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State of the Union Address, 1976 - Democratic Response by Senator Edmund Muskie

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The original documents are located in Box 30, folder "State of the Union Address, 1976 - Democratic Response by Senator Edmund Muskie" of the John Marsh Files 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. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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. [Ed Muskie speech? ESMDICTATION/JANUARY 21 The friend print , world like To make in This TALK THIS EVENING IS THAT GOVERNMENT-- AND POLITICS--IN THIS COUNTRY IS US--YOU AND ME--AND ALL OF THE 215 MILLION AMERICANS WHO SHARE OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE TOGETHER. THE STATE OF THE UNION IS NOT WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAYS IT IS, NOR IS IT WHAT THE CONGRESS SAYS IT IS. IT IS THE CONDITION IN WHICH WE--ALL OF US TOGETHER--FIND OUR- SELVES, OUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE AND WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER TO IMPROVE THOSE PROSPECTS. I EMPHASIZE THIS POINT AT THE OUTSET FOR A REASON. I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM TWO INTENSIVE WEEKS OF TRAVEL, LISTENING AND TALKING AMONG MY PEOPLE BACK HOME IN MAINE. WE TALKED ABOUT ALOT OF VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS WHICH ARE SHARED BY MILLIONS OF AMERICANS FROM COAST TO COAST. THEY ARE ALL PROBLEMS WHICH MUST HAVE OUR CONCENTRATED ATTENTION. THE PROBLEM WHICH CONCERNS ME MORE THAN ALL THE REST-- BECAUSE UNLESS WE SOLVE IT, WE CANNOT SOLVE THE REST--IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU HAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN YOUR POLITICAL SYSTEM AND YOUR ABILITY TO GOVERN YOURSELVES. TOO MANY OF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT CARES ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PROBLEMS. TOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOVERNMENT CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS FORD is LIBRARY 028870 Digitized from Box 30 of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library ESM DICTATION/JANUARY 21 PAGE 2 TOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOVERNMENT EXISTS ONLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE FEW WHO ARE RICH AND POWERFUL. TOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR GOVERNMENT. TOO FEW OF YOU ARE WILLING TO TRY. POLITICAL POWER IN OUR SYSTEM IS STILL YOURS TO USE-- IF YOU WILL. IF YOU DOUBT WHAT I SAY, RECALL IF YOU WILL THE WATERGATE affair AND THE REASON WHY IT WAS FINALLY RESOLVED BY AN ORDERLY TRANSFER OF POWER INVOLVING THE FIRST RESIGNATION FROM OFFICE OF A PRESIDENT IN OUR ENTIRE HISTORY. IT WAS YOU WHO PRO- DUCED THAT RESULT--NOT THE CONGRESS--NOT EVEN THE COURTS. YOUR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS MOVED WHEN YOU INSISTED THAT THEY DO. YOU AND YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ARE IN THIS BUSINESS OF GOVERNING TOGETHER. WHEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US BREAKS DOWN, WHEN WE LOSE CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER, WE LOSE THE VERY ESSENCE OF SELF GOVERNMENT. YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE CONGRESS HAVE RETURNED TO WASHINGTON FOLLOWING A MONTH LONG RECESS. WE HAVE SPENT MUCH OF THAT TIME WITH YOU, GETTING OURSELVES UP TO. DATE ON YOUR PROBLEMS, SOLICITING YOUR VIEWS AS TO WHAT WE SHOULD DO, IT IS ONLY RIGHT THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE THINK WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS AND SOMETHING ABOUT OUR PRIORITIES FOR ACTION. Tonight, I want to discuss with you the real State of the Union. It won't be found in the budget, or legislation pending in Congress, or on the editorial pages of our newspapers. It is in your minds and hearts -- in you -- that the real message about the state of our union resides. I want to talk about what you have told me -- as I traveled through Maine in the last month -- as I traveled in other parts of the nation. You told me a lot about problems -- taxes, inflation, unemployment, big government, crime But there was one great concern -- one burden -- that lies heavily on you -- that draws together virtually all these problems --- -- That was your loss of confidence in government. For nowhere did I find confidence that government could help solve the deep and frustrating problems that each of you confront. with it, We can assain have can Nowhere did T find confidence that government could- 4 restore economic health to our nationa -- put people back to the work - get our factories open again --- and stop this inflation deprive that robs our elderly and poor -- and stop every one of us of our hard-earned dollars. Nowhere did I find confidence that government could has shake off the ineffectiveneis that Fed dealyged down so many good, useful programs. We can coqiesing have can Nowbere did I Find confidence that government could do of comme that makes something effective about this siege in your homes, behind many T doors you that presonces lock out in the your threat of homes. darkness. Celluine which multa in the can -- That government could make schools again into houses where children can learn and prepare themselves for the future. Com slow -- That government sould basing down spiralling health costs, that add more misery to your lives each year. can -- That government could bring our powerful oil in- hold down dustry back under control, to I the price of energy. on -- That government could stop a disastrous retreat from the goal of environmental quality we set so resolutely not MA long ago. We can have Nowhere did I find confidence that government would begin to curb the abuses of power that threaten you. that -- The abuse of power by corporations who dominate the marketplace, charging what they want -- who ignore the quality of our air and water -- the safety of workers the quality of goods -- who each year push and shove for more tax privileges and more exemptions from law --- corporations, in other words, that each year grow more wealthy and more powerful. me becain to do what we must do to And nowhere, finally, did I find that you are confident where will at all that government can curb its own abuses. The abuse of Presidential power goes on -- the abuse of AND our rights by the FBI the CIA have been exposed but they still go on -- the war in Vietnam went on for years -- the secret war in Angola goes on. there are the problem Everywhere I turn in this nation, this is what I hear. 9 hear from wear ligus This is the State of the Union. And it is also a Congressional agenda for action. #40 The goodness and strength of the American people are not diminished by the corruption of a few of our leaders. Our system of reward for hard work is not discredited by a few years of hard times. Our government -- the model for free people everywhere in the world -- has not been destroyed by the wrong-headed policies of a few Presidents or the failure of Congress to block them in time. We have had some very bad times in our country in these last few years. But our people are still strong. The Republic still stands. Our freely elected government can still work. ANY Who among us would trade America for bother country in the