America’s debate over poverty has undergone a remarkable and troubling transformation. Two centuries ago, the central challenge was persuading needy people to accept public assistance. Today, the challenge is preventing people from fraudulently claiming benefits to which they were never entitled.

That trajectory tells us something profound about the nation’s changing moral culture.

What had once been viewed as a last resort gradually came to be seen as an entitlement detached from personal responsibility.

Alexis de Tocqueville noticed something remarkable when he traveled through America in the early 1830s. Unlike Europe, where poverty often produced permanent dependence upon the state or aristocratic patrons, Americans possessed an almost universal determination to remain independent. They formed voluntary associations to care for neighbors in distress, but they regarded prolonged dependence as inconsistent with the character of a free citizen.

That observation reflected a broader understanding shared by the American founders and the generation that followed them.

Every state maintained some provision for public relief, but it was deliberately limited and administered locally. It existed for those genuinely incapable of caring for themselves — the disabled, widows, orphans, and others facing extraordinary hardship. Families, churches, fraternal organizations, and private charities bore the primary responsibility for helping the poor.

Public charity carried a social stigma — not because Americans lacked compassion, but because they believed that independence was itself a form of human dignity.

Justice Joseph Story explained that republican government depended upon a virtuous and independent citizenry. The ideal citizen governed himself before participating in governing others. Economic independence fostered political independence; citizens who could support themselves were less susceptible to manipulation by those dispensing favors or public largesse.

One of the striking features of early America is not that assistance was unavailable, but that many people who qualified for relief were reluctant to seek it.

Contemporary accounts from several states — including New Jersey — describe respectable men and women enduring extraordinary hardship before accepting public charity. To modern ears, such reluctance may seem irrational. To them, it was a matter of preserving self-respect.

That moral instinct — that accepting public assistance should be exceptional rather than ordinary — formed an essential part of the American understanding of citizenship until the 20th century.

The first cracks in that understanding appeared during the Progressive Era and deepened during the New Deal. Faced with industrialization, urban poverty, and the Great Depression, Americans increasingly looked to government to perform functions that earlier generations had entrusted to institutions outside the government.

Much of that expansion responded to genuine crises, and programs such as Social Security reflected the extraordinary circumstances of their time.

Even so, the nation’s underlying philosophy was beginning to change. Government was no longer viewed simply as a safety net for those unable to care for themselves; it increasingly became expected to solve all social and economic problems.

The shift was gradual and often justified by necessity. But it subtly weakened the older assumption that public assistance should remain exceptional, temporary, and closely tied to preserving personal independence.

RELATED: 1776, not 1608: What the Supreme Court got wrong on birthright citizenship

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call Inc./Getty Images

Then came the Great Society, which transformed that gradual evolution into a new governing philosophy.

It was no longer enough for government to provide a backstop against destitution. Washington now assumed responsibility for eliminating poverty itself, dramatically expanding both the scope of public assistance and the expectation that government would provide it.

Lyndon Johnson’s anti-poverty initiatives promised not merely to relieve poverty, but to eradicate it. The federal government assumed responsibilities that had traditionally rested with families, churches, private charities, and local communities. Welfare increasingly became not an emergency measure but a permanent feature of American life.

Though the Great Society’s architects believed they were expanding compassion, they failed to appreciate that they were also reshaping character. As benefits expanded and eligibility became more complex, government increasingly rewarded dependency rather than independence. Bureaucracies grew. Incentives shifted. Entire industries arose to help people maximize government benefits rather than minimize their reliance upon them.

Most importantly, the moral understanding surrounding public assistance changed.

What had once been viewed as a last resort gradually came to be seen as an entitlement detached from personal responsibility. The question shifted from “Do I truly need help?” to “What benefits can I qualify for?”

Today, we appear to have entered yet another stage.

The headlines are filled not merely with dependency, but with outright theft. Fraudulent unemployment claims. Identity theft used to obtain government benefits. Organized criminal enterprises exploiting Medicare and Medicaid. Billions of dollars in pandemic relief stolen through fake applications and fictitious businesses. International criminal organizations siphoning taxpayer dollars from programs intended to help struggling Americans.

In state after state, investigators have uncovered elaborate schemes involving food assistance, housing subsidies, disability payments, and health care reimbursements.

That is not to say that every welfare recipient is dishonest or even dependent. The overwhelming majority of Americans who receive public assistance are law-abiding citizens, many facing genuine hardship. But a system that steadily weakens the connection between work and reward inevitably creates opportunities — and temptations — for abuse.

RELATED: Will America need a Caesar?

