The American Spectator

Political Hay

Somewhere, Lyndon B. Johnson is insulted.

Claiming victory in the race for the Democrats' nomination, Senator Barack Obama said this:

"Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal..."

Excuse me? You mean all those LBJ Great Society programs didn't provide care for the sick, secure good jobs for the jobless and take care of the environment? On the off-chance the Internet has a space limitation, let's settle for a partial listing of LBJ's efforts for the sick, the jobless, the environment and more as reflected in the list of legislation he proudly compiled and boasted of in his presidential memoir The Vantage Point. The list begins at the end of 1963, when he took office following JFK's assassination, and continues through his last full year, 1968. The titles are as LBJ himself listed them:

p>College Facilities br> Clean Air br> Vocational Training br> Indian Vocational Training br> Manpower Training br> Federal Airport Aid br> Farm Program br> Pesticide Controls br> International Development Association br> Urban Mass Transit br> Water Resources Research

topics:
Education, Health Care, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Social Security, Medicaid, Environment, Law, NATO, Conservatism, Immigration, Oil, Medicare