the long history of the world? We don't need a new system. What we need is the will to make our system work. We must reject those of timid vision and weak heart who counsel us to go back --- To go back to simpler times now gone forever. To go back on the promises we have made to each other. To go back on our guarantees to every American for a decent job and secure retirement. To go back on our commitment to quality education and affordable health care. To go back on consumer protection and worker safety. To go back on our commitment to a clean environment. To go back and give up. We cannot go back. We cannot give up. And we will not. If we've learned anything as a nation -- from Valley Forge to Yorktown, from the Great Depression to the landing on the moon - it is this: Give Americans the tools and they 11 do the job. We are entering a period when the country's capacity to produce and create can be greater than at any time in recent history. There are houses to design and build. There are roads to build and repair. There are rivers to clean. There are railroads to mend. There are day-care centers [to build and operate so that more young women can participate in revitalizing America. There are books to be written and printed. There are farms to be expanded and worked. There are cities to rebuild. There are new sources of energy to be developed and produced. Oh, we have work to do. Clearly, something is wrong in a system in which there is so much work to be done at the same time there are so many people without work. That problem is not only the business of business. It is also the business of government. We all have a big stake in that effort. We all pay for unemployment. For every one percent increase in unemployment -- for every one million more Americans out of work -- we all pay three billion dollars more in unemployment compensation and welfare checks and lose 14 billion dollars in taxes. That means that today's unemployment costs us taxpayers more than T 65 billion dollars a year. President Ford's budgets for these two years of re- cession have included more than 40 billion dollars for unemployment compensation and jobless payments alone And another fourteen billion dollars in interest on the extra national debt Erom the tux1100000 that unemployment has cost. But the President's budget offers no new jobs. In fact, it proposes cutbacks in the existing, limited eme ergency Exjency jobs program Congress has enacted. The President's plans for our economy are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Under them, America's factories are producing only three fourths as many goods as they actually could. That means fewer jobs and higher prices. If we Had just enough jobs this year to match the un- employment rate of 1968, we would collect enough federal taxes to wipe out the entire deficit, this year and next. But the President's budget is designed to keep un- for another year and more employment over seven percent To keep seven million Americans unemployed at this time a year from now. And most economists believe that if the Administration's policies are followed, unemployment will not fall nortwyoars below seven parcenT in This decade. We American taxpayers pay a staggering price for these jobless policies. But the Americans who want work and can't find it pay so much more. What price does a father or mother pay who can't support their children? What price does a master carpenter pay when he is reduced to welfare? How can we calculate the cost to America's jobless in lost seniority, johtraining, and pension rights? What price will we all pay when two out of every five inner city youths grow up without ever having had a full-time job? Not only will the unemployed lose confidence in government, they will lose confidence in them selves Experts in both government and private enterprise tell us that we can, if we choose, significantly reduce the present unemployment during the next fiscal year. Direct employment programs -- using federal dollars to pay for public service jobs like classroom teaching aides and hospital attendants --would produce the most jobs at the lowest total cost. Federal assistance to local communities for short-term 37 public works projects and to avoid layoffs in local govern- ment services --- like police protection and trash collec- Job tion --also have high yields in job creation for the tax dollars invested. Yet President Ford says he intends to veto even the limited program pending in the Congress for short-term public works and financial assistance to local communities 41 which have high jobless rates. This anti-recession bill -- which the President seeks to block -- would create 00,000 jobs this year. The President says we cannot afford to help Americans find work. I say we cannot, as taxpayers, afford not to. And those jobs should be in addition to the jobs Congress could create in private industry by additional tax cuts without increasing present federal spending levels. And Congress could avoid discouraging private sector em- ployment by rejecting the President's proposals to increase payroll taxes. As I listen to my people in Maine, it is clear that one of the most frightening economic results of recent years is aspecially inflation --- and its companion, the quadrupling of oil The prices. The have Adrastically reduced Landards of living They have put the very necessities of life beyond the reach of more and more of our citizens. The Administration has tried hard to make the case that budget deficits are a direct cause of inflation. I wish the American economy were that simple. Curing inflation then would be a simple matter of cutting the budget. Unfor- tunately, the facts do not bear our the Administration claim. In 1974, the federal government deficit was the small- est in the past several years. In 1974, both inflation and interest rates reached their highest points in 21 years. Prices were high that year because of the sudden increase in oil prices, steep increases in food prices, and a deliberate policy by the Federal Reserve Board to keep interest rates high. The size of the deficit was inciden- tal. The Administration did not raise oil prices. It was not responsible for poor crops around the world during the late 1960's and late 1970's. But it compounded the prob- lems, partly by inept, often panicky management of the economy, starting with the first Nixon Administration. The Administration raced the economy's engine in election years and then created recessions to curb the resulting inflation. It moved too quickly from one set of wage-price controls to another without ever giving any of them a chance to work. It tried to impose domestic oil price increases on top of the foreign increases that would have doubled the impact. It compounded the poor crop years by selling too much of this nation's grain reserves to Russia. What the nation needs at this time is leadership that will not jump from one economic panic button to another. We need a consistent, responsible, non-partisan plan for protecting the economy from further shocks. We need an energy policy that will keep the prices of oil and natural gas at reasonable levels until the economy can absorb increases. We need a food policy that gives farmers a guarantee of reasonable incomes and consumers a guarantee of reasonable prices. A crop failure