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Howard County Lincoln Day Dinner, Frederick, MD, April 23, 1968
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4526109
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Howard County Lincoln Day Dinner, Frederick, MD, April 23, 1968
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D24, folder "Howard County Lincoln Day
Dinner, Frederick, MD, April 23, 1968" 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
April 23, 1968
Excerpts from a Howard County, Md., Lincoln Day Dinner Speech by Rep. Gerald R.
Ford, R-Mich., at Frederick, Md.
A recession and rising unemployment await America unless President Johnson
and the Democratic-controlled Congress meet the financial crisis which now plagues
US.
Determined belt-tightening is the only answer for the inflation which the
Johnson-Humphrey Administration and free-spending Democrats have fed so recklessly
and irresponsibly.
The adjustment will be difficult--whether it takes the form of deep spending
cuts or a package of lesser cuts and an income tax increase.
But the alternative--devaluation of the dollar, a breakdown of the inter-
national monetary system and a paralysis of world trade--would be far worse.
Abraham Lincoln once remarked that "it is an old maxim and a very sound one
that he that dances should always pay the fiddler."
Lincoln was saying that fiscal foolishness cannot go unpunished. Unfortu-
nately, while it is the Johnson-Humphrey Administration and the Democratic
majority in the Congress who have been fiscally foolish, it is the people who
have paid and will continue to pay. This is sad.
It is President Johnson and the Democratic majority in the Congress who have
overcommitted and overspent this country both at home and abroad. It is incumbent
upon them, therefore, to grasp the nettle and take whatever steps are necessary
to clean up the fiscal mess. It is a mess of their making, and nobody else's.
Let none delude himself. We talk of putting our fiscal house in order, and
indeed we must. But deep spending cuts and an income tax increase are not going
to make all of our problems disappear overnight. For a time this will create new
problems. Going on a diet can be just as painful as over-eating. But going
through a difficult period of readjustment is far better than letting the infla-
tionary bubble keep swelling until it finally bursts.
Republicans have sought to hold down federal spending ever since the
American economy started running an inflation fever early in 1966. The huge
Democratic majority in the 89th Congress refused to forego excessive spending.
President Johnson ignored our demands until last year when a bipartisan economy
(more)
Digitized from Box D24 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
bloc forced him to make some cutbacks.
The President didn't want an income tax increase in 1966 when it would have
done the most good. He wants one now but the Democratic majority won't give it
to him.
There will be deep spending reductions, I predict. There will be no tax
increase unless the President publicly consents to spending cuts totalling perhaps
$6 billion and personally works to round up Democratic votes for a tax boost.
The Federal Reserve Board felt that the economy couldn't wait, so they raised
the wholesale price of money.
This latest increase in interest rates threatens a replay of the 1966 "Credit
Crunch" something we could all do without.
The Federal Reserve Board is saying this: Inflation is now so great a danger
in this country that it threatens all Americans with financial disaster. Since
the President and the Democratic-controlled Congress have not acted to halt
inflation, the Federal Reserve Board must use the biggest anti-inflation weapon it
has tightening up the Nation's money supply.
What is the best answer to the fiscal situation which confronts us? It is
not merely to cut spending across the board. The sound answer is to reorder our
priorities and ultimately bring federal spending into line with income.
We face still another crisis which has eclipsed even Vietnam in immediate
importance.
This is the crisis of disorder in our cities the desperate need to rebuild,
to wipe out shameful slum conditions, to help every one of our citizens attain
dignity, and to create an atmosphere of good will in this Nation which will
promote domestic tranquillity.
Can we reduce spending, reorder our priorities and still embark upon a pro-
gram of rebuilding and reconciliation? More than 70 House Republicans have joined
in formulating a list of 23 areas in the fiscal 1969 budget where deferrals total-
ling $6.6 billion can be effected. At the same time, they propose rechanneling
$2.5 billion of this amount into "human renewal" spending, with the emphasic on
jobs, education and economic development. Republicans also urge an immediate
program of tax credits to get industry to offer on-the-job training and good jobs
to the hard-core unemployed and the underemployed. We offer a new approach, too,
to better housing for low-income families through our National Foundation for
Home Ownership.
