Three to the Hill

In years past, Lyndon Johnson's presidential messages called on Congress to enact a plethora of broad, even visionary, programs. Times have changed. Beset by foreign crises and committed to holding down spending at home, the President last week sent three domestic programs to Capitol Hill spelling out segments of his State of the Union speech. The President's oratory was as resonant as ever, but it masked an anemia of fresh ideas.

sb CRIME: "This is not just another presidential message," Johnson declared as he unveiled his Safe Streets program with extraordinary fanfare. Attorney General Ramsey Clark called the crime message "the most massive and comprehensive national strategy ever proposed." It was also a cleverly crafted political package designed to put the President on the safe side of an issue that could overshadow all others by November. In it, he doubled earlier requests for aid to local crime-fighting units to $100 million, also reversed his opposition to an antiriot bill to punish those who cross state lines to incite strife. In addition, the message pledged the Justice Department's cooperation with state and local police. Said Johnson: "You don't have to remember any name except Clark--Ramsey Clark. He's the man to phone."

sb EDUCATION: U.S. Education Com missioner Harold Howe called the $11.6 billion education program (v. $10.8 billion last year) "the largest package of higher-education legislation ever considered by any Congress." But it was hardly revolutionary. Behind the few new programs were drastic cuts in old ones. College-level construction money was slashed from last year's $450 million to $75 million, and library funds were cut from $104 million to $46 million. Government-sponsored scholarships--which last year financed 105,000 freshmen--will support only 63,000 in the coming year.

sb CONSUMERS: In an eight-point program to "assure every American consumer a fair and honest exchange for his hard-earned dollar," the President proposed 1) a crackdown on salesmen's frauds, 2) a major study of automobile-insurance practices, 3) more measures to protect the public from radiation by electronic appliances, 4) blanketing the states with tougher poultry-inspection rules, 5) federal standards on the purity and quality of fish, 6) a safety program for pleasure boats, 7) clearer warranties on appliances and a federal eye on the quality of repairs, and 8) a "consumers' counsel" in the Justice Department to speak up in court for that perpetual patsy, the consumer. "Do you foresee the repeal of Barnum's law?"* a newsman asked as Ramsey Clark glowingly outlined this point. Smiled Clark: "You never can tell."

* There's a sucker born every minute.

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