in Russia should not be permitted to disturb that balance. We need a wage-price council which will make life miserable for any big corporation that raises prices without very good reason volanation and will do so in the name of the President of the United States. We need an anti-trust policy that will move immediately to prevent powerful firms from gaining too much control over both markets and capital, not spend years in court arguing cases after it is too late. Federal deficits are not the cause of the inflation we have experienced in the last two years, but they can be, and we must be concerned about the possibility, as the economy recovers its health. Beyond that, wasteful government spending, inefficient and ineffective programs, are burdens taxpayers ought not to be asked to carry. More than that, they rob us of the ssewe resources we need to solve high priority national needs. Moreover, their very existence undermines that public con- fidence in government which is essential and so sadly lacking. (15) Congress has enacted a new budget process to remedy this now-chronic national financial crisis. Our job is to decide on a ceiling on spending and a floor under taxes for each year. In doing so we also set an economic policy for the country and ration the dollars in the budget according to our actual national needs. Our goal is to balance the budget as soon as the economy permits. We have imposed a tough spending ceiling on the federal government this year. We will impose a similar spending ceiling next year and every year. We have held the federal deficit to the lowest possible level consistent with reducing unemployment. In fact, we have held the federal deficit 25 billion dollars below the Secretary of the Treasury's estimate of last spring. We are Lea-using the budget reform process tordetormine whore the Faderal collar be most useruriy spent And we are using the process to determine the economic impact of tax and regulatory policies. Finally, we'll use all of this information to put spending priorities more in line with real needs, and to weed out programs which cost too much or produce too little. Last year we reduced the President's requests for defense and foreign military aid to levels we thought were closer to our real defense needs and purposes. We have used part of the money we saved to increase jobs, health care and social security. We rejected at least $10 to $15 billion in other requests to hold down the deficit. the But the new budget reform process is just one step in a broader effort we must undertake. We need a second spending reform to make sure the federal money we spend is effectively used. All related federal programs should cre up for review and reneval every four years. We should question the most basic assumptions about every program. Any programs not doing the job or duplicating better- run programs should be eliminated. By the end of every four years, all programs should be reviewed in this process. The only program excepted from this review should be the Social Security program which is, after ie the an insurance system. We have learned that we can't solve our problems by simply throwing federal dollars at them. In the past seven years, the federal government has provided more than coven Four billion dollars to improve local law enforcement. President Ford is now proposing we spend seven billion more. During the same seven years crime has increased 55 percent. Yet we also know that we can't solve priority problems like pollution or provide a national defense without a substantial commitment of tax dollars. so we must pursue the hard, detailed job of evaluating federal spending in each and every area of the budget. We must buy only what we need. And at the lowest sound cost. I was disappointed that the President made no proposals in his state of the Union message to improve government efficiency -- to bring new businesslike methods into the bureaucracy. Under our system of government, the President is the Chief Executive. Efficiency in the general government is his respon- sibility. But what steps has he taken to improve efficiency and reduce costs in the Executive Branch? Why does it cost the government twice as much as a private insurance company to process medical claims? Why does the government take months to get the first check out to a widow entitled to a federal pension? Why does the Social Security Administration take a year or more to process a citizen's claim for disability com- pensation? Why can't defense contractors be made to deliver their goods at the agreed-upon price without cost overruns? Have you ever heard of a Defense Department employee being fired for permitting a cost overrun paid for with our tax dollars? Through the new Congressional budget reform process, Congress has laid the groundwork. for a more efficient government at tax savings to our citizens. I hope President Ford will join us in that effort. I do not believe most Americans want their government dismantled. We can't very well fire the mailmen, discharge our armed forces, or lay off the people who run the computers that print our Social Security checks. But we can expect maximum efficiency and performance in office by everyone who draws a federal salary. We have talked about the economy -- about jobs and in} flation, and some of the steps an effective government might take to move us out of this recession. This will bie the issue between Congress and the White House in the months ahead. I believe Congress is prepared to do more and move faster toward aconomic recovery than th President appears to be ... and with your support, I think Congress can brevail. We have talked about efficiency in government --- making your tax dollars count. Your message about stopping the waste of tax dollars has gotten through to the Congress. the foreign policy we pursue. Much of the world today is watching with amazement as a Congress of the United States examines U.S. intelligence operations overseas. I know many of you must have asked yourselves, as I have, whether it is necessary to hang out the dirty linen -- to talk about assassination attempts, to admist what the whole world knows about both us and them- selves, that nations spy. Yes, it is necessary. How else is the American public are to get hold of its foreign policy again? How can we guaran- tee interventions in other countries are an appropriate expression of deliberate U.S. policy, nd not the making of some faceless bureaucrat? Sure, it is inconvenient to conduct foreign policy in the open, and, certainly there will always be need for intelligence work and for secrecy with the bounds of established policy. But a Republic gets its strength from the consent of the government and from a consensus on shared objectives. It gets only weakness and disappointment from secrecy and surprise. So let us seek a foreign policy we can talk about in public and agree to in advance. that the American people had long since recognized was wrong a hopeless. Vietnam was a bitter disappointment. But it also offered us some positive lessons: U.S. interests are not served by military intervention everywhere in the world where we see instability. And the U.S. can conduct a responsible policy toward its potential adver- saries and toward its allies and can pursue its interests after Vietnam -- better, if