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Panel Discussion on "The 1968 Issues and the Retailers' Role", 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Retail Federation, Washington, DC, May 7, 1968
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Panel Discussion on "The 1968 Issues and the Retailers' Role", 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Retail Federation, Washington, DC, May 7, 1968
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The original documents are located in Box D24, folder "Panel Discussion on "The 1968
Issues and the Retailers' Role", 33rd Annual Meeting of the American Retail Federation,
Washington, DC, May 7, 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States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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.
Digitized from Box D24 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
PANEL DISCUSSION ON "THE 1968 ISSUES AND THE
RETAILERS' ROLE" AT THE 33 ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE AMERICAN RETAIL FEDERATION AT 10 A.M.
TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1968, HOTEL AMERICA, WASH., D.C.
THIS IS AN EXCITING YEAR IN
AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY. IT IS A CRUCIAL
YEAR FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. IT IS A YEAR IN
HICH THE ISSUES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN
POLITICAL PERSONALITIES.
AMERICA TODAY IS AT A CROSSROADS.
APART FROM VIETNAM--WHERE PRESIDENT JOHNSON IS
ENGAGED IN A KIND OF DISENGAGEMENT--THERE ARE
VITAL DECISIONS TO BE MADE. THESE DECISIONS
INVOLVE FAR MORE THAN A DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE.
THEY GO TO THE BASIC POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF
EVERY INDIVIDUAL AMERICAN.
THE BASIC ISSUES IN THE BROADEST
SENSE ARE PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT, PERSONAL
INCENTIVE, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
AND FAITH IN THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM. THESE
-2-
BROAD ISSUES TRANSLATE INTO SUCH SPECIFIC
ISSUES AS INFLATION AND THE RESTORATION OF
RELATIVE PRICE STABILITY, THE RESTORATION AND
PRESERVATION OF THE RULE OF LAW, AND GENUINE
PROGRESS WITH EQUAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
FOR ALL AMERICANS.
WHEN I SPEAK OF PERSONAL INVOLVE-
MENT, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT RADICAL STUDENTS
TAKING OVER UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS AND CREATING
ANARCHY AND VIOLENT TURMOIL ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
BECAUSE THEY OBJECT TO THE SITE FOR A NEW
COLLEGE GYMNASIUM. I THINK STUDENTS WHO TAKE
OVER UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS SHOULD BE DEALT WITH
FIRMLY, FAIRLY, AND WITH THIS REMINDER --
STUDENTS ARE IN SCHOOL FOR AN EDUCATION,
ADMINISTRATOR MUST ADMINISTER AND THE TAXPAYERS
AND ALUMNI DONORS CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE
FUNDS FOR FACILITIES AND A CURRICULUM IF THE
RESULT IS ORGANIZED CHAOS OR DELIBERATE VIOLATION
OF THE LAW.
IBRARY
-3-
EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD CARE WHAT
HAPPENS TO EVERY OTHER AMERICAN. EVERY AMERICAN
SHOULD BECOME INVOLVED IN A RESPONSIBLE,
CONCERNED WAY IN MOVING THIS COUNTRY AHEAD
THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL DEMOCRATIC PROCESS--AND
THE PROCESS OF HELPING OTHERS TO HELP THEMSELVES.
TODAY THERE IS A DANGER IN THIS
COUNTRY THAT ANYONE WHO WANTS PROGRESS WILL
BEGIN TO BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO GET IT IS TO
TEAR UP THE COUNTRY. IT IS NOT WISE SIMPLY TO
DISMISS THE MILITANT AND THE VIOLENT BY LABELING
THEM AS RADICALS AND LEFTISTS AND SAYING THEY
OUGHT TO BE LOCKED UP.
TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY VIOLATE THE
LAW, THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED. BUT THEIR
ACTIONS SAY SOMETHING TO ALL OTHER AMERICANS,
TOO. THAT SOMETHING IS THAT WE SHOULD ALL
BECOME INVOLVED. WE SHOULD ALL HELP TO SOLVE
THE PROBLEMS THAT EXIST IN THIS COUNTRY--AND THEY
ARE MANY.
