendment allowing women the right to vote, only to see it voted down by a Democrat-controlled Congress. It finally passed four decades later, when the Republicans won landslide victories in the House and the Senate, giving them the power to pass the amendment despite continued opposition from most elected Democrats, including President Wilson. Some of your other facts are wrong, also, but I just don't want to take the time to debunk your whole letter.

55) Comment by unevahno - 17/10/2012

To be fair though Mr. Broussard, let's not forget the conservatives' contributions to society at large. Jim Crow legislation. Anti- gay legislation.Laws outlawing miscegenation. Laws to make a vaginal probe mandatory. Laws to allow a woman's boss to decide whether or not she could have birth control included in her insurance. Laws that allow you to vote with a hunting license, but not a university ID. Laws that make you teach the book of Genesis in high school science classes. There must be more that they've contributed.