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Once government benefits come to be viewed less as charity for the truly needy than as a pot of money available for the taking, the moral barrier separating dependence from outright fraud begins to erode.

No society can long endure when the distinction between earning and taking begins to disappear. The welfare state ultimately depends upon trust: trust that recipients are honest, that taxpayers will continue to support programs for those in genuine need, and that government will faithfully safeguard the public treasury. Rampant fraud destroys each of those assumptions.

The greatest victims are often the truly needy. Every dollar stolen by fraudsters is a dollar unavailable to a disabled veteran, a struggling single mother, or an elderly widow living on a fixed income. Every scandal further erodes public confidence in programs that exist for legitimate purposes.

Reforming welfare therefore requires more than better auditing, modernized computer systems, or tougher prosecutors, although all of those are necessary. It requires recovering an older understanding of citizenship.

The founders recognized something that modern policymakers have too often forgotten: Independence is a political virtue. Citizens capable of supporting themselves are more capable of governing themselves. A republic cannot flourish if large portions of the population come to regard government not as the protector of liberty, but as the primary provider of livelihood.

America’s success has historically rested primarily on the character of its people, not on government programs.

Our national journey — from dignity to welfare dependence to thievery — was not inevitable, and it is not irreversible. The same nation that once prized independence above comfort can recover that ethic.

But doing so will require us to remember what earlier generations instinctively understood: There is a profound difference between helping a neighbor in genuine need and constructing a system that slowly erodes the very virtues upon which a free people depend.

Compassion remains indispensable. But so do dignity, self-reliance, and personal responsibility. Lose those, and we will discover that the greatest poverty afflicting America is no longer material. It is moral.

Editor’s note: This article appeared originally at the American Mind.

​Great society, Social security, Personal responsibility, Welfare state, American founding, Charity, Benefits, Public assistance, Government programs, Opinion & analysis, Fraud, Alexis de tocqueville, Joseph story 

Journee McGrew says the man she brutally murdered with a metal hammer had groomed and molested her since the time she was in elementary school.

The 22-year-old woman is awaiting sentencing for beating 41-year-old Waduta Londrell Woodley to death on July 2, 2025, in Jacksonville, Florida.

‘I really wasn’t in my right mind when this happened. I’m not violent, and I’m sorry for this situation.’

McGrew said Woodley had sexually molested her for many years before she left him in a pool of blood in the breezeway of an apartment complex. Police said he had blunt force trauma to his head and face.

They also found a paper on his chest with a message that read, “PEDO Touches Children.”

McGrew said in court that her plan was to lure him into her apartment by falsely claiming to want sex in order to gather evidence against him. She said she did not plan to kill him.

“This was not supposed to happen. I really wasn’t in my right mind when this happened. I’m not violent, and I’m sorry for this situation,” she testified.

Police said they knocked on her door and she answered. They found bloody footprints as well as the bloody hammer.

Woodley’s mother testified at trial on his behalf.

“Everything changed in a second when your only son has been murdered,” she said in court. “Yes, this has affected my family, my daughter, my granddaughter. … We don’t know how to cope.”

McGrew also testified that she had been diagnosed with psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder before the murder.

She initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges but changed her plea to guilty in Dec. 2025. She will be sentenced in August. The state has recommended life in prison.

“McGrew decided last year to be judge, jury, and executioner,” the state said. “She decided she was going to take the law into her own hands. She decided to be a vigilante, to be retaliatory and to impose a sentence.”

WJXT-TV reported that Woodley had no criminal history related to sexual assault or the abuse of children.

McGrew’s mugshot shows her smiling happily after she was arrested.

RELATED: Family of 10-year-old girl allegedly tortured to death says child protective services ignored dozens of warnings

McGrew was asked if she had any comments for her victim’s family.

“I am sorry about what I did,” she said. “I know how much I impacted your family and mine. I’m really sorry for what happened.”

No one appears to have submitted anything for Woodley’s obituary. The staff of the funeral home planted a tree in his memory.

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​Brutal beating, Child molestation, Florida, Revenge, Child grooming, Crime 

New York has long styled itself as a national champion of tolerance and individual freedom. Yet when it comes to one of the oldest civil liberties in American life — the freedom to live according to one’s conscience — the Empire State is moving in the opposite direction.

The 2026 Religious Liberty in the States index, a data-driven investigation published by the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, measures how hard state governments work to protect the basic right of conscience. New York, it seems, works overtime to achieve the exact opposite.

A genuinely civilized society accommodates honest differences rather than requiring total ideological agreement.

