The Economy: Jobs for 500,000

Meeting with a group of baseball luminaries in the White House last week, Lyndon Johnson accepted a bat from Boston Red Sox Slugger Carl Yastrzemski, then clowned it up for photographers by faking a bunt. The action drew a telling comment from the American League batting champion. "You're too big to be a hunter," Yastrzemski chided the President. "You have to hit home runs."

That is precisely the problem, particularly in L.B.J.'s low-scoring innings with the niggardly 90th Congress. As he presented the first of a dozen new legislative programs to Congress last...