Buchanan Faintly Praises Bush’s L.A. Plan

Republican presidential challenger Patrick J. Buchanan on Saturday praised President Bush’s aid plan for Los Angeles but said it would not curb the “barbarism” that followed the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating case.

“You do not deal with vandals and Visigoths pillaging your cities by expanding the Head Start and food stamp programs,” Buchanan said in a commencement address at Liberty University.

Bush on Friday announced a $19-million aid package for Los Angeles, including additional money for Head Start preschool education, health and drug treatment clinics, housing for low-income families, worker retraining and drug law enforcement.

“I think President Bush is doing the right thing,” Buchanan said. “The first thing you have to do is help the people the government failed, the people who lost businesses and were burned out.”