20 Years Later, The Great Society Flourishes.

20 YEARS LATER, THE GREAT SOCIETY FLOURISHES

By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM, Special to the New York Times
WASHINGTON, April 16 1985

— Twenty years ago, these were facts of American life:

Half of all Americans over 65 had no medical insurance, and a third of the aged lived in poverty.

More than 90 percent of the black adults in many Southern counties were not registered to vote. Nationwide, at all levels of government, there were only a couple hundred black elected officials.

Only a third of the children in the country 3 to 5 years old attended nursery school or kindergarten.

Today most Americans would find those situations unacceptable, and indeed they have been reversed, in large part because of laws enacted in 1965, the high-water mark of Lyndon B. Johnson's drive for what he called the Great Society.

Now nearly every elderly person is covered by health insurance, and the aged are no poorer than Americans as a whole. Blacks vote at about the same rate as whites, and nearly 6,000 blacks hold elective office. A large majority of small children attend preschool programs.

Senate Votes Next Week

President Reagan has spoken often about what he views as the excesses of the Great Society. His Administration has cut the rate of growth of some of the Great Society measures, although spending has continued to rise. The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on proposals that would go somewhat further, actually reducing spending on some such programs and abolishing some others outright.
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Now, a Surplus of Doctors

Furthermore, some of the peripheral Great Society programs President Reagan wants to abolish this year have worked so well, in his Administration's view, that they are no longer needed. For example, there is now a surplus rather than a shortage of doctors and dentists in the country, and the Administration argues the Government no longer needs to subsidize the training of health professionals.
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http://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/17/us/20-years-later-the-great-society-flourishes.html?pagewanted=print