anything, than before. Yet just last month, we discovered that the President has involved our nation in a major way in yet another faroff land: in Angola, where our nation's interests and those of the free world are far from clear. The Senate voted against any further expenditures for Angola. As in Vietnam, we find ourselves deeply committed without prior notice or consultation with our people in a country where U.S. interests could not possibly be served at any price. A free people deserve to be informed and to consent to LIBRARY GERALD R. FORD The new budget process proves that. I hope the Administration has gotten the message too, and that we can move forward toward a new standard of service in the federal government now. Let us now ask ourselves about America's place in the world. your What is our definition of national security? ... pro- tecting our shores from attack? '... standing by our allies in Western Europe and Asia? ... protecting our vital economic interests? ... playing a leadership role in moving the world away from the arms race? ... I would agree. We must also ask what is the most dangerous foreign policy problem we face today? I think, once again, it is a gulf of doubt and mistrust between us and our government. That gulf has widened since the tragic collapse of Vietnam. It was less than a year ago that we saw films of South Vietnames soldiers pushing women and children away from evacuation planes in Danang ... saw Americans being air- lifted from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon to Navy ships in the China sea. Until that end, this Administrati was pleading for another $720 million to spend on a cause FORD & LIBRARY GERALD Let us defend our real interests --- leave no doubt of it. But where our interest is not directly or clearly in- volved, let our adversaries learn, as we did in Vietnam, the expensive lesson of the limits of their power. Let us be neither patsy nor bully for the other nations of the world. Let us pursue a lessening of tensions with the Soviet union and China, wherever it is consistent with our own interests. Let us extend a helping hand to the two-thirds of the people of the world who have so little. And let us do so with the confidence of a truly great people. We do not need to always win all our debates with every nation in the world. Let our greatness be, not that we always win, but that -- as God gives us the power to see it -- we are always Thoright. In his State of the Union message -- and in the budget he sent us today -- the President has made some serious proposals for reduction in federal expenditures and changes GERALD LIBRARY P. FORD in our national priorities. The President's program includes a number of ideas to simply shift the cost of federal programs from the federal government to the states and the cities. We must frankly be sceptical of such proposals that simply raise state and local taxes. But I believe Congress must evaluate the 5 President's proposals with an open mind. Where they are simply gimmicks or mistakes, they should be rejected. Where they need amendment, they should be shaped to meet America's actual needs. Where they make sense, they should be adopted. We must not fear change. Just as we cannot go back to the old days, we must be ready to change old ways to meet new needs and present realities. I do not believe we face any problem we cannot solve. Our problems are Phan menmade, and men and women can find their solutions. We need the will to try. The state of the Union is as strong as the bond between us. So let us make a pledge to one another tonight. Assert your right to share control of our national destiny. Decide now that you are going to vote in the Presidential and Congressional state and local elections this fall, and keep that commitment. But put the politicians who seek your vote in those elections to a stringent test. Are they men of their word? If they promise more government benefits and services, do they also say how much they will cost? If they say they are going to reduce the size of government, do they tell you which services you are going to go without and how much that will save? Do they offer specific proposals or simply slogans? The Congress which meets in this building is your Congress if you participate in its election and supervision. Together, we are the Union. And I find the state of that Union very strong indeed. Ju THE WHITE HOUSE JAN 23 1976 WASHINGTON January 23, 1976 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT FROM: MAX L. FRIEDERSDORF m.f. SUBJECT: Muskie Speech John Anderson issued the attached statement cricicizing the Muskie speech. FORD is LIBRARY QERALD HOUSE NEWS REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE 1618 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE: BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 202/225-5107 JOHN B. ANDERSON, M.C. (ILL.) CHAIRMAN MICHAEL F. MACLEOD EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1976 STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOHN B. ANDERSON ON MUSKIE COUNTER STATE OF THE UNION Mr. Speaker, since I have already publicly commented on President Ford's State of the Union message, I think in the interest of fairness I should give equal time to Senator Muskie's counter message of last evening. The Democratic spokesman opened by observing that the State of the Union is not what the President or the Democrats say it is, but rather the condition in which we find ourselves. After criticizing the Administration for not doing enough to stimulate economic recovery and put people back to work, the Senator concluded by proclaiming that the State of the Union is "very strong indeed." After correctly pinpointing public dissatisfáction with government spending and programs, the Senator proposed that the answer was more government spending and programs to solve all our Nation's problems. While the Democrats have faulted the President's message for being short on specifics and new programs, they have countered with promises of all manner of new programs, but curRously lacking in specifics. Despite the Senator's concession that increased Federal spending for such programs could further fuel inflation, he failed to indicate the costs of the Democratic proposals and whether they just might prove to be inflationary. Instead, the Senator suggested that we have nothing to fear 80 long as we have a congressional budget process to keep track of the mounting costs and label the sum total a spending ceiling. Moreover, our fears of excessive government spending could be allayed if only we ran the government in a more businesslike manner. Never mind that our experience with government efficiency might suggest that some things could better be done by other sectors. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, it struck me that the Democratic spokesman was speaking out of both sides of his mouth while biting his tongue in the hope that nobody would catch the glaring contradictions. Put another way, in attempting to span both the Wallace and McGovern wings of the Democratic Party, the message executed a perfect spread-eagle and fell flat on its beak. -30-

