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Founders Day Banquet, Kearney, NE, April 14, 1973
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Founders Day Banquet, Kearney, NE, April 14, 1973
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The original documents are located in Box D34, folder "Founders Day Banquet, Kearney,
NE, April 14, 1973" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Distribution 20 Copies to M. Forly M OFFICE' COPY
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. SATURDAY--
April 14, 1973
Excerpts from a Speech by House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford at a Founders Day
Dinner at 6:30 p.m. April 14 at Kearney, Nebraska.
There will be no increase in Federal income taxes this year or for the
next three years.
That will be the upshot if the American people continue to support President
Nixon and the Republican Party in their efforts to hold back on Federal spending.
I firmly believe the people are with us in our current series of confronta-
tions with the big spenders among the Democrats in Congress. This, I feel, is the
reason for the remarkable party discipline that has been exhibited by Republicans
in the House and Senate alike on the attempts made to date by Democratic leaders
to override Presidential vetoes of budget-busting bills.
It has been mighty tough for Republicans in the Congress to vote to sustain
Presidential rejection of bills like the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1972 and
the Rural Sewer and Water Act. But they have sensed that the people are behind
them, and that gave them the backbone to stand up for fiscal sanity.
They know, too, that we in the Congress who believe in fiscal responsibility
have to stand up against the whole flood of budget-busting bills the big spenders
among the Democrats are throwing at us or the dam will break and all semblance of
fiscal order will be swept away.
The April 15 deadline for filing Federal income tax returns dramatizes this
Battle of the Budget. The stakes are clear. What is at issue is simply whether
we will hold the line against a Federal tax increase.
The need is for enough disciples of fiscal responsibility in the Democratic-
controlled Congress to make the President's spending holdback stick and thus hold
taxes down. They need your support.
You know what the score is. People can argue until they are blue in the
face about the right of the President to impound funds. But the fact remains that
if the President had not slapped a $250 billion ceiling on Federal outlays for
fiscal 1973, we would be spending $11 billion more than that this fiscal year.
Instead of an estimated deficit of $25 billion, we would have a fiscal 1973 deficit
(more)
Digitized from Box D34 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
of $36 billion. And then the wheels would really fly off the economic buggy.
Let's project that built-in spending a bit. The momentum of it would have
pushed Federal outlays in fiscal 1974 to $19 billion above the President's 1974
request, and it would have shoved Federal spending $24 billion above the President's
proposals for fiscal 1975.
That $24 billion is an interesting figure, especially when you lay it along-
side the estimate that American taxpayers will receive Federal income tax refunds
totalling $20 to $22 billion this year. Think of it! The excess of spending that
the liberal Democrats in Congress wanted to commit us to for fiscal 1975 would have
topped this year's $22 billion in income tax refunds. Let American taxpayers think
about that a little as they fill out their income tax forms this year.
It's not just taxes we should be concerned about. Consider the fact that
Federal spending is a principal cause of inflation. Add all of the Democrats'
budget-busting bills together and you come up with a figure that would contribute
substantially to inflation. This kind of spending hurts the very people we are
trying to serve, those at the lower income levels who are most affected by runaway
inflation.
I am deeply committed to programs like vocational rehabilitation. But I
am just as deeply committed to the principle that these programs must be carried
forward at a fiscally responsible spending level. I believe we should produce
100 cents worth of human benefits for every tax dollar we spend.
In that connection, don't let anybody tell you the President just blindly
ordered cuts in Federal programs. He proceeded only after the Office of Management
and Budget had conducted the most exhaustive evaluation of Federal programs ever
undertaken. And do you know what that study showed? Of the more than 1,000
Federal grant programs reviewed, 115 were found to be riddled with waste and
inefficiency. There is no money for such programs in President Nixon's budgets.
As I said earlier, the American epople have repeatedly shown they want to
hold the line on both prices and taxes. Republicans are helping them do that. So
I think Republican prospects are good for 1974. I think our efforts on behalf of
the people will show up in the vote totals posted after the balloting is done.
###
20 copies up M. Ford only
OFFICE COPY
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. SATURDAY--
April 14, 1973
Excerpts from a Speech by House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford at a Founders Day
Dinner at 6:30 p.m. April 14 at Kearney, Nebraska.
There will be no increase in Federal income taxes this year or for the
next three years.
That will be the upshot if the American people continue to support President
Nixon and the Republican Party in their efforts to hold back on Federal spending.
I firmly believe the people are with us in our current series of confronta-
tions with the big spenders among the Democrats in Congress. This, I feel, is the
reason for the remarkable party discipline that has been exhibited by Republicans
in the House and Senate alike on the attempts made to date by Democratic leaders
to override Presidential vetoes of budget-busting bills.
It has been mighty tough for Republicans in the Congress to vote to sustain
Presidential rejection of bills like the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1972 and
the Rural Sewer and Water Act. But they have sensed that the people are behind
them, and that gave them the backbone to stand up for fiscal sanity.
They know, too, that we in the Congress who believe in fiscal responsibility
have to stand up against the whole flood of budget-busting bills the big spenders
among the Democrats are throwing at us or the dam will break and all semblance of
fiscal order will be swept away.
The April 15 deadline for filing Federal income tax returns dramatizes this
Battle of the Budget. The stakes are clear. What is at issue is simply whether
we will hold the line against a Federal tax increase.
The need is for enough disciples of fiscal responsibility in the Democratic-
controlled Congress to make the President's spending holdback stick and thus hold
taxes down. They need your support.
You know what the score is. People can argue until they are blue in the
face about the right of the President to impound funds. But the fact remains that
if the President had not slapped a $250 billion ceiling on Federal outlays for
fiscal 1973, we would be spending $11 billion more than that this fiscal year.
Instead of an estimated deficit of $25 billion, we would have a fiscal 1973 deficit
(more)
-2-
of $36 billion. And then the wheels would really fly off the economic buggy.
Let's project that built-in spending a bit. The momentum of it would have
pushed Federal outlays in fiscal 1974 to $19 billion above the President's 1974
request, and it would have shoved Federal spending $24 billion above the President's
proposals for fiscal 1975.
That $24 billion is an interesting figure, especially when you lay it along-
side the estimate that American taxpayers will receive Federal income tax refunds
totalling $20 to $22 billion this year. Think of it! The excess of spending that
the liberal Democrats in Congress wanted to commit us to for fiscal 1975 would have
topped this year's $22 billion in income tax refunds. Let American taxpayers think
about that a little as they fill out their income tax forms this year.
It's not just taxes we should be concerned about. Consider the fact that
Federal spending is a principal cause of inflation. Add all of the Democrats'
budget-busting bills together and you come up with a figure that would contribute
substantially to inflation. This kind of spending hurts the very people we are
trying to serve, those at the lower income levels who are most affected by runaway
inflation.
I am deeply committed to programs like vocational rehabilitation. But I
am just as deeply committed to the principle that these programs must be carried
forward at a fiscally responsible spending level. I believe we should produce
100 cents worth of human benefits for every tax dollar we spend.
In that connection, don't let anybody tell you the President just blindly
ordered cuts in Federal programs. He proceeded only after the Office of Management
and Budget had conducted the most exhaustive evaluation of Federal programs ever
undertaken. And do you know what that study showed? Of the more than 1,000
Federal grant programs reviewed, 115 were found to be riddled with waste and
inefficiency. There is no money for such programs in President Nixon's budgets.
As I said earlier, the American epople have repeatedly shown they want to
hold the line on both prices and taxes. Republicans are helping them do that. So
I think Republican prospects are good for 1974. I think our efforts on behalf of
the people will show up in the vote totals posted after the balloting is done.
###