"Great Society" Programs Are Still Supported By The Public

During his term as president, Lyndon Johnson had a significant impact on this country -- probably far greater than he is usually given credit for. While he is generally remembered for the Vietnam War, civil rights legislation, and the War on Poverty, he also created several other programs under the umbrella of "Great Society" programs. These included Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts (and Humanities), school breakfasts, Job Corps, and a significantly expanded food stamp program.

Of course, every one of these programs was opposed by congressional Republicans, and even today they are still trying to destroy those programs (including Medicare, which they have voted to eliminate at least twice now).

But the real question (and the only important question) is what does the American public currently think of these Great Society programs? Do they support them, or has the GOP convinced them that these programs need to be done away with? A new YouGov Poll answers that question for us -- with a survey done between May 30th and June 2nd of a random sample of 1,000 adults (with a margin of error of about 4 points).

As you can see from the chart above, all of the Great Society programs are supported by a majority of the American public -- with support ranging from 76% for Medicare to 51% for the NEA(H). It seems that the congressional Republicans are out-of-step with the desires of the public (as they are on many issues). Most people know that these programs have been good for the country, and they want to keep them.

The charts below show how people of different political persuasions feel about the Great Society programs. Note that the congressional Republicans are even out-of-step with their own base voters on several of these programs. The Republican base supports Medicare (71%), Medicaid (53%), school breakfast (62%), Job Corps (53%), and half of them support Head Start (50%).