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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box 30, folder \"State of the Union Address, 1976 -\nDemocratic Response by Senator Edmund Muskie\" of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald\nR. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\n[Ed Muskie speech?\nESMDICTATION/JANUARY 21\nThe friend print , world like To make\nin This\nTALK THIS EVENING IS THAT GOVERNMENT--\nAND POLITICS--IN THIS COUNTRY IS US--YOU AND ME--AND ALL\nOF THE 215 MILLION AMERICANS WHO SHARE OUR PAST, PRESENT\nAND FUTURE TOGETHER.\nTHE STATE OF THE UNION IS NOT WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAYS\nIT IS, NOR IS IT WHAT THE CONGRESS SAYS IT IS. IT IS\nTHE CONDITION IN WHICH WE--ALL OF US TOGETHER--FIND OUR-\nSELVES, OUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE AND WHAT WE CAN DO\nTOGETHER TO IMPROVE THOSE PROSPECTS.\nI EMPHASIZE THIS POINT AT THE OUTSET FOR A REASON.\nI HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM TWO INTENSIVE WEEKS OF TRAVEL,\nLISTENING AND TALKING AMONG MY PEOPLE BACK HOME IN MAINE.\nWE TALKED ABOUT ALOT OF VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS WHICH ARE\nSHARED BY MILLIONS OF AMERICANS FROM COAST TO COAST. THEY\nARE ALL PROBLEMS WHICH MUST HAVE OUR CONCENTRATED ATTENTION.\nTHE PROBLEM WHICH CONCERNS ME MORE THAN ALL THE REST--\nBECAUSE UNLESS WE SOLVE IT, WE CANNOT SOLVE THE REST--IS\nTHE EXTENT TO WHICH\nYOU\nHAVE LOST CONFIDENCE IN\nYOUR POLITICAL SYSTEM AND YOUR ABILITY TO GOVERN YOURSELVES.\nTOO MANY OF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THE GOVERNMENT CARES ABOUT\nYOU AND YOUR PROBLEMS.\nTOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOVERNMENT CAN'T DO ANYTHING\nABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS\nFORD is LIBRARY 028870\nDigitized from Box 30 of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nESM DICTATION/JANUARY 21\nPAGE 2\nTOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOVERNMENT EXISTS ONLY FOR\nTHE BENEFIT OF THE FEW WHO ARE RICH AND POWERFUL.\nTOO MANY OF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO\nIMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR GOVERNMENT.\nTOO FEW OF YOU ARE WILLING TO TRY.\nPOLITICAL POWER IN OUR SYSTEM IS STILL YOURS TO USE--\nIF YOU WILL.\nIF YOU DOUBT WHAT I SAY, RECALL IF YOU WILL THE WATERGATE\naffair\nAND THE REASON WHY IT WAS FINALLY RESOLVED BY AN ORDERLY\nTRANSFER OF POWER INVOLVING THE FIRST RESIGNATION FROM OFFICE\nOF A PRESIDENT IN OUR ENTIRE HISTORY. IT WAS YOU WHO PRO-\nDUCED THAT RESULT--NOT THE CONGRESS--NOT EVEN THE COURTS.\nYOUR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS MOVED WHEN YOU INSISTED THAT\nTHEY DO.\nYOU AND YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ARE IN THIS BUSINESS\nOF GOVERNING TOGETHER. WHEN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US BREAKS\nDOWN, WHEN WE LOSE CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER, WE LOSE THE\nVERY ESSENCE OF SELF GOVERNMENT.\nYOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE CONGRESS HAVE RETURNED TO\nWASHINGTON FOLLOWING A MONTH LONG RECESS. WE HAVE SPENT\nMUCH OF THAT TIME WITH YOU, GETTING OURSELVES UP TO. DATE\nON YOUR PROBLEMS, SOLICITING YOUR VIEWS AS TO WHAT WE\nSHOULD DO, IT IS ONLY RIGHT THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE\nTHINK WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS AND SOMETHING\nABOUT OUR PRIORITIES FOR ACTION.\nTonight, I want to discuss with you the real State of\nthe Union.\nIt won't be found in the budget, or legislation pending\nin Congress, or on the editorial pages of our newspapers.\nIt is in your minds and hearts -- in you -- that the\nreal message about the state of our union resides.\nI want to talk about what you have told me -- as I\ntraveled through Maine in the last month -- as I traveled in\nother parts of the nation.\nYou told me a lot about problems -- taxes, inflation,\nunemployment, big government, crime\nBut there was one great concern -- one burden -- that\nlies heavily on you -- that draws together virtually all\nthese problems ---\n-- That was your loss of confidence in government.\nFor nowhere did I find confidence that government could\nhelp solve the deep and frustrating problems that each of\nyou confront.\nwith it,\nWe can assain have\ncan\nNowhere did T find confidence that government could-\n4\nrestore economic health to our nationa -- put people back to\nthe\nwork - get our factories open again --- and stop this inflation\ndeprive\nthat robs our elderly and poor -- and stop every one of us\nof our hard-earned dollars.\nNowhere did I find confidence that government could\nhas\nshake off the ineffectiveneis that Fed dealyged down so many\ngood, useful programs.\nWe can coqiesing have\ncan\nNowbere did I Find confidence that government could do\nof comme that makes\nsomething effective about this siege in your homes, behind\nmany T doors you that presonces lock out in the your threat of homes. darkness. Celluine\nwhich multa in the\ncan\n-- That government could make schools again into houses\nwhere children can learn and prepare themselves for the\nfuture.\nCom slow\n-- That government sould basing down spiralling health\ncosts, that add more misery to your lives each year.\ncan\n-- That government could bring our powerful oil in-\nhold down\ndustry back under control, to I the price of energy.\non\n-- That government could stop a disastrous retreat from\nthe goal of environmental quality we set so resolutely not\nMA\nlong ago.\nWe can have\nNowhere did I find confidence that government would\nbegin to curb the abuses of power that threaten you.\nthat\n-- The abuse of power by corporations who dominate the\nmarketplace, charging what they want -- who ignore the\nquality of our air and water -- the safety of workers the\nquality of goods -- who each year push and shove for more\ntax privileges and more exemptions from law --- corporations,\nin other words, that each year grow more wealthy and more\npowerful.\nme becain to do what we must do to\nAnd nowhere, finally, did I find that you are confident\nwhere\nwill\nat all that government can curb its own abuses.\nThe abuse of Presidential power goes on -- the abuse of\nAND\nour rights by the FBI the CIA have been exposed but they\nstill go on -- the war in Vietnam went on for years -- the\nsecret war in Angola goes on.\nthere are the problem\nEverywhere I turn in this nation, this is what I hear.\n9 hear from wear ligus\nThis is the State of the Union.\nAnd it is also a Congressional agenda for action.\n#40\nThe goodness and strength of the American people are\nnot diminished by the corruption of a few of our leaders.\nOur system of reward for hard work is not discredited\nby a few years of hard times.\nOur government -- the model for free people everywhere\nin the world -- has not been destroyed by the wrong-headed\npolicies of a few Presidents or the failure of Congress to\nblock them in time.\nWe have had some very bad times in our country in these\nlast few years.\nBut our people are still strong.\nThe Republic still stands.\nOur freely elected government can still work.\nANY\nWho among us would trade America for bother country in\nthe the long history of the world?\nWe don't need a new system.\nWhat we need is the will to make our system work.\nWe must reject those of timid vision and weak heart who\ncounsel us to go back ---\nTo go back to simpler times now gone forever.\nTo go back on the promises we have made to each other.