GERALD
LIBRARY
-4-
THE KEY TO SOLVING THIS NATION S
PROBLEMS IS PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT. UNFORTUNATELY,
AMERICANS FOR YEARS HAVE TURNED THEIR AFFAIRS
ALMOST COMPLETELY OVER TO THE FEDERAL
BUREAUCRACY AND THE RESULT HAS BEEN CONFUSION
AND NEAR-CHAOS INSTEAD OF THE SOLUTIONS SO
DEVOUTLY DESIRED.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOES HAVE A
BIG ROLE TO PLAY IN THE LIVES OF THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE. BUT THAT ROLE SHOULD BE PRIMARILY ONE
OF IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS OF THE PEOPLE AND
PROVIDING THE GUIDELINES AND THE INCENTIVE
NEEDED TO SOLVE THEM.
THERE ARE SOME PROBLEMS WHICH
REQUIRE DIRECT GOVERNMENTAL ACTION AND A DIRECT
APPROPRIATION AND EXPENDITURE OF TAX DOLLARS.
THIS IS NOT TRUE OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS. AND IT IS
NOT TRUE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALONE CAN
SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TODAY IS
-5-
OVERCOMMITTED AT HOME AND ABROAD. WE ARE FACED
WITH A FISCAL CRISIS WHICH DEMANDS--ABSOLUTELY
REQUIRES -- RETRENCHMENT IN FEDERAL SPENDING.
PRESIDENT JOHNSON DOES NOT WANT TO
RETRENCH. HE SAYS HE WOULD ONLY RELUCTANTLY
ACCEPT A $4 BILLION REDUCTION IN THE FISCAL 1969
SPENDING HE HAS PROPOSED -- SPENDING WHICH
EXCEEDS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR OUTLAYS BY MORE
THAN $10 BILLION. AND HE WOULD ACCEPT THE
$4 BILLION CUT ONLY TO WIN PASSAGE OF HIS
10 PER CENT INCREASE IN PERSONAL AND CORPORATE
INCOME TAX BILLS.
I SUBMIT WE WOULD NOT EVEN BE TALKING
ABOUT AN INCOME TAX INCREASE NOW IF THE PRESIDENT
HAD BEEN WILLING TO HOLD DOWN FEDERAL SPENDING
BEGINNING IN EARLY 1965 WHEN THE FIRES OF
INFLATION BEGAN RAGING IN THIS COUNTRY. THE
JOHNSON-HUMPHREY ADMINISTRATION IS DIRECTLY
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INFLATION THAT HAS BEEN
PLAGUING US SINCE LATE 1965 BECAUSE THE
-6-
ADMINISTRATION INSISTED IN 1966 ON EXCESSIVE
SPENDING THAT STIMULATED AN ALREADY OVER-HEATED
ECONOMY.
TO COME BACK TO THE PRESENT, I
BELIEVE DEEP CUTS IN PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S FISCAL
1969 BUDGET WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN DEALING
WITH INFLATION THAN HIS PROPOSED INCOME TAX
INITIAL SURCHARGE. AS FAR AS INFLATION IS CONCERNED, THE
TMPACT OF THE INCOME TAX INCREASE WOULD BE
LARGELY PSYCHOLOGICAL -- BOTH AT HOME AND
ABROAD. THE TAXPAYER WOULD FEEL IT IN HIS
POCKETBOOK AND IT WOULD HURT -- BUT THE EFFECT
OF THE SURCHARGE ON THE ECONOMY WOULD BE GRADUAL.
I THINK LYNDON JOHNSON WANTS THE SURCHARGE
(PLAY-RATE)
PRIMARILY TO PLACATE THE CENTRAL BANKERS OF
EUROPE.
TAXES ARE LIKE LEECHES. ONCE THEY
ARE PUT INTO PLACE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO DISLODGE
THEM. THEY BECOME THE VEHICLE FOR GREATER
GOVERNMENT SPENDING. IF THERE IS AN INCOME TAX
-7-
INCREASE THIS YEAR IT MUST BE TEMPORARY -- WITH
A DEFINITE EXPIRATION DATE.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY IT IS
RIDICULOUS TO BE HOLDING BACK ON FEDERAL
SPENDING. WE SHOULD -- THEY SAY -- BE POURING
ADDITIONAL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO THE
PROBLEMS OF THE CITIES AND BE PREPARED TO RAISE
TAXES AS NECESSARY TO CARRY THE ADDITIONAL BURDEN
THIS IS THE WRONG APPROACH. WE HAVE
ALREADY SPENT UNBELIEVABLY HUGE SUMS ON THE PROB-
LEMS OF THE CITIES BY THE TRADITIONAL METHOD --
AND WITH MEAGER RESULTS IN TERMS OF THE
INVESTMENT. ANY BUSINESSMAN WHO INVESTED LARGE
AMOUNTS IN AN ENTERPRISE AND GOT THAT KIND OF
RESULTS WOULD WRITE IT OFF AS A BAD MISTAKE.