Dead last

The index measures the everyday points where state power clashes with religious conviction. Can a nurse refuse to assist in genetic counseling that conflicts with her faith? Can a Seventh-day Adventist opt out of mandatory union dues that finance causes he considers morally objectionable? Are citizens safe from religious bias at their local bank, state university, or public school board?

On those fundamental questions, New York performs worse than every other state in the nation. The latest edition places New York dead last — 50th out of 50.

The ranking reflects a governing philosophy that rejects religious liberty whenever it conflicts with progressive policy goals. Rather than treating conscience protections as a cornerstone of a pluralistic society, state leaders regard them as obstacles to be managed or even eliminated. With Zohran Mamdani and his political allies continuing to push an aggressive far-left agenda, protections for religious beliefs are increasingly treated as hazardous waste requiring active containment.

RELATED: Euthanasia and the lie of the ‘good death’

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Death drive

The ranking isn’t merely academic. On the very day the report was released, four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic health care ministries were back in federal court challenging New York’s assisted-suicide law, arguing that it would force them to violate their religious convictions by participating in the process of ending patients’ lives.

Backed by the religious liberty legal group Becket, the plaintiffs in Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. James had asked the court to block the law before it takes effect on Aug. 5. On Friday, they won an important early victory when New York agreed not to enforce the law against the ministries while the case proceeds. Without that protection, the plaintiffs argued, religious health care providers who refused to facilitate assisted suicide could face steep financial penalties, the loss of professional licenses, and even criminal prosecution.

At the same time the RLS rankings were published, four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic health care ministries filed a federal lawsuit challenging New York’s newest assisted-suicide law. Their complaint centers on being forced to participate in ending human life in violation of their faith.

The most vulnerable

For generations, Catholic ministries throughout New York have cared for the most vulnerable. The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and the Little Sisters of the Poor have devoted decades to serving the sick, the elderly, and the dying. They believe that every human life has inherent dignity and requires loving care until the very end.

The state’s legal arm operates with total disregard for that history. When the New York Court of Appeals decided Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany v. Serio in 2006, forcing religious employers to pay for prescription contraceptive coverage in their health plans, the court established a precedent that statutory mandates routinely override religious objections. The current assisted-suicide mandate pushes that line of warped logic into literal life-and-death territory.

The First Amendment exists precisely because early Americans recognized that government inevitably abuses power when it forces citizens to violate their deepest beliefs as the price of participating in public life. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, declaring that “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical.” That principle laid the foundation for the American constitutional order.

Existential fight

That standard served the country remarkably well for over two centuries. Religious hospitals, schools, charities, adoption agencies, and social service organizations routinely fill massive gaps that state agencies lack the administrative capacity to manage. These groups strengthen their communities precisely because they stay true to their values. Forcing them to compromise those values undermines their work and ultimately leaves the most vulnerable with nowhere else to turn.

Supporters of New York’s policies claim that eliminating religious exemptions promotes equality. But that is utter nonsense. Equality achieved through state coercion inevitably creates an oppressive, standardized public square. A genuinely civilized society accommodates honest differences rather than requiring total ideological agreement.

The assisted-suicide litigation now before the federal courts represents the latest collision in this existential fight. Government forces operating with zero regulatory pushback tend to expand their reach until an independent judiciary steps in to draw a hard line.

The expansion of state power at the expense of individual conscience should alarm every reader. Today’s regulatory target is a collection of Catholic nuns running eldercare facilities. Tomorrow, the same administrative apparatus could target another faith community, another profession, or another belief system that conflicts with the prevailing political orthodoxy.

Religious liberty serves an essential purpose in the United States. It prevents state power from controlling what you think and how you live. Let’s hope these sisters win their legal challenge. Because a win for them is a win for the everyday, decent American.

​Catholic ministries, Catholic nuns, Civil liberties, First amendment, Individual freedom, New york, Public life, Religious freedom, Religious liberty, Assisted suicide law, Euthanasia, Lifestyle, Faith 

You probably think the EV mandate is over. That’s exactly what Washington wants you to believe.

Congress celebrated. The White House touted what it called one of the largest deregulatory efforts in modern history, highlighting the repeal of federal vehicle emissions rules as the centerpiece of more than $1 trillion in projected savings. Automakers began telling investors they were pivoting back toward the vehicles customers actually want. Dealers finally saw hope after years of trying to move electric vehicles that many buyers simply didn’t want.

Gas-powered vehicles continued dominating large parts of the country because they remain practical, affordable, and easy to refuel.

‘Not yet’

Then I started talking to people who follow automotive policy for a living.

I kept hearing the same answer: “Not yet.”

The reason is California.