\nTo go back on our guarantees to every American for a\ndecent job and secure retirement.\nTo go back on our commitment to quality education and\naffordable health care.\nTo go back on consumer protection and worker safety.\nTo go back on our commitment to a clean environment.\nTo go back and give up.\nWe cannot go back.\nWe cannot give up.\nAnd we will not.\nIf we've learned anything as a nation -- from Valley\nForge to Yorktown, from the Great Depression to the landing\non the moon - it is this: Give Americans the tools and\nthey 11 do the job.\nWe are entering a period when the country's capacity to\nproduce and create can be greater than at any time in recent\nhistory. There are houses to design and build. There are\nroads to build and repair. There are rivers to clean. There\nare railroads to mend. There are day-care centers [to\nbuild\nand\noperate so that more young women can participate in\nrevitalizing America. There are books to be written and\nprinted. There are farms to be expanded and worked. There\nare cities to rebuild. There are new sources of energy to\nbe developed and produced. Oh, we have work to do.\nClearly, something is wrong in a system in which there\nis so much work to be done at the same time there are so\nmany people without work.\nThat problem is not only the business of business. It\nis also the business of government.\nWe all have a big stake in that effort. We all pay for\nunemployment.\nFor every one percent increase in unemployment -- for\nevery one million more Americans out of work -- we all pay\nthree billion dollars more in unemployment compensation and\nwelfare checks and lose 14 billion dollars in taxes. That\nmeans that today's unemployment costs us taxpayers more than\nT\n65 billion dollars a year.\nPresident Ford's budgets for these two years of re-\ncession have included more than 40 billion dollars for\nunemployment compensation and jobless payments alone\nAnd\nanother fourteen billion dollars in interest on the extra\nnational debt Erom the tux1100000 that unemployment has cost.\nBut the President's budget offers no new jobs. In\nfact, it proposes cutbacks in the existing, limited eme ergency\nExjency jobs program Congress has enacted.\nThe President's plans for our economy are penny-wise\nand pound-foolish. Under them, America's factories are\nproducing only three fourths as many goods as they actually\ncould.\nThat means fewer jobs and higher prices.\nIf we Had just enough jobs this year to match the un-\nemployment rate of 1968, we would collect enough federal\ntaxes to wipe out the entire deficit, this year and next.\nBut the President's budget is designed to keep un-\nfor another year and more\nemployment over seven percent\nTo keep seven million Americans unemployed at this\ntime a year from now. And most economists believe that if\nthe Administration's policies are followed, unemployment\nwill not fall nortwyoars below seven parcenT in This decade.\nWe American taxpayers pay a staggering price for these\njobless policies.\nBut the Americans who want work and can't find it pay\nso much more.\nWhat price does a father or mother pay who can't\nsupport their children? What price does a master carpenter\npay when he is reduced to welfare? How can we calculate the\ncost to America's jobless in lost seniority, johtraining,\nand pension rights? What price will we all pay when two out\nof every five inner city youths grow up without ever having\nhad a full-time job? Not only will the unemployed lose\nconfidence in government, they will lose confidence in them\nselves\nExperts in both government and private enterprise tell\nus that we can, if we choose, significantly reduce the\npresent unemployment during the next fiscal year. Direct\nemployment programs -- using federal dollars to pay for\npublic service jobs like classroom teaching aides and\nhospital attendants --would produce the most jobs at the\nlowest total cost.\nFederal assistance to local communities for short-term\n37\npublic works projects and to avoid layoffs in local govern-\nment services --- like police protection and trash collec-\nJob\ntion --also have high yields in job creation for the tax\ndollars invested.\nYet President Ford says he intends to veto even the\nlimited program pending in the Congress for short-term\npublic works and financial assistance to local communities\n41\nwhich have high jobless rates. This anti-recession bill --\nwhich the President seeks to block -- would create\n00,000 jobs this year.\nThe President says we cannot afford to help Americans\nfind work.\nI say we cannot, as taxpayers, afford not to.\nAnd those jobs should be in addition to the jobs\nCongress could create in private industry by additional tax\ncuts without increasing present federal spending levels.\nAnd Congress could avoid discouraging private sector em-\nployment by rejecting the President's proposals to increase\npayroll taxes.\nAs I listen to my people in Maine, it is clear that one\nof the most frightening economic results of recent years is\naspecially\ninflation --- and its companion, the quadrupling of oil\nThe\nprices. The have Adrastically reduced Landards of living\nThey have put the very necessities of life beyond the reach\nof more and more of our citizens.\nThe Administration has tried hard to make the case that\nbudget deficits are a direct cause of inflation. I wish the\nAmerican economy were that simple. Curing inflation then\nwould be a simple matter of cutting the budget. Unfor-\ntunately, the facts do not bear our the Administration\nclaim.\nIn 1974, the federal government deficit was the small-\nest in the past several years. In 1974, both inflation and\ninterest rates reached their highest points in 21 years.\nPrices were high that year because of the sudden\nincrease in oil prices, steep increases in food prices, and\na deliberate policy by the Federal Reserve Board to keep\ninterest rates high. The size of the deficit was inciden-\ntal.\nThe Administration did not raise oil prices. It was\nnot responsible for poor crops around the world during the\nlate 1960's and late 1970's. But it compounded the prob-\nlems, partly by inept, often panicky management of the\neconomy, starting with the first Nixon Administration. The\nAdministration raced the economy's engine in election years\nand then created recessions to curb the resulting inflation.\nIt moved too quickly from one set of wage-price controls to\nanother without ever giving any of them a chance to work.\nIt tried to impose domestic oil price increases on top of\nthe foreign increases that would have doubled the impact.\nIt compounded the poor crop years by selling too much of\nthis nation's grain reserves to Russia.\nWhat the nation needs at this time is leadership that\nwill not jump from one economic panic button to another. We\nneed a consistent, responsible, non-partisan plan for\nprotecting the economy from further shocks.\nWe need an energy policy that will keep the prices of\noil and natural gas at reasonable levels until the economy\ncan absorb increases.\nWe need a food policy that gives farmers a guarantee of\nreasonable incomes and consumers a guarantee of reasonable\nprices. A crop failure in Russia should not be permitted to\ndisturb that balance.\nWe need a wage-price council which will make life\nmiserable for any big corporation that raises prices without\nvery good reason volanation and\nwill do so in the name of the President of the United\nStates.