OF COURSE WE CAN'T WRITE OFF THE
CITIES. THE SICKNESS OF THE CITIES HAS
INFECTED ALL OF AMERICA. IT IS REFLECTED IN
THE BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER IN THIS COUNTRY.
IF THE CITIES DIE, ALL AMERICANS WILL BE AFFECTED
-8-
I CONTEND THAT WE HAVE BEEN
PRESCRIBING THE WRONG KIND OF MEDICINE FOR WHAT
AILS THE CITIES. WE HAVE BEEN POURING BILLIONS
INTO PROJECTS WITHOUT HELPING PEOPLE. WE HAVE
BEEN SPENDING BILLIONS ON PROJECTS WHICH HAVE
DISPLACED MORE PEOPLE THAN THEY HAVE HOUSED.
AND THE MODEL CITIES PROGRAM, AS IT APPEARS TO
BE DEVELOPING, IS MORE OF THE SAME -- ONLY ON A
MUCH LARGER SCALE.
WHAT THIS NATION DESPERATELY NEEDS
IS AN INVESTMENT IN PEOPLE -- A HUMAN RENEWAL
PROGRAM. THE KEY ELEMENTS ARE JOBS, BETTER
EDUCATION, AND BETTER HOUSING. AND THE WAY TO
GET A HUMAN RENEWAL PROGRAM MOVING IS THROUGH A
PARTNERSH.IP OF GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WOULD TAX YOU
MORE AND SPEND MORE ON TRANDITIONAL MANPOWER
TRAINING PROGRAMS. THE CHIEF TROUBLE WITH SUCH
GOVERNMENT TRAINING PROGRAMS IS THAT THERE MIGHT
NOT BE A JOB AT THE END OF THE LINE.
-9-
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WOULD PROVIDE
INDUSTRY WITH A TAX CREDIT FOR INVESTING IN
HUMAN BEINGS. THIS TAX CREDIT WOULD OFFSET THE
EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH EXPENSES OF TRAINING THE
HARD-CORE UNEMPLOYED AND THE UNDEREMPLOYED. BUT
THEY WOULD BE TRAINED FOR JOBS THEY KNOW THEY
WOULD GET.
THIS IS THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE TICK. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT
PERSONAL INCENTIVE. PEOPLE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO
SEE A GOAL IF THEY ARE TO WORK TOWARD THAT GOAL.
THERE HAS TO BE A PRIZE AT THE FINISH LINE. IT
ADDS UP TO THE DESIRE TO GET AHEAD.
ANOTHER NAME FOR IT IS PROFIT -- IN
THE SENSE THAT IT PROFITS A MAN TO TRAIN FOR A
JOB IF HE KNOWS THE JOB WILL BE THERE WHEN HE'S
READY FOR IT.
THIS KIND OF AN INVESTMENT IN HUMAN
ALD,
BEINGS -- A NATIONWIDE ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
IBRARY
-10-
PROGRAM LAUNCHED AND FED BY THE INCENTIVE OF
FEDERAL TAX CREDITS -- WOULD GO A LONG WAY
TOWARD RESTORING AND PRESERVING LAW AND ORDER IN
THIS COUNTRY. UNLESS A MAN IS DEDICATED TO
OVERTHROW OF HIS GOVERNMENT BY FORCE HE WILL
NOT CONTINUE TEARING UP A COUNTRY IN WHICH HE
HAS A STAKE.
REPUBLICANS ALSO BELIEVE THEIR
LEGISLATION TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL HOME
OWNERSHIP FOUNDATION WOULD BE A BUILDING BLOCK
IN A NEW AMERICA WHERE LAW AND ORDER WOULD
PREVAIL. OUR PROPOSED HOME OWNERSHIP FOUNDATION
WOULD NOT ONLY PROVIDE LOW-INCOME FAMILIES WITH
MORTGAGE FUNDS BUT WOULD TEACH THEM HOW TO
BUDGET AND HOW TO RUN THEIR HOMES.
WHAT IS THE BUSINESSMAN'S ROLE IN
THESE UNDERTAKINGS? IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT
TODAY THAT BUSINESS MAKE THE PUBLIC BUSINESS ITS
OWN BUSINESS. GOVERNMENT ALONE CANNOT SOLVE
THE NATION'S PROBLEMS. THE CITIES CANNOT BE RUN
-11- -
FROM WASHINGTON.
