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Fisher Governor Company Sales Banquet, San Diego, CA, April 21, 1966
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4525925
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Fisher Governor Company Sales Banquet, San Diego, CA, April 21, 1966
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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U.S. Congress. 1789-
Executive-Legislative relations
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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "Fisher Governor Company Sales
Banquet, San Diego, CA, April 21, 1966" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT SAN DIEGO
THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 21 1966.
SPEECH EXCERPTS--FISHER GOVERNOR CO. SALES BANQUET AT SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
There are two basic issues in American government today--the restoring of
proper balance between the three branches of the federal government and a rebirth
of strength and vigor in state and local governments.
Framers of the Constitution sought to guard against some of the developments
we see today--a Congress overshadowed by the Executive Branch, a Supreme Court
which is making law through some of its decisions, state and local governments
which are in danger of becoming mere appendages of the federal government.
The American political system now is like a pinball machine that somebody
has tilted to make it pay off his way. The people must see that the machinery is
righted and made to function as the authors of the Constitution intended.
There is danger in an excessively powerful central government, although many
Americans seem to have lost sight of that fact.
The wise men who laid the foundation of our political system gave strength
to each of the three branches of federal government in a system of checks and
balances. They gave the states a dual sovereignty in relation to the federal
establishment.
Over the years there developed the major political parties, This two-party
system, when properly functioning, makes its own unique contribution to the
system of checks and balances.
you The system is out of whack. It's like a machine with a bearing that's out
of round. The defect threatens to wreck the whole machine--the entire structure
of American life.
***
There are two movements afoot which could go far toward correcting present
imbalances in our political system.
These are a study of ways to improve and strengthen the machinery of Congress
and bipartisan proposals to return a percentage of federal income tax revenue to
the states when the Vietnam war ends and this becomes feasible.
A third correction could be largely realized in the 1966 elections--a
strengthening of the two-party system after the wrenching maladjustment which
occurred in November, 1964.
* * *
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS - SAN DIEGO BANQUET--- APRIL 21, 1966
From the work of the Joint Committee on Organization of Congress have come
recommendations which will help Congress regain the eminence it once enjoyed in
the legislative process.
From the proposals for federal revenue-sharing with the states may come a
rejuvenation of state and local government. Such revenue-sharing, with no strings
attached, has the endorsement of governors of both parties, political scientists,
and many economists. It was first proposed by Dr. Walter Heller, chairman of the
Council of Economic Advisers under the late President John F. Kennedy.
Congress now is often placed in the position of an errand boy doing the
bidding of the White House. This is unhealthy for the country. The Congress
should be originating legislation as well as improving and approving or rejecting
those measures sent to Capitol Hill by the President
The JointCommittee on Organization of Congress Las Fourd may find ways to free
congressmen and senators from time-consuming chores and thus help make each
member a more effective legislator.
The purpose of the federal revenue-sharing proposal is, of course, to give
the states and local governments the means to do the things that can be done best
at the local level.
***
Most Americans occasionally worry about the fact that the federal government
keeps getting bigger and bigger--but only occasionally. And for the most part,
they see no threat to their own individual freedom.
It is difficult for the individual American to realize how tremendously the
federal government has grown and how the role of the states and local governments
has shrunk. It is also difficult for him to understand that the greater the
number of local decisions indirectly made by the Executive Branch in Washington,
the less he has to say about how his community, his state, and his nation are
being run. It's just as simple as that.
The power to tax is the power to destroy, and power flows to where the
money is. If the states and local governments must increasingly look to the
federal government for grants-in-aid circumscribed with federal regulations, their
powers will be increasingly diminished.
Federal grant-in-aid programs have grown in numbers from 18 to 140 different
programs in the last 31 years--and in dollars from $126 million in 1935 to
$14 billion today.
***
The minority party in America must be imaginative, dedicated and alert. But
it must also receive added strength from the electorate if the steeply tilted
majority in Congress is to swing back toward a more sensible balance.
###
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY AT SAN DIEGO
THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 21 1966.
SPEECH EXCERPTS--FISHER GOVERNOR CO. SALES BANQUET AT SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
There are two basic issues in American government today--the restoring of
proper balance between the three branches of the federal government and a rebirth
of strength and vigor in state and local governments.
Framers of the Constitution sought to guard against some of the developments
we see today--a Congress overshadowed by the Executive Branch, a Supreme Court
which is making law through some of its decisions, state and local governments
which are in danger of becoming mere appendages of the federal government.
The American political system now is like a pinball machine that somebody
has tilted to make it pay off his way. The people must see that the machinery is
righted and made to function as the authors of the Constitution intended.
There is danger in an excessively powerful central government, although many
Americans seem to have lost sight of that fact.
The wise men who laid the foundation of our political system gave strength
to each of the three branches of federal government in a system of checks and
balances. They gave the states a dual sovereignty in relation to the federal
establishment.
Over the years there developed the major political parties, This two-party
system, when properly functioning, makes its own unique contribution to the
system of checks and balances.
The system is out of whack. It's like a machine with a bearing that's out
of round. The defect threatens to wreck the whole machine--the entire structure
of American life.
* *
There are two movements afoot which could go far toward correcting present
imbalances in our political system.
These are a study of ways to improve and strengthen the machinery of Congress
and bipartisan proposals to return a percentage of federal income tax revenue to
the states when the Vietnam war ends and this becomes feasible.
A third correction could be largely realized in the 1966 elections--a
strengthening of the two-party system after the wrenching maladjustment which
occurred in November, 1964.
* *
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS SAN DIEGO BANQUET--- APRIL 21, 1966
From the work of the Joint Committee on Organization of Congress may come
recommendations which will help Congress regain the eminence it once enjoyed in
the legislative process,
From the proposals for federal revenue-sharing with the states may come a
rejuvenation of state and local government. Such revenue-sharing, with no strings
attached, has the endorsement of governors of both parties, political scientists,
and many economists. It was first proposed by Dr. Walter Heller, chairman of the
Council of Economic Advisers under the late President John F. Kennedy.
Congress now is often placed in the position of an errand boy doing the
bidding of the White House. This is unhealthy for the country. The Congress
should be originating legislation &8 well as improving and approving or rejecting
those measures sent to Capitol Hill by the President.
The oint Committee on Organization of Congress may find ways to free
congressmen and senators from time-consuming chores and thus help make each
member a more effective legislator.
The purpose of the federal revenue-sharing proposal is, of course, to give
the states and local governments the means to do the things that can be done best
at the local level.
***
Most Americans occasionally worry about the fact that the federal government
keeps getting bigger and bigger--but only occasionally. And for the most part,
they see no threat to their own individual freedom.
It is difficult for the individual American to realize how tremendously the
federal government has grown and how the role of the states and local governments
has shrunk. It is also difficult for him to understand that the greater the
number of local decisions indirectly made by the Executive Branch in Washington,
the less he has to say about how his community, his state, and his nation are
being run. It's just as simple as that.
The power to tax is the power to destroy, and power flows to where the
money is. If the states and local governments must increasingly look to the
federal government for grants-in-aid circumscribed with federal regulations, their
powers will be increasingly diminished.
Federal grant-in-aid programs have grown in numbers from 18 to 140 different
programs in the last 31 years--and in dollars from $126 million in 1935 to
$14 billion today.
***
The minority party in America must be imaginative, dedicated and alert. But
it must also receive added strength from the electorate if the steeply tilted
majority in Congress is to swing back toward a more sensible balance.
# # #