\nWe need an anti-trust policy that will move immediately\nto prevent powerful firms from gaining too much control over\nboth markets and capital, not spend years in court arguing\ncases after it is too late.\nFederal deficits are not the cause of the inflation we\nhave experienced in the last two years, but they can be, and\nwe must be concerned about the possibility, as the economy\nrecovers its health.\nBeyond that, wasteful government spending, inefficient\nand ineffective programs, are burdens taxpayers ought not to\nbe asked to carry. More than that, they rob us of the\nssewe\nresources we need to solve high priority national needs.\nMoreover, their very existence undermines that public con-\nfidence in government which is essential and so sadly\nlacking.\n(15)\nCongress has enacted a new budget process to remedy\nthis now-chronic national financial crisis.\nOur job is to decide on a ceiling on spending and a\nfloor under taxes for each year.\nIn doing so we also set an economic policy for the\ncountry and ration the dollars in the budget according to\nour actual national needs.\nOur goal is to balance the budget as soon as the\neconomy permits.\nWe have imposed a tough spending ceiling on the federal\ngovernment this year.\nWe will impose a similar spending ceiling next year and\nevery year.\nWe have held the federal deficit to the lowest possible\nlevel consistent with reducing unemployment.\nIn fact, we have held the federal deficit 25 billion\ndollars below the Secretary of the Treasury's estimate of\nlast spring.\nWe are Lea-using the budget reform process tordetormine\nwhore the Faderal collar be most useruriy spent\nAnd we are using the process to determine the economic\nimpact of tax and regulatory policies.\nFinally, we'll use all of this information to put\nspending priorities more in line with real needs, and to\nweed out programs which cost too much or produce too little.\nLast year we reduced the President's requests for\ndefense and foreign military aid to levels we thought were\ncloser to our real defense needs and purposes.\nWe have used part of the money we saved to increase\njobs, health care and social security.\nWe rejected at least $10 to $15 billion in other\nrequests to hold down the deficit.\nthe\nBut the new budget reform process is just one step in a\nbroader effort we must undertake.\nWe need a second spending reform to make sure the\nfederal money we spend is effectively used.\nAll related federal programs should cre up for review\nand reneval every four years.\nWe should question the most basic assumptions about\nevery program.\nAny programs not doing the job or duplicating better-\nrun programs should be eliminated.\nBy the end of every four years, all programs should be\nreviewed in this process.\nThe only program excepted from this review should be\nthe Social Security program which is, after ie the\nan insurance system.\nWe have learned that we can't solve our problems by\nsimply throwing federal dollars at them. In the past seven\nyears, the federal government has provided more than coven Four\nbillion dollars to improve local law enforcement. President\nFord is now proposing we spend seven billion more. During\nthe same seven years crime has increased 55 percent.\nYet we also know that we can't solve priority problems\nlike pollution or provide a national defense without a\nsubstantial commitment of tax dollars. so we must pursue\nthe hard, detailed job of evaluating federal spending in\neach and every area of the budget. We must buy only what we\nneed. And at the lowest sound cost.\nI was disappointed that the President made no proposals\nin his state of the Union message to improve government\nefficiency -- to bring new businesslike methods into the\nbureaucracy.\nUnder our system of government, the President is the\nChief Executive.\nEfficiency in the general government is his respon-\nsibility.\nBut what steps has he taken to improve efficiency and\nreduce costs in the Executive Branch?\nWhy does it cost the government twice as much as a\nprivate insurance company to process medical claims?\nWhy does the government take months to get the first\ncheck out to a widow entitled to a federal pension?\nWhy does the Social Security Administration take a year\nor more to process a citizen's claim for disability com-\npensation?\nWhy can't defense contractors be made to deliver their\ngoods at the agreed-upon price without cost overruns? Have\nyou ever heard of a Defense Department employee being fired\nfor permitting a cost overrun paid for with our tax dollars?\nThrough the new Congressional budget reform process,\nCongress has laid the groundwork. for a more efficient\ngovernment at tax savings to our citizens.\nI hope President Ford will join us in that effort.\nI do not believe most Americans want their government\ndismantled.\nWe can't very well fire the mailmen, discharge our\narmed forces, or lay off the people who run the computers\nthat print our Social Security checks.\nBut we can expect maximum efficiency and performance in\noffice by everyone who draws a federal salary.\nWe have talked about the economy -- about jobs and in}\nflation, and some of the steps an effective government might\ntake to move us out of this recession.\nThis will bie the issue between Congress and the White\nHouse in the months ahead. I believe Congress is prepared\nto do more and move faster toward aconomic recovery than th\nPresident appears to be ... and with your support, I think\nCongress can brevail.\nWe have talked about efficiency in government --- making\nyour tax dollars count. Your message about stopping the\nwaste of tax dollars has gotten through to the Congress.\nthe foreign policy we pursue.\nMuch of the world today is watching with amazement as a\nCongress of the United States examines U.S. intelligence\noperations overseas. I know many of you must have asked\nyourselves, as I have, whether it is necessary to hang out\nthe dirty linen -- to talk about assassination attempts, to\nadmist what the whole world knows about both us and them-\nselves, that nations spy.\nYes, it is necessary. How else is the American public\nare\nto get hold of its foreign policy again? How can we guaran-\ntee interventions in other countries are an appropriate\nexpression of deliberate U.S. policy, nd not the making of\nsome faceless bureaucrat? Sure, it is inconvenient to\nconduct foreign policy in the open, and, certainly there\nwill always be need for intelligence work and for secrecy\nwith the bounds of established policy.\nBut a Republic gets its strength from the consent of\nthe government and from a consensus on shared objectives.\nIt gets only weakness and disappointment from secrecy and\nsurprise.\nSo let us seek a foreign policy we can talk about in\npublic and agree to in advance.\nthat the American people had long since recognized was wrong\na hopeless.\nVietnam was a bitter disappointment.\nBut it also offered us some positive lessons: U.S.\ninterests are not served by military intervention everywhere\nin the world where we see instability. And the U.S. can\nconduct a responsible policy toward its potential adver-\nsaries and toward its allies and can pursue its interests\nafter Vietnam -- better, if anything, than before.