Posted on 09/11/2002 6:36:08 AM PDT by SJackson
From Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck through Rachel Carson and Ralph Nader, social critics have written vivid and penetrating studies of what's wrong with America.
Each of these authors listed above made such compelling cases that their books influenced social and political changes.
On the anniversary of an American tragedy, an important book is being published as a celebration of our government at its best. Even though many Americans argue that the federal government doesn't do anything right, this book documents a record of extraordinary accomplishment. Government's Greatest Achievements: From Civil Rights to Homeland Defense, by Paul C. Light (Brookings Institution Press), is a wonderful book that shows how the American political system has compiled an extraordinary record in responding to the most difficult of challenges.
''The United States is now facing another seemingly insurmountable problem in the form of international terrorism,'' Light writes. ''By early 2002 it had already produced enough federal action to make this one of the most intensive endeavors of recent history. . . .The question for most Americans is whether the United States will actually achieve results.''
Light's book, which focuses on U.S. governmental achievement from 1944 to 1999, is based on a study of 450 historians and political scholars. Of the 500 major laws passed during this time to improve the quality of life in the nation and world, these respondents selected the 50 greatest achievements based on difficulty, importance and success.
Here are the top 25:
1. Rebuilding Europe after World War II. These programs included the Marshall Plan, the International Monetary Fund, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Harry Truman was the major architect.
2. Expanding the right to vote. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made our politics more inclusive. Lyndon B. Johnson is responsible for these legal milestones.
3. Promoting equal access to public accommodation. The Open Housing Act of 1968 and 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act made public facilities more open and accessible.
4. Reducing disease. The Polio Vaccine Act of 1955 and National Cancer Act of 1971 sparked historic advances.
5. Reducing workplace discrimination. Between 1963 and 1990, laws were enacted that makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, age or disability.
6. Ensuring safe food and drinking water. From 1947 through 1974, goverment took actions that established and enforced quality standards.
7. Strengthening the nation's highway system. The construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s, initiated by Dwight D. Eisenhower, was the largest public works project in U.S. history.
8. Increasing older Americans' access to health care. Johnson's Great Society programs provided health insurance to those who needed it most.
9. Reducing the federal budget deficit. President Bill Clinton and his economic team deserve credit for shrinking the deficit.
10. Promoting financial security in retirement. The market's recent troubles are a cloud over this worthy program.
11. Improving water quality. President Richard M. Nixon did much to clean up the nation's lakes and streams.
12. Supporting veterans' readjustment and training. The GI Bill transformed America by making higher education available to the middle class.
13. Promoting scientific and technological research. The Communications Satellite Act of 1962 led to new technologies, including the Internet.
14. Containing communism. The Truman Doctrine, NATO and U.S. intervention in the Korean War impeded Soviet expansionism.
15. Improving air quality. The Clean Air Act of 1963 and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Act of 1965 cleared the nation's air.
16. Enhancing workplace safety. The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 have saved countless lives.
17. Strengthening the national defense. President Ronald Reagan's defense buildup of the 1980s brought the Soviets to the negotiating table and ended the Cold War.
18. Reducing hunger and improving nutrition. The National School Lunch Act of 1946 and the Food Stamp Act of 1964 enabled children and adults to eat healthier diets.
19. Increasing access to post-secondary education. Loans, grants and fellowship have made college more accessible to the American people.
20. Enhancing consumer protection. More than any other American, Nader forced the government to enact laws that protected consumers.
21. Expanding foreign markets for U.S. goods. Clinton gained congressional approval for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
22. Increasing the stability of financial institutions and markets. In the wake of the Enron collapse, some investors might dispute this as one of government's great successes.
23. Increasing arms control and disarmament. John F. Kennedy's 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and Reagan's 1988 Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty were historic advances in the quest for peace.
24. Protecting the wilderness. The Bush administration is threatening to open the wilderness to commercial development.
25. Promoting space exploration. Putting men on the moon ought to be higher on this list.
NO! More accurately--Clinton was a contemporary of Grove, Gates, and Greenspan who,I believe, did more in a day/week, for the economy than Clintoon did all his life.
Klinton had NOTHING to do with reducing the deficit. It was the Republican Congress that did it. The President can't spend a dime w/o the approval of Congress. Therefore, Klinton did NOTHING...as usual.
Is he kidding? Medicare is the primary reason health care costs are thru the roof today & will likely lead to the entire system's undoing.
9. Reducing the federal budget deficit. President Bill Clinton and his economic team deserve credit for shrinking the deficit.
Sorry, this is ridiculous - unless by 'economic team' the author means the Republicans in congress. And even then its an act of utmost charity to include the Stainmaker.
24. Protecting the wilderness. The Bush administration is threatening to open the wilderness to commercial development.
LOL! Poor George couldn't buy a break from these clowns...
Take a look that the statement above. Who created the deficit? Yes, that right, Congress and the govnerment. So let me get this straight - the liberal Brookings Institution says that government did good because it claimed to fix a problem that it created itself?
This whole article is a piece of crap so this book must be an effing and even worse piece of garbage.
This list of "accomplishments" is a tissue of lies, from beginning to end. Every last one of these endeavors displaced private wealth from accomplishing the same ends, leaving government to take all the credit and justify continued taxation. Every last one of these endeavors raised demand for the subsidized good or service by net tax consumers, thus increasing the cost for all net tax producers.
I think he got that right, he just gave the credit to the wrong guy, after all he is a Clinton supporter.
Increasing older Americans' access to health care. Johnson's Great Society programs provided health insurance to those who needed it most.
Some validity, at least for a good and humane idea. The problem, of course, is we didn’t give health care to “those who needed it most”, or to those who couldn’t afford it, we gave it to EVERYONE. Worse yet, rather than negotiating and paying private insurance, we decided to let the government run the program. Thus, our current disaster.
That's not true. He vigorously fought against it. By his own plans the year he left office would have had over a $310 Billion deficit.
Also it has too much special pleading for Democrats and against Republicans. President Reagan's achievement in unleashing private enterprise surely deserves prominent mention on such a list. Neal also ignores the troubles Social Security, Medicare and other programs face not because of external enemies or conditions but because of the problems in their own internal logic. And isn't it too early to crow about NAFTA? Or the ADA.
And this is just stupid Democratic propaganda and oversimplification:
24. Protecting the wilderness. The Bush administration is threatening to open the wilderness to commercial development.
Where, pray tell, is "the wilderness"? Leave it to city dwellers to totally ignore local conditions and particularities.
This is what many have been taught in public schools. The list of government "achievements" or "accomplishments" with no indication of the other side of the question: the costs of government programs, the difficulties they create, the legitimate reasons for opposing or questioning them, and the possible alternatives.
Exactly. And also -- do they realize that the "wilderness" once encompassed the entire country?? Their attitude is basically, "Once I get settled, all development should stop!"
I would say the republicans in Congress who outvoted the democrats on that bill deserve most of the credit.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.