Glenn Reynolds: eff the poor.

Putz, quoting the always unreliable Kevin Williamson.

IN THE MAIL: From Kevin Williamson, The Dependency Agenda. “Each year, the United States spends $65,000 per poor family to ‘fight poverty’ – in a country in which the average family income is just under $50,000. Meanwhile, most of that money goes to middle-class and upper-middle-class families, and the current U.S. poverty rate is higher than it was before the government began spending trillions of dollars on anti-poverty programs.”

No it's not.

Look at the trend since 2001.

But the right-wing fantasy that the War on Poverty didn't work is just that -- a fantasy. Lyndon Johnson's programs cut the poverty rate in half -- and there was an even steeper decline among seniors.

Also, the government didn't keep track of poverty levels before the 1950. But look at this estimate pre-Progressive Era.

In 1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year; of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line. 

What a waste all those pointless big government programs are.