This is what America needs today--action, not promises; performance, not idle
talk. This is what the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, offers\the
American people.
###
Distribution:
Full
12:30p.m.
4/23/68
20 Capies Mr Ford
moffice Copy Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY--
April 23, 1968
Excerpts from a Howard County, Md., Lincoln Day Dinner Speech by Rep. Gerald R.
Ford, R-Mich., at Frederick, Md.
A recession and rising unemployment await America unless President Johnson
and the Democratic-controlled Congress meet the financial crisis which now plagues
us.
Determined belt-tightening is the only answer for the inflation which the
Johnson-Humphrey Administration and free-spending Democrats have fed so recklessly
and irresponsibly.
The adjustment will be difficult--whether it takes the form of deep spending
cuts or a package of lesser cuts and an income tax increase.
But the alternative--devaluation of the dollar, a breakdown of the inter-
national monetary system and a paralysis of world trade--would be far worse.
Abraham Lincoln once remarked that "it is an old maxim and a very sound one
that he that dances should always pay the fiddler."
Lincoln was saying that fiscal foolishness cannot go unpunished. Unfortu-
nately, while it is the Johnson-Humphrey Administration and the Democratic
majority in the Congress who have been fiscally foolish, it is the people who
have paid and will continue to pay. This is sad.
It is President Johnson and the Democratic majority in the Congress who have
overcommitted and overspent this country both at home and abroad. It is incumbent
upon them, therefore, to grasp the nettle and take whatever steps are necessary
to clean up the fiscal mess. It is a mess of their making, and nobody else's.
Let none delude himself. We talk of putting our fiscal house in order, and
indeed we must. But deep spending cuts and an income tax increase are not going
to make all of our problems disappear overnight. For a time this will create new
problems. Going on a diet can be just as painful as over-eating. But going
through a difficult period of readjustment is far better than letting the infla-
tionary bubble keep swelling until it finally bursts.
Republicans have sought to hold down federal spending ever since the
American economy started running an inflation fever early in 1966. The huge
Democratic majority in the 89th Congress refused to forego excessive spending.
FORD
President Johnson ignored our demands until last year when a bipartisan economy
LIBRAR
(more)
-2-
bloc forced him to make some cutbacks.
The President didn't want an income tax increase in 1966 when it would have
done the most good. He wants one now but the Democratic majority won't give it
to him.
There will be deep spending reductions, I predict. There will be no tax
increase unless the President publicly consents to spending cuts totalling perhaps
$6 billion and personally works to round up Democratic votes for a tax boost.
The Federal Reserve Board felt that the economy couldn't wait, so they raised
the wholesale price of money.
This latest increase in interest rates threatens a replay of the 1966 "Credit
Crunch"--something we could all do without.
The Federal Reserve Board is saying this: Inflation is now so great a danger
in this country that it threatens all Americans with financial disaster. Since
the President and the Democratic-controlled Congress have not acted to halt
inflation, the Federal Reserve Board must use the biggest anti-inflation weapon it
has tightening up the Nation's money supply.
What is the best answer to the fiscal situation which confronts us? It is
not merely to cut spending across the board. The sound answer is to reorder our
priorities and ultimately bring federal spending into line with income.
We face still another crisis which has eclipsed even Vietnam in immediate
importance.
This is the crisis of disorder in our cities--the desperate need to rebuild,
to wipe out shameful slum conditions, to help every one of our citizens attain
dignity, and to create an atmosphere of good will in this Nation which will
promote domestic tranquillity.
Can we reduce spending, reorder our priorities and still embark upon a pro-
gram of rebuilding and reconciliation? More than 70 House Republicans have joined
in formulating a list of 23 areas in the fiscal 1969 budget where deferrals total-
ling $6.6 billion can be effected. At the same time, they propose rechanneling
$2.5 billion of this amount into "human renewal" spending, with the emphasis on
jobs, education and economic development. Republicans also urge an immediate
program of tax credits to get industry to offer on-the-job training and good jobs
to the hard-core unemployed and the underemployed. We offer a new approach, too,
to better housing for low-income families through our National Foundation for
Home Ownership.
This is what America needs today--action, not promises; performance, not idle
talk. This is what the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, offers the
American people.
# # #