EVERY AMERICAN -- AND ESPECIALLY
AMERICA'S BUSINESSMEN -- MUST BECOME PERSONALLY
INVOLVED
IF THE HUMAN RENEWAL PROGRAM IS TO
WORK. AND IF IT DOESN'T WORK, I SHUDDER TO
THINK WHAT AMERICA'S FUTURE MAY BE.
-END-
FORD
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, House Republican Leader, as participant in a panel
discussion on "The 1968 Issues and the Retailers' Role" at the 33rd annual
meeting of the American Retail Federation at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, 1968,
at the Hotel America, Washington, D. C.
For Release in Tuesday PM's
This is an exciting year in American political history. It is a crucial
year for the American people. It is a year in which the issues are more important
than political personalities.
America today is at a crossroads. Apart from Vietnam--where President
Johnson is engaged in a kind of disengagement--there are vital decisions to be made.
These decisions involve far more than a degree of difference. They go to the
basic political philosophy of every individual American.
The basic issues in the broadest sense are personal involvement, personal
incentive, individual rights and responsibilities, and faith in the free enterprise
system. These broad issues translate into such specific issues as inflation and
the restoration of relative price stability, the restoration and preservation of
the rule of law, and genuine progress with equal justice and equal opportunity for
all Americans.
When I speak of personal involvement, I am not talking about radical students
taking over university buildings and creating anarchy and violent turmoil on
college campuses because they object to the site for a new college gymnasium. I
think students who take over university buildings should be dealt with firmly,
fairly, and with this reminder--students are in school for an education, adminis-
trators must administer and the taxpayers and alumni donors cannot be expected to
provide funds for facilities and a curriculum if the result is organized chaos or
deliberate violation of the law.
Every American should care what happens to every other American. Every
American should become involved in a responsible, concerned way in moving this
country ahead through the traditional democratic process--and the process of helping
others to help themselves.
Today there is a danger in this country that anyone who wants progress will
begin to believe the only way to get it is to tear up the country. It is not wise
simply to dismiss the militant and the violent by labeling them as radicals and
leftists and saying they ought to be locked up.
(more) R.FORD LIBRARY
-2-
To the extent that they violate the law, they should be punished. But
their actions say something to all other Americans, too. That something is that
we should all become involved. We should all help to solve the problems that
exist in this country--and they are many.
The key to solving this Nation's problems is personal involvement.
Unfortunately, Americans for years have turned their affairs almost completely over
to the federal bureaucracy and the result has been confusion and near-chaos instead
of the solutions so devoutly desired.
The federal government does have a big role to play in the lives of the
American people. But that role should be primarily one of identifying the problems
of the people and providing the guidelines and the incentive needed to solve them.
There are some problems which require direct governmental action and a
direct appropriation and expenditure of tax dollars. This is not true of all our
problems.
The federal government today is overcommitted at home and abroad. We are
faced with a fiscal crisis which demands absolutely requires retrenchment in
federal spending.
President Johnson does not want to retrench. He says he would only
reluctantly accept a $4 billion reduction in the fiscal 1969 spending he has
proposed--spending which exceeds current fiscal year outlays by more than
$10 billion. And he would accept the $4 billion cut only to win passage of his
10 per cent increase in personal and corporate income tax bills.
I submit we would not even be talking about an income tax increase now if
the President had been willing to hold down federal spending beginning in early
1966 when the fires of inflation began raging in this country. The Johnson-Humphrey
Administration is directly responsible for the inflation that has been plaguing
us since late 1965 because the Administration insisted in 1966 on excessive spending
that stimulated an already over-heated economy.
To come back to the present, I believe deep cuts in President Johnson's
fiscal 1969 budget would be more effective in dealing with inflation than his
proposed income tax surcharge. As far as inflation is concerned, the impact of
the income tax increase would be largely psychological--both at home and abroad.
The taxpayer would feel it in his pocketbook and it would hurt--but the effect
of the surcharge on the economy would be gradual. I think Lyndon Johnson wants
the surcharge primarily to placate the central bankers of Europe.
(more)
-3-
Taxes are like leeches. Once they are put into place, it is difficult to
dislodge them. They become the vehicle for greater government spending. If there
is an income tax increase this year it must be temporary--with a definite
expiration date.
There are those who say it is ridiculous to be holding back on federal
spending. We should--they say-- be pouring additonal billions of dollars into the
problems of the cities and be prepared to raise taxes as necessary to carry the
additional burden.
