EDITORIAL
THE OLD FLIM-FLAM It was not President Ford who proposed a huge tax slash matched in advance by a congressional pledge of matching cuts in federal spending; that plan was the work of Candidate...
...it would be a positive rather than a negative way of dealing with the budget deficit...
...Ford wants cut, as far as that goes...
...Taking a leaf from Harry Truman's style if not his substance, Mr...
...Ford and his advisers are banking on the notion that the public is unaware of these facts and that they cannot be enlightened, but they may be kidding themselves...
...Ford would like to campaign against what he calls a "can't do Congress...
...No wonder congressional liberals and moderates consider the Ford tax proposal a political flim-flam game...
...Ford unveiled his plan...
...Said Republican Senator Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma: "If I had an evil political mind-and I haye-I might think there was some political motive in this timing...
...Instead the administration proposal takes dead aim on Mr...
...The tragic thing about all this is that leadership on the economic crisis is badly needed...
...Would the administration recommend cuts in the military budget as well as in social services...
...Not that there is much secret about what Mr...
...Ford's middle-class constituency, on whose votes he is counting in '76...
...target areas for cutting would of course be the social services, from old age assistance and food stamps to slum clearance and medical care...
...I would say it would be very convenient to have a tax cut early in the political year and an expenditure cut very late in the year...
...What are the Ford plan's chances...
...He is counting on what he thinks is lack of information on the part of the public to turn presidential irresponsibility into political capital in 1976...
...should be thinking in terms of economic stimulation, not retrenchment and further budget-cutting...
...On the contrary, Mr...
...The public may not be as naive as they think...
...The aim should be to expand, not shrink...
...The first details of proposed federal spending will not be available to Congress until months after it would have committed itself to the Ford plan...
...Significantly, the tax cuts Mr...
...Ford proposes would go into effect* early in the year, the spending cuts too late to be felt by Election Day...
...What the country needs, in short, is constructive and responsible leadership on this grave issue, not simply another political ploy...
...What is needed is a national policy aimed at maximizing employment, by such means as constructing millions of desperately needed houses and apartments, improving lagging educational standards, replacing decrepit railroad lines, improving the level of national health care, restoring devastated urban neighborhoods...
...Schlesinger urged the Senate to approve a defense budget $2.6 billion higher than the $90.2 billion measure approved by the House-a figure which already exceeds the House-approved budgetary guidelines by $932 million...
...Ford considers the proposal a key vote-getting element in the 1976 race...
...The budget deficit is due primarily to the Vietnam war and to the economic recession, brought on in part by administration mismanagement of the economy...
...Such a policy would put millions back to work and, incidentally, back to paying taxes...
...Typically, the Ford tax plan closes none of the present loopholes in the law, which allow too many fat-cats to pay no taxes at all...
...Representative Al Ullman, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which originates tax legislation, spoke for many of his colleagues when he described the President's proposed package of tax and spending reduction as "totally preposterous...
...Aside from anything else, how could Congress commit itself now to huge spending slashes for a fiscal year that does not even begin until October of 1976...
...Ford knows full well that Congress cannot possibly agree to his reckless proposal...
...it omits entirely any provision to aid those below the $8000 annual income mark or those with large families...
...The tax reduction plan went beyond the expectations of almost all the experts, and it is clear that Mr...
...The budget deficit will get worse rather than better unless positive steps are taken to improve the state of the economy and thus increase total tax revenues...
...that plan was the work of Candidate Ford...
...What Congress could expect from the Ford administration on this score was illustrated by Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger a few days after Mr...
...With unemployment still over 8 percent, Ford & Co...
Vol. 102 • November 1975 • No. 17
