Since I've been here in 1975, to me, nothing stood out like sore thumbs like the ones below.

1- Obamacare - Nothing comes close to this piece of legislative trash in terms of assault on liberty. Not even #2 below. It is the very definition of tyranny. Whoever that voted for it, and those who upheld it, need to be in prison, as far as I'm concerned.

2- The Klinton AWB of 1994 - Self explanatory.

What are yours? Name only those laws that were passed in your lifetime.

The first time a bill was passed that actually made me viscerally angry was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. That monstrous piece of shit. My god, thinking about even now is starting to raise my ire again.

And of course Obamacare.

The Patriot Act too I would include, but at the time I really wasn't paying attention to what it was or even what was going on in DC. It's only now that I realize how significant it was in eroding our freedoms.

I think you’d have to consider the Clean Air Act (1963) and the Clean Water Act (1972) as being significant and more importantly, effective.

TSCA, RCRA and CERCLA are up there too, but CAA and CWA are / were key to keeping our air and water cleaner than in any other country I can think of (we set the standard for the world - as usual).

Medicare in 1965. Now that I'm covered by a Medicare Advantage plan, it's become very significant to my wife and I.

Jim

GCA '68.
Federal Highway Act

The Community Mental Health Act of 1963. Thank it for the homeless mentally ill situation and a significant amount of the senseless random violence that takes place.

quote:

Originally posted by P210:
The Community Mental Health Act of 1963. Thank it for the homeless mentally ill situation and a significant amount of the senseless random violence that takes place.

Thank you. I've been looking for that one a long time.

Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

Firearms Owners' Protection Act, 1986

Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act of 1994 (part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act)

There were many others that were passed during my lifetime as well, but those were the ones that had the most direct significance to me as a gun owner.

Obamascare. The stupidity of the American voter was strong with this one.

Everybody knows that the first and most important thing to do when destroying the medical systems in place was to... take over the student loan program!

Listening to all of the whiny ass kids with horrendous loans and the Democraps teasing them with a 'free' fix to the problem that the very same people voted for is amusing.

I'm still waiting for the part where I'm supposed to be saving $2,500 a year.

LBJ: The immigration act of 1965 and the War on Poverty have done great damage to this country.

Although i was barely out of diapers (and don't remember it at all) the Interstate Highway and Defense Act probably did more to transform the country and help build our post war economy up to present day than anything else.
The most significant act of Eisenhower's Presidency.

Born in '78 obamacare is definitely #1. #2 is a toss up with between the '94 AWB and ARRA. AWB only really affected me for a couple of years due to age.

Before I was born however I believe LBJ's war on poverty, without question, has caused the most profound damage to the nation.

The AWB sunsetted, so I wouldn't include it.

Obamacare, the Patriot Act, FOPA, all in my lifetime - though I wasn't exactly aware of that last at the time.

Roe v. Wade nuked social interaction like nothing before or since. If you weren't of age before and after, you probably have no idea how much this changed things.

The Hart–Celler Act (Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965) set the wheels in motion to essentially turn us into a one-party country.

quote:

Originally posted by topherh:
Before I was born however I believe LBJ's war on poverty, without question, has caused the most profound damage to the nation.

It has essentially enslaved an entire group of people so well that they believe their slave masters are their saviors... Stockholm syndrome ain't got shit on the war on poverty.

On the positive, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. I was a reserve police officer at the time it passed. There was no statutory authorization for me to carry off duty in my state at the time and the sheriff of my county at the time would not issue us permits. So carry all you want while working for the PD, but now when you're off.

HR218 passed and I have carried everywhere every day since. That law basically changed my life.

(I took a full time police job a year and change later that comes with statutory authority to carry under state law and the sheriff retired a few months after HR218 passed so things were going to change eventually anyway)

The Civil Rights Act in 1964. LBJ was a racist man. He only promoted and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act because he thought it was politically expedient. He disagreed violently and kept it a secret, something I think is unreservedly detestable. This act and many other soon after greatly expanded the welfare state in America. We have now spent 23 Trillion dollars on his experiment.

Just before signing this legislation, he actually said "I'll have those ni%&ers voting Democrat for the next 200 years."

Gideon v. Wainwright

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
LBJ: The immigration act of 1965 and the War on Poverty have done great damage to this country.

There have been many, some good - some bad, BUT these two are right up at the top of the negative list for me as well.

Lautenberg Amendment
Fair Labor Standards Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
And others already mentioned