This is the wrong approach. We have already spent unbelievably huge sums on
the problems of the cities by the traditional method--and with meager results in
terms of the investment. Any businessman who invested large amounts in an enter-
prise and got that kind of results would write it off as a bad mistake.
Of course we can't write off the cities. The sickness of the cities has
infected all of America. It is reflected in the breakdown of law and order in this
country. If the cities die, all Americans will be affected.
I contend that we have been prescribing the wrong kind of medicine for what
ails the cities. We have been pouring billions into projects without helping
people. We have been spending billions on projects which have displaced more
people than they have housed. And the Model Cities program, as it appears to be
developing, is more of the same--only on a much larger scale.
What this Nation desperately needs is an investment in people--a human
renewal program. The key elements are jobs, better education, and better housing.
And the way to get a human renewal program moving is through a partnership of
government and business.
The Democratic Party would tax you more and spend more on traditional
manpower training programs. The chief trouble with such government training
programs is that there might not be a job at the end of the line.
The Republican Party would provide industry with a tax credit for investing
in human beings. This tax credit would offset the extraordinarily high expenses of
training the hard-core unemployed and the underemployed. But they would be trained
for jobs they know they would get.
This is the free enterprise system we are talking about. We are talking
about what makes people tick. We are talking about personal incentive. People
have to be able to see a goal if they are to work toward that goal. There has to
be a prize at the finish line. It adds up to the desire to get ahead.
(more)
-4-
Another name for it is profit--in the sense that it profits a man to train
for a job if he knows the job will be there when he's ready for it.
This kind of an investment in human beings--a nationwide on-the-job training
program launched and fed by the incentive of federal tax credits--would go a long
way toward restoring and preserving law and order in this country. Unless a man
is dedicated to overthrow of his government by force, he will not continue tearing
up a country in which he has a stake.
Republicans also believe their legislation to establish a National Home
Ownership Foundation would be a building block in a New America where law and
order would prevail. Our proposed Home Ownership Foundation would not only provide
low-income families with mortgage funds but would teach them how to budget and how
to run their homes.
What is the businessman's role in these undertakings? It is vitally
important today that business make the public business its own business. Government
alone cannot solve the Nation's problems. The cities cannot be run from Washington.
Every American--and especially America's businessmen--must become personally
involved--if the human renewal program is to work. And if it doesn't work, I
shudder to think what America's future may be.
###
Distribution mailing 5/7/68
20 Copies Mr. Ind maffice Copy
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, House Republican Leader, as participant in a panel
discussion on "The 1968 Issues and the Retailers' Role" at the 33rd annual
meeting of the American Retail Federation at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, 1968,
at the Hotel America, Washington, D. C.
For Release in Tuesday PM's
This is an exciting year in American political history. It is a crucial
year for the American people. It is a year in which the issues are more important
than political personalities.
America today is at a crossroads. Apart from Vietnam--where President
Johnson is engaged in a kind of disengagement--there are vital decisions to be made.
These decisions involve far more than a degree of difference. They go to the
basic political philosophy of every individual American.
The basic issues in the broadest sense are personal involvement, personal
incentive, individual rights and responsibilities, and faith in the free enterprise
system. These broad issues translate into such specific issues as inflation and
the restoration of relative price stability, the restoration and preservation of
the rule of law, and genuine progress with equal justice and equal opportunity for
all Americans.
When I speak of personal involvement, I am not talking about radical students
taking over university buildings and creating anarchy and violent turmoil on
college campuses because they object to the site for a new college gymnasium. I
think students who take over university buildings should be dealt with firmly,
fairly, and with this reminder--students are in school for an education, adminis-
trators must administer and the taxpayers and alumni donors cannot be expected to
provide funds for facilities and a curriculum if the result is organized chaos or
deliberate violation of the law.
Every American should care what happens to every other American. Every
American should become involved in a responsible, concerned way in moving this
country ahead through the traditional democratic process--and the process of helping
others to help themselves.
Today there is a danger in this country that anyone who wants progress will
begin to believe the only way to get it is to tear up the country. It is not wise
simply to dismiss the militant and the violent by labeling them as radicals and
leftists and saying they ought to be locked up.
(more) FORD LIBRARY
-2-
To the extent that they violate the law, they should be punished. But
their actions say something to all other Americans, too. That something is that
we should all become involved. We should all help to solve the problems that
exist in this country--and they are many.
The key to solving this Nation's problems is personal involvement.