While Washington rolled back federal emissions rules, California’s authority to set stricter vehicle emissions standards largely survived. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now follow California’s rules, representing roughly 40% of the nation’s new-vehicle market. That means one state’s policies can effectively shape what automakers build for the entire country.

The fight now centers on four California Clean Air Act waivers that allow the state to enforce stricter emissions standards, including requirements that automakers sell increasing numbers of electric vehicles and meet tougher tailpipe-emissions limits. The EPA sent those waivers to Congress for review under the Congressional Review Act. California immediately sued, arguing the waivers aren’t subject to congressional repeal.

Congressional Republicans disagree.

California king

They’re racing to overturn the waivers before the Congressional Review Act deadline expires. If they succeed, future administrations would face a much steeper legal hurdle before restoring California’s authority. If they fail, the legal framework that has allowed California to shape the national auto market could remain in place for years.

To be fair, the Trump administration fundamentally changed federal auto policy. Repealing the EPA’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding removed the legal foundation for nationwide greenhouse-gas regulations, marking one of the biggest deregulatory shifts in decades.

But Washington only dismantled part of the system.

Once enough states adopt California’s standards, automakers face a simple business decision. They can engineer different vehicles for different parts of the country — or build to the toughest standard and sell it everywhere. Guess which option usually wins.

RELATED: California wants to decide what tires you can buy — what could possibly go wrong?

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Sunk costs

Now follow the money.

Over the last decade, automakers invested hundreds of billions of dollars preparing for an electric future regulators insisted was inevitable. Battery manufacturers expanded production. Charging companies attracted billions in public and private investment. Utilities planned for rising electricity demand. Entire business models were built around the assumption that government would continue pushing rapid electrification.

When that much money depends on one regulatory direction, nobody quietly accepts a change in course.

Businesses fight to protect their investments. Lobbyists fight to preserve the policies that created them. Investors fight to protect their returns. That’s not a conspiracy. It’s economics.

Consumers, however, had other ideas.

Real life over regulations

Electric vehicle sales in America never matched many of the industry’s most ambitious forecasts. Hybrids surged because they offered better fuel economy without requiring people to change how they live. Gas-powered vehicles continued dominating large parts of the country because they remain practical, affordable, and easy to refuel. Dealers struggled with inventory that reflected regulatory priorities more than consumer demand, and manufacturers wrote off billions after investing ahead of the market.

None of this means electric vehicles are a bad option. Buy one if it fits your lifestyle. Buy a hybrid if that’s the better option. Buy a gasoline-powered pickup if that’s what your family or business needs.

That’s what consumer choice looks like.

Looking back over the last decade, I don’t see consumers driving this transition. I see regulations shaping investment, investment shaping production, and production shaping what buyers were offered in the showroom.

That’s a very different sequence.

Washington may have dismantled the federal EV mandate. But unless Congress also closes California’s regulatory back door, the pressure that reshaped the auto industry could return under a future administration.

The question isn’t whether electric vehicles have a future. They do.

The question is whether consumers or regulators get to decide how quickly that future arrives.

​Auto industry, California, Clean air act, Electric vehicles, Epa, Ev mandate, Congressional review act, Gavin newsom, Automotive 

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is passionate about protecting American culture — and that includes the roadside fever dream that is Buc-ee’s gas station.

“They have a HomeGoods store. They sell barbecue. They have beef jerky. They have everything you could ever want and the cleanest freaking restrooms you’ll ever see in your life. Like, Buc-ee’s is a national treasure,” she gushes.

But it seems not everyone shares Sara’s love for the Texas-sized travel center. British-American comedian John Oliver devoted a segment of his show “Last Week Tonight” to criticizing Buc-ee’s for suing smaller businesses over trademark issues involving beaver imagery and similar names. He even launched a parody “Buc-Off” merch line featuring a squirrel mascot and dared the chain to sue him.

“Buc-ee’s should be careful here because as one legal expert has said, ‘The more you do this, the more you might run into somebody who has the means or the will to fight with you about.’ That is where we come in because it turns out we very much have the will to get into a fight with Buc-ee’s,” Oliver said, before debuting his new “Buc-Off” brand and merch line.

“If any gas station chain out there has an issue with our new logo and products and wants to get lawyers involved, then you know what? Bring it the f**k on,” he taunted.

Calling Oliver a “British clown,” Sara retorts, “Imagine having so little material that you’re like, ‘You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to pick a fight with Buc-ee’s’ … Over what? Buc-ee’s protecting their own IP?”

“He’s saying indirectly he’s supporting small companies that are trying to profit off of Buc-ee’s image and likeness by imitating a successful brand,” she adds.

