Well, in the course of creating the Great Society, that's never so great it can't be made greater by a little more of your money, here's the list of legislation (be afraid; be very afraid):
1963 | ||
College Facilities | Clean Air | |
Vocational Education | Indian Vocational Training | Manpower Training |
1964 | ||
Inter-American Development Bank | Kennedy Cultural Center | Tax Reduction |
Presidential Transition | Federal Airport Aid | Farm Program |
Chamizal Convention | Pesticide Controls | International Development Association |
Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Compobello International Park | Urban Mass Transit |
Water Resources Research | Federal Highway | Civil Service Pay Raise |
War on Poverty | Criminal Justice | Truth in Securities |
Medicine Bow National Forest | Ozark Scenic Riverway | Administrative Conference |
Fort Bowie Historic Site | Food Stamp | Housing Act |
Interest Equalization | Wilderness Areas | Nurse Training |
Revenues for Recreation | Fire Island National Seashore | Library Services |
Federal Employee Health Benefits | ||
1965 | ||
Medicare | Aid to Education | Higher Education |
Four Year Farm Program | Department of HUD | Housing Act |
Social Security Increase | Voting Rights | Fair Immigration Law |
Older Americans | Heart, Cancer, Stroke | Law Enforcement Assistance |
National Crime Commission | Drug Controls | Mental Health Facilities |
Health Professions | Medical Libraries | Vocational Rehabilitation |
Anti-Poverty Program | Arts & Humanities | Aid to Appalachia |
Highway Beauty | Clean Air | Water Pollution Control |
High Speed Transit | Manpower Training | Presidential Diability |
Child Health | Regional Development | Aid to Small Business |
Weather Predicting | Militaty Pay Increase | GI Health Insurance |
Community Health Services | Water Resources Council | Water Desalting |
Assateague Nat'l Seashore | Whiskeytown Nat'l Rec. Area | Delaware Water Gap Rec. Area |
Juvenile Delinquency Control | Arms Control | Strengthening UN Charter |
Int'l Coffee Agreement | Retirement for Public Servants | |
1966 | ||
Food for India | Child Nutrition | Dept. of Transportation |
Truth in Packaging | Model Cities | Rent Supplements |
Teachers Corps | Asian Development Bank | Clean Rivers |
Food for Freedom | Child Safety | Narcotics Rehab |
Traffic Safety | Highway Safety | Mine Safety |
Int'l Education | Bail Reform | Tire Safety |
New GI Bill | Minimum Wage Increase | Urban Mass Transit |
Civil Procedure Reform | Federal Highway Aid | Military Medicare |
Public Health Reorg. | Cape Lookout | Water Research |
Guadalupe Nat'l Park | Bicentennial | Fish-Wildlife Preservation |
Water for Peace | Anti-Inflation Program | Scientific Knowledge Exchg. |
Cultural Materials Exchg. | Foreign Investors Tax | Parcel Post Reform |
Civil Service Pay Raise | Stockpile Sales | Participation Cert. |
Protection for Savings | Flexible Interest Rates | Freedom of Information |
1967 | ||
Education Professions | Education Act | Air Pollution Control |
Partnership for Health | Social Security Increases | Age Discrimination |
Wholesome Meat | Flammable Fabrics | Urban Research |
Public Broadcasting | Outer Space Treaty | Modern DC Gov't |
Vietnam Vets Benefits | Federal Judicial Center | Civilian Postal Pay |
Deaf-Blind Center | College Work Study | Summer Youth Programs |
Food Stamps | Rail Strike Settlement | Selective Service |
Urban Fellowships | Consular Treaty | Safety at Sea Treaty |
Narcotics Treaty | Anti-Racketeering | Product Safety |
Small Business Aid | Inter-American Bank | |
1968 | ||
Fair Housing | Indian Bill of Rights | Safe Streets |
Wholesome Poultry | Food for Peace | Commodity Exchange Rules |
Grain Standards | School Breakfasts | Bank Protection |
Defense Production | Corporate Takeovers | Export Program |
Gold Cover Removal | Truth in Lending | Aircraft Noise Abatement |
Auto Insurance Study | New Narcotics Bureau | Gas Pipeline Safety |
Fire Safety | Sea Grant Colleges | DC School Board |
Tax Surcharge | Better Housing | Int'l Monetary Reform |
Int'l Grains Treaty | Oil Revenues for Recreation | Virgin Islands Election |
San Rafael Wilderness | San Gabriel Wilderness | Fair Federal Juries |
Candidate Protection | Juvenile Deliquency Protection | Guaranteed Student Loans |
DC Visitors Center | FHA-VA Interest Rate | Health Manpower |
Eisenhower College | Gun Controls | Aid to Handicapped Children |
Redwoods Park | Flaming Gorge Rec. Area | Biscayne Park |
Heart, Cancer, & Stroke | Hazardous Radiation Protect'n | Col. River Reclamation |
Scenic Rivers | Scenic Trails | Nat'l Water Comm. |
Federal Magistrates | Vocational Education | Veterans Pension Increase |
North Cascades Park | Int'l Coffee Agreement | Intergovernmental Manpower |
Dangerous Drugs Control | Military Justice Code |
Look at this list. A couple of things like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act are positive goods. Some are tolerable, like Clean Air and clothes that won't turn into a funeral pyre make some sense, but why isn't the latter just part of consumer product safety? People want to point to FDR as walking all over the Constitution, and they've got a point, but it's LBJ who really took the ball and ran with it.
(The "anti-inflation" program is particularly touching.) Look at how the real monsters - Medicare, Medicaid (which isn't listed, and is probably under one of those Social Security expansions) are hidden in there. Look at how careful Johnson was to take care of the bureaucrats, increasing their pay, their benefits, and their pensions. Look at how much of a failure just about everything on the list has been. The multiple health initiatives haven't solved anything, but we'll be asked to pony up for more of the same. The education initiatives were passed - and continue to spend money - because of the same arguments we're hearing now. (Listing the DC School Board as an achievement must be some kind of a cruel joke. The one about Modern DC government is actually pretty funny.) There are four or five vocational education programs, but we're now calling for more. Look at how much is repetitive, and how much was done without waiting to see the results of prior experiments.
I doubt there's a single line-item here that's been repealed, but they're bankrupting the country 40 years later. They haven't solved a single problem, but the answer, naturally, is more of the same.