>>> dhenwood at panix.com 04/30/01 01:43PM >>>
Wall Street Journal - April 30, 2001
Great Society II
By Kate O'Beirne and Ramesh Ponnuru. Mrs. O'Beirne is Washington editor, and Mr. Ponnuru a senior editor, of National Review.
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"The Great Society did not fail because of a lack of competition or of accountability-minded administrators. It failed because it bred mutual dependency between federal government and proxy networks. Middle-class nonprofit managers not only provided services under federal programs; because they provided services, they also became the primary constituents for those programs. Keeping the grants flowing became the main concern of both the nonprofits and the government. That's why these programs have been a political but not practical success. They are impervious to reform."
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CB: These authors have not proven that the Great Society failed. The expanded welfare program helped a lot of people. That seems like a success to me. The left must never give up the struggle against the Reaganite big lie that New Deal and Great Society programs were a failure. Like anything they can be improved, but that does not mean abolished.
Bring back welfare , but make it even better ! Expand Headstart to a marathon of services. Jobs or income now !