The Future of America Can Be Found in Louisiana's Huey Long Experience

I've cobbled together some excerpts about Huey Long that may demonstrate where America is heading as a result of Obama's populist politics.

Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893 - September 10, 1935), nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies.

Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934, with the motto "Every Man a King," proposing new socialist wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and crime resulting from the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, public education, old-age pensions and other social programs.

This sounds very familiar does it not? "Share Our Wealth". The idea that the economy can be stimulated by spending on public projects. This is precisely the economic plan Obama has instituted.

Charismatic and immensely popular for his social reform programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government.

The creepiness factor begins to climb. Suddenly we see, Obama is nothing new. It's all been done before.

Long was a staunch opponent of the Federal Reserve Bank. Together with a group of Congressmen and Senators, Long believed the Federal Reserve's policies to be the true cause of the Great Depression. Long made speeches denouncing the large banking houses of Morgan and Rockefeller centered in New York which owned stock in the Federal Reserve System. He believed that they controlled the monetary system to their own benefit, instead of the general public's benefit.

My God! Have we been bamboozled? Are we simply living within a Hollywood script?

As an alternative, Long proposed federal legislation capping personal fortunes, income and inheritances. He used radio broadcasts and founded a national newspaper, the American Progress, to promote his ideas and accomplishments before a national audience. In 1934, he unveiled an economic plan he called Share Our Wealth. Long argued there was enough wealth in the country for every individual to enjoy a comfortable standard of living, but that it was unfairly concentrated in the hands of a few millionaire bankers, businessmen and industrialists.

Are you following along? Has the idea of capping personal fortune and earnings not become common place in the American dialog. And Obama's only been president less than 3 months.

Long believed that only a radical restructuring of the national economy and elimination of disparities of wealth, while retaining the essential features of the capitalist system, would end the Great Depression and stave off violent revolution. After the Senate rejected one of his wealth redistribution bills, Long told them, "[A] mob is coming to hang the other ninety-five of you damn scoundrels and I'm undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them."

Long's comments here are strangely similar to Obama's recent comments to American bankers and CEOs where he stated "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”

Long gained absolute power in the state by crushing his enemies and rewarding his cronies.

But Long's perceived empowerment of black voters wasn't the only thing his political foes had against him. Nor was his sometimes-buffoonish behavior. It was Long's unabashed assaults on the established powers, the moneyed class and their corporate allies that most enraged his enemies. So too did Long's growing power. As Cecil Morgan, at the time a leader of the anti-Long forces in the state house, described it in Ken Burns' documentary film on Huey Long, there was widespread disenchantment with Long's alleged corruption. As governor, he had taken on the power to virtually eradicate local government and appointed nearly all officials himself. Each of them was required — not asked, required — to contribute a set amount of their paychecks to Long's war chest — the "deduct box", it was called. There was, by all accounts, no paper record of how much the political war chest contained, nor was there any record of how the money was spent. But it was clear, both to Long's friends and his opponents, that the money was chiefly used to help consolidate his power.

The above was the good news. And now, the legacy of Huey Long.

Louisiana stands to gain billions in federal dollars for reconstruction and relief after the twin hits by Katrina and Rita. But with the cash comes attendant worries about bloated contracts, kickbacks, and fraud. And for good reason. Perhaps no state has a greater track record of political hucksters and hijinks.

The most notorious was the "Kingfish," populist Democratic Gov. Huey Long, who lorded over the state from 1927 until his death in 1935. Long delivered on his campaign promises of free textbooks for children, paved roads, and new schools--almost all of it financed by taxes on the rich and on oil companies. But Long also created a secret police force and consolidated state employees under his control, typically taking a portion of their earnings as "contributions" to his war chest. At an LSU faculty dinner, Long bragged, "I steal money. But a lot of what I stole has spilled over in no-toll bridges, hospitals, and to build this university."

" Elect the Crook. " But corruption did not die with him. In 1939, the "Louisiana Scandals" erupted when James Monroe Smith, appointed by Long as president of LSU, was charged with embezzling a half-million dollars. In the ensuing investigation, at least 20 state officials were indicted, and two committed suicide as the scandal enveloped Gov. Richard Leche, who received a 10-year federal prison sentence in a kickback scheme.

The legacy of free-spirited scoundrels was inherited by Gov. Edwin Edwards, a populist charmer who served four terms over the period of 1972 to 1996. The dapper womanizer beat two dozen corruption investigations and once said the only way he could lose a race was by being "found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." Edwards produced campaign bumper stickers proclaiming, "Elect the Crook." Voters did. In 2000, the good times stopped rolling; Edwards received a 10-year federal prison sentence for extorting money from casino boat owners seeking licenses.

Under subsequent Govs. Mike Foster and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Louisiana has tried to clean up its act. But since 2004, two state judges have been convicted of accepting bribes. Federal officials are also investigating the administration of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, whose associates are accused of skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from city contracts. And, in August, the feds raided the homes of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson because of suspected illegal activity with African business interests.

And then there's the current state of Louisiana. The results of Long's "Share Our Wealth" plan and populist corruption:

Lousiana ranks third worst in the nation in infant mortality rate. It ranks 5th worst in violent crime. Only one other state has more people living below the poverty level. It ranks worst in the nation in state health.

And, of course, we all remember how the State government reacted in the face of diversity:




Expect nothing less than these great results under Obama's populism. Simply put, the ends are inevitable. History proves that. Liberals love to point to Long's policies and tell you how great they were. What they won't do, however, is point you to the long-term results of those policies. They simply won't. It is far better for them to maintain their demented view of a failed utopia than to acknowledge reality.