\nYet just last month, we discovered that the President\nhas involved our nation in a major way in yet another faroff\nland: in Angola, where our nation's interests and those of\nthe free world are far from clear.\nThe Senate voted against any further expenditures for\nAngola.\nAs in Vietnam, we find ourselves deeply committed\nwithout prior notice or consultation with our people in a\ncountry where U.S. interests could not possibly be served at\nany price.\nA free people deserve to be informed and to consent to\nLIBRARY GERALD R. FORD\nThe new budget process proves that. I hope the Administration\nhas gotten the message too, and that we can move forward\ntoward a new standard of service in the federal government\nnow.\nLet us now ask ourselves about America's place in the\nworld.\nyour\nWhat is our definition of national security? ... pro-\ntecting our shores from attack? '... standing by our allies\nin Western Europe and Asia? ... protecting our vital economic\ninterests?\n... playing a leadership role in moving the world\naway from the arms race? ... I would agree.\nWe must also ask what is the most dangerous foreign\npolicy problem we face today? I think, once again, it is a\ngulf of doubt and mistrust between us and our government.\nThat gulf has widened since the tragic collapse of\nVietnam.\nIt was less than a year ago that we saw films of South\nVietnames soldiers pushing women and children away from\nevacuation planes in Danang ... saw Americans being air-\nlifted from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon to\nNavy ships in the China sea. Until that end, this Administrati\nwas pleading for another $720 million to spend on a cause\nFORD & LIBRARY GERALD\nLet us defend our real interests --- leave no doubt of\nit. But where our interest is not directly or clearly in-\nvolved, let our adversaries learn, as we did in Vietnam, the\nexpensive lesson of the limits of their power.\nLet us be neither patsy nor bully for the other nations\nof the world.\nLet us pursue a lessening of tensions with the Soviet\nunion and China, wherever it is consistent with our own\ninterests.\nLet us extend a helping hand to the two-thirds of the\npeople of the world who have so little. And let us do so\nwith the confidence of a truly great people. We do not need\nto always win all our debates with every nation in the\nworld.\nLet our greatness be, not that we always win, but that\n-- as God gives us the power to see it -- we are always\nThoright.\nIn his State of the Union message -- and in the budget\nhe sent us today -- the President has made some serious\nproposals for reduction in federal expenditures and changes\nGERALD LIBRARY P. FORD\nin our national priorities.\nThe President's program includes a number of ideas to\nsimply shift the cost of federal programs from the federal\ngovernment to the states and the cities. We must frankly be\nsceptical of such proposals that simply raise state and\nlocal taxes. But I believe Congress must evaluate the\n5\nPresident's proposals with an open mind.\nWhere they are simply gimmicks or mistakes, they should\nbe rejected.\nWhere they need amendment, they should be shaped to\nmeet America's actual needs.\nWhere they make sense, they should be adopted.\nWe must not fear change.\nJust as we cannot go back to the old days, we must be\nready to change old ways to meet new needs and present\nrealities.\nI do not believe we face any problem we cannot solve.\nOur problems are Phan menmade, and men and women can find\ntheir solutions.\nWe need the will to try.\nThe state of the Union is as strong as the bond between\nus.\nSo let us make a pledge to one another tonight.\nAssert your right to share control of our national\ndestiny. Decide now that you are going to vote in the\nPresidential and Congressional state and local elections\nthis fall, and keep that commitment.\nBut put the politicians who seek your vote in those\nelections to a stringent test.\nAre they men of their word?\nIf they promise more government benefits and services,\ndo they also say how much they will cost?\nIf they say they are going to reduce the size of\ngovernment, do they tell you which services you are going to\ngo without and how much that will save?\nDo they offer specific proposals or simply slogans?\nThe Congress which meets in this building is your\nCongress if you participate in its election and supervision.\nTogether, we are the Union.\nAnd I find the state of that Union very strong indeed.\nJu\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nJAN 23 1976\nWASHINGTON\nJanuary 23, 1976\nMEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT\nFROM:\nMAX L. FRIEDERSDORF m.f.\nSUBJECT:\nMuskie Speech\nJohn Anderson issued the attached statement cricicizing\nthe Muskie speech.\nFORD is LIBRARY QERALD\nHOUSE\nNEWS\nREPUBLICAN\nCONFERENCE\n1618 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE: BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515\n202/225-5107\nJOHN B. ANDERSON, M.C. (ILL.)\nCHAIRMAN\nMICHAEL F. MACLEOD\nEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\nTHURSDAY, JAN. 22, 1976\nSTATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOHN B. ANDERSON ON MUSKIE COUNTER STATE OF THE UNION\nMr. Speaker, since I have already publicly commented on President Ford's State\nof the Union message, I think in the interest of fairness I should give equal time\nto Senator Muskie's counter message of last evening. The Democratic spokesman opened\nby observing that the State of the Union is not what the President or the Democrats\nsay it is, but rather the condition in which we find ourselves. After criticizing\nthe Administration for not doing enough to stimulate economic recovery and put people\nback to work, the Senator concluded by proclaiming that the State of the Union is\n\"very strong indeed.\"\nAfter correctly pinpointing public dissatisfáction with government spending\nand programs, the Senator proposed that the answer was more government spending and\nprograms to solve all our Nation's problems. While the Democrats have faulted the\nPresident's message for being short on specifics and new programs, they have countered\nwith promises of all manner of new programs, but curRously lacking in specifics.\nDespite the Senator's concession that increased Federal spending for such programs\ncould further fuel inflation, he failed to indicate the costs of the Democratic\nproposals and whether they just might prove to be inflationary. Instead, the Senator\nsuggested that we have nothing to fear 80 long as we have a congressional budget process\nto keep track of the mounting costs and label the sum total a spending ceiling.\nMoreover, our fears of excessive government spending could be allayed if only we ran\nthe government in a more businesslike manner. Never mind that our experience with\ngovernment efficiency might suggest that some things could better be done by other\nsectors.\nIn conclusion, Mr. Speaker, it struck me that the Democratic spokesman was\nspeaking out of both sides of his mouth while biting his tongue in the hope that\nnobody would catch the glaring contradictions. Put another way, in attempting to\nspan both the Wallace and McGovern wings of the Democratic Party, the message executed\na perfect spread-eagle and fell flat on its beak.\n-30-"
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