Sara sees Oliver’s stunt as yet another attempt by a foreigner to destroy American culture.

“I find it very offensive he’s going to come into my country and speak the way that he speaks and go after one of the biggest national treasures in this entire country,” she says.

But it’s not just offensive — it’s hypocritical too.

“Let me just show you, John Oliver, your own parent company — the company that owns HBO, where you can find his sh***y program. Warner Brothers Discovery sued an AI firm for Batman Superman copyright infringement,” Sara points out.

“So rules for thee, but not for me,” she quips.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Bucees, Comedian, Last week tonight, Sara gonzales, Blazetv show, John oliver 

At least one sheriff in New York state is pushing back against a new law forcing law enforcement agencies to stop cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James issued an order on July 24 requiring 12 local law enforcement agencies to terminate their agreements with ICE.

‘All I can say about immigration-related issues is that if there is a very dangerous person in this jail, and the expectation is that I’m going to release that person back out into the community, I’m not doing that.’

Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar excoriated the order in a media briefing where he called politicians in the state capital hypocrites.

“It is becoming increasingly … frustrating, you know, to listen to the edicts and, you know, the white noise coming from, again, the political class in Albany,” Akshar said. “I would like to think that the vast majority of New Yorkers understand that the political class in Albany continues to destroy the great state of New York.”

Akshar said he would have to comply with the law ending 287(g) programs in the state by Aug. 25 but indicated that he would continue to cooperate with ICE in other ways.

“And you have policy after policy after policy as it pertains to public safety that continues to put criminals over law-abiding New Yorkers,” he added. “And that is frustrating. So the reality is this: Whether or not I agree or disagree with a law that has been authored by the legislature and signed by the governor, my responsibility is to enforce the law.”

RELATED: Dem. Gov. Hochul says NY college campuses will be offered as emergency shelters for NYC illegal immigrants

“All I can say about immigration-related issues is that if there is a very dangerous person in this jail, and the expectation is that I’m going to release that person back out into the community, I’m not doing that,” he added.

Broome County is located in the Southern Tier of the state and includes about 195,000 residents.

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​Law enforcement, New york, Sheriffs, Illegal immigration, Immigration and customs enforcement, Politics 

Spanish authorities say at least 34 people have died during the sudden and startling invasion of the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta in Morocco.

Reports initially said thousands of people were overrunning the small province in northern Africa, but authorities have since said that the invasion grew to tens of thousands of migrants.

‘Ceuta is a Spanish city, and what happened yesterday deserves our full reproach, our condemnation at the strongest possible level of rejection, condemnation and consideration as deplorable.’

Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said about 25,000 migrants had been expelled from Ceuta back to Morocco and 150 migrants were being removed per minute.

Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, said about 60,000 migrants had overrun the province and also reported the official number of those dead so far.

He went on to call the situation “absolutely unsustainable” and criticized the government’s response as action “taken too late and insufficiently.”

Despite the claims of the interior ministry, some videos on social media apparently show the migrants continuing to stream in while troops look on.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez referred to the invasion as an “attack” on his country and “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” at a news conference Friday.

“Ceuta is a Spanish city, and what happened yesterday deserves our full reproach, our condemnation at the strongest possible level of rejection, condemnation and consideration as deplorable.”

RELATED: Mamdani vows to protect migrants in apparent DEFIANCE of Supreme Court ruling on TPS

Adri Salido/Getty Images

Some suspect that the invasion was sparked by a Spanish Supreme Court decision which found that migrants crossing by land could be expelled without due process, but those who entered the country by sea required documentation before they were deported.

The U.S. State Dept. also issued a statement decrying the illegal crossings into Spain.

“The United States stands with the people of Spain, and all Europeans, against this egregious violation of their sovereignty and human rights,” the statement read.

“This unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government’s deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe,” the agency added. “We are considering actions to defend Americans at home and abroad from this threat and stand ready to assist other European allies considering similar options.”

RELATED: ‘Absolute chaos’: THOUSANDS of migrants OVERRUN border into Spain from Morocco — at least 9 people dead

France 24 reported that most of the migrants were Moroccan and were seeking jobs in Europe. Migrants told them it took up to four hours to swim into Ceuta from Morocco.

A local workers’ association leader told CBS News it had become a major humanitarian crisis with thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, sleeping in parks and on the sidewalks.

Sánchez accused “human trafficking mafias” of exploiting the ruling by the Supreme Court.

“This demands one of the strongest condemnations, particularly of the human trafficking mafias that deceive many young people, many of whom find death, whether in the ocean or at this border,” he added.

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​Mass migration, Europe, Spain, Morocco, Invasion, Politics, Ceuta