Unfortunately, Americans for years have turned their affairs almost completely over
to the federal bureaucracy and the result has been confusion and near-chaos instead
of the solutions so devoutly desired.
The federal government does have a big role to play in the lives of the
American people. But that role should be primarily one of identifying the problems
of the people and providing the guidelines and the incentive needed to solve them.
There are some problems which require direct governmental action and a
direct appropriation and expenditure of tax dollars. This is not true of all our
problems.
The federal government today is overcommitted at home and abroad. We are
faced with a fiscal crisis which demands absolutely requires retrenchment in
federal spending.
President Johnson does not want to retrench. He says he would only
reluctantly accept a $4 billion reduction in the fiscal 1969 spending he has
proposed--spending which exceeds current fiscal year outlays by more than
$10 billion. And he would accept the $4 billion cut only to win passage of his
10 per cent increase in personal and corporate income tax bills.
I submit we would not even be talking about an income tax increase now if
the President had been willing to hold down federal spending beginning in early
1966 when the fires of inflation began raging in this country. The Johnson-Humphrey
Administration is directly responsible for the inflation that has been plaguing
us since late 1965 because the Administration insisted in 1966 on excessive spending
that stimulated an already over-heated economy.
To come back to the present, I believe deep cuts in President Johnson's
fiscal 1969 budget would be more effective in dealing with inflation than his
proposed income tax surcharge. As far as inflation is concerned, the impact of
the income tax increase would be largely psychological--both at home and abroad.
The taxpayer would feel it in his pocketbook and it would hurt--but the effect
of the surcharge on the economy would be gradual. I think Lyndon Johnson wants
the surcharge primarily to placate the central bankers of Europe.
(more)
-3-
Taxes are like leeches. Once they are put into place, it is difficult to
dislodge them. They become the vehicle for greater government spending. If there
is an income tax increase this year it must be temporary--with a definite
expiration date.
There are those who say it is ridiculous to be holding back on federal
spending. We should--they say-- be pouring additonal billions of dollars into the
problems of the cities and be prepared to raise taxes as necessary to carry the
additional burden.
This is the wrong approach. We have already spent unbelievably huge sums on
the problems of the cities by the traditional method--and with meager results in
terms of the investment. Any businessman who invested large amounts in an enter-
prise and got that kind of results would write it off as a bad mistake.
Of course we can't write off the cities. The sickness of the cities has
infected all of America. It is reflected in the breakdown of law and order in this
country. If the cities die, all Americans will be affected.
I contend that we have been prescribing the wrong kind of medicine for what
ails the cities. We have been pouring billions into projects without helping
people. We have been spending billions on projects which have displaced more
people than they have housed. And the Model Cities program, as it appears to be
developing, is more of the same--only on a much larger scale.
What this Nation desperately needs is an investment in people--a human
renewal program. The key elements are jobs, better education, and better housing.
And the way to get a human renewal program moving is through a partnership of
government and business.
The Democratic Party would tax you more and spend more on traditional
manpower training programs. The chief trouble with such government training
programs is that there might not be a job at the end of the line.
The Republican Party would provide industry with a tax credit for investing
in human beings. This tax credit would offset the extraordinarily high expenses of
training the hard-core unemployed and the underemployed. But they would be trained
for jobs they know they would get.
This is the free enterprise system we are talking about. We are talking
about what makes people tick. We are talking about personal incentive. People
have to be able to see a goal if they are to work toward that goal. There has to
be a prize at the finish line. It adds up to the desire to get ahead.
(more)
-4-
Another name for it is profit-- in the sense that it profits a man to train
for a job if he knows the job will be there when he's ready for it.
This kind of an investment in human beings--a nationwide on-the-job training
program launched and fed by the incentive of federal tax credits--would go a long
way toward restoring and preserving law and order in this country. Unless a man
is dedicated to overthrow of his government by force, he will not continue tearing
up a country in which he has a stake.
Republicans also believe their legislation to establish a National Home
Ownership Foundation would be a building block in a New America where law and
order would prevail. Our proposed Home Ownership Foundation would not only provide
low-income families with mortgage funds but would teach them how to budget and how
to run their homes.
What is the businessman's role in these undertakings? It is vitally
important today that business make the public business its own business. Government
alone cannot solve the Nation's problems. The cities cannot be run from Washington.
Every American--and especially America's businessmen--must become personally
involved--if the human renewal program is to work. And if it doesn't work, I
shudder to think what America's future may be.
###