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Moshannon Valley GOP Women's Club, Phillippsburg, PA, August 13, 1966
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Moshannon Valley GOP Women's Club, Phillippsburg, PA, August 13, 1966
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "Moshannon Valley GOP Women's
Club, Phillippsburg, PA, August 13, 1966" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press
Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1966
SPEECH EXCERPTS MOSHANNON VALLEY GOP WOMEN'S CLUB, PHILIPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.
The people of this nation have always liked what they call "a squareshooter."
They loved John F. Kennedy for his boyish honesty and openness and the
delightful wit he displayed at presidential press conferences. Ike is loved by
them for his forthrightness, his great personal integrity and his resoluteness
in the face of any problem.
The people came to love Harry S. Truman for his willingness to grapple with
the thorny problems of his day, his ability to make the big decisions and his
earthy, honest manner of telling the people what was what.
Today we do not have that kind of leadership in the White House. We have
leadership- we can call it that--which looks both ways at the same time like
Janus. This is why the nation is confused and troubled. This is why the people
don't know what to believe about the State of the Nation, foreign and domestic.
President Johnson begs others--the housewife, business, governors, mayors,
and the Congress--to hold down on spending. Yet he is spending upwards of
$3 billion more this fiscal year on Great Society programs.
Mr. Johnson talks one week about the dangers of spiralling living coets and
pleads with his Democrat-controlled Congress not to exceed his budget. The next
week he minimizes the amount of inflation this country is experiencing and tells
Americans inflation is a lot worse in other countries.
First he approves as non-inflationary an airline machinists pay boost that
plays havoc with his wage-price guidelines. Then the White House denounces as
"irresponsible and inflationary" a fractional increase in the price of steel.
Finally, with ostrich-like head-in-the-sand attitude, Mr. Johnson insists
that his 3.2 per cent wage-price guidelines are still valid when anyone with a
sense of the realities knows they are dead.
What about the little bit of inflation that Mr. Johnson seeks to minimize
while acting as his own Minister of Propaganda?
It's not a little bit. It already is hurting the poor and the pensioners
a lot. It's going to get much worse for everybody over the next six months.
(MORE)
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS--
The President said last Tuesday that the cost of living has risen only
2.5 per cent in the last 12 months as compared with an average 2.5 per cent rise
in the years since World War II.
What he didn't say is that the cost of living has been climbing almost
twice as fast this year as in 1965. The cost of living rose over 2 per cent
last year. This year the cost of living is jumping at a rate of 4 per cent,
based on official figures for the first six months.
The fact that the Johnson Administration insists on expanding Great Society
spending while Vietnam War costs are running $1.5 billion to $2 billion a month
makes a 4 per cent cost of living rise virtually certain for '66.
How hard will this hit Americans? It will cost the so-called average family
with an income of about $6,500 a year some $230 more for the goods and services
they need. Families of businessmen and others with higher incomes will lay out
proportionately more as the price of Johnson-Humphrey inflation.
Mr. Johnson can minimize it all he wants to--you and I know we're in a
frightening upsurge of instant inflation. And all of Lyndon's Big Daddyism and
soothing syrup isn't going to help.
There's a still more frightening road ahead. Things are going to get much
worse. We've already experienced the fastest six-month climb in the cost of
living in eight years. Fasten your seatbelts. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Price tags across the board are going up and up. This could lead to the
worst recession we've seen in years.
The Johnson Administration's failure to set an example for the nation by
cutting non-defense federal spending is fuel for the fires of inflation. The
Johnson-Humphrey atmosphere of "a little inflation is a good thing" promises to
touch off an upward spiral of wages and prices in 1967 that will plunge this
country over an economic precipice.
Who's to blame? Again we come back to the man in the White House and
Democrats in Congress. Until the people send us more troops, Republicans can't
do anything in the Democrat-controlled Congress but plead the case for fiscal
sanity. Unfortunately, the President and his Party aren't listening. I think
the people are.
###
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
FOR RELEASE AT 6:30 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1966
SPEECH EXCERPTS--THE MOSHANNON VALLEY GOP WOMEN'S CLUB, PHILIPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.
The people of this nation have always liked what they call "a squareshooter."
They loved John F. Kennedy for his boyish honesty and openness and the
delightful wit he displayed at presidential press conferences. Ike is loved by
them for his forthrightness, his great personal integrity and his resoluteness
in the face of any problem.
The people came to love Harry S. Truman for his willingness to grapple with
the thorny problems of his day, his ability to make the big decisions and his
earthy, honest manner of telling the people what was what.
Today we do not have that kind of leadership in the White House. We have
leadership--if we can call it that--which looks both ways at the same time like
Janus. This is why the nation is confused and troubled. This is why the people
don't know what to believe about the State of the Nation, foreign and domestic.
President Johnson begs others--the housewife, business, governors, mayors,
and the Congress--to hold down on spending. Yet he is spending upwards of
$3 billion more this fiscal year on Great Society programs.
Mr. Johnson talks one week about the dangers of spiralling living coete and
pleads with his Democrat-controlled Congress not to exceed his budget. The next
week he minimizes the amount of inflation this country is experiencing and tells
Americans inflation is a lot worse in other countries.
First he approves as non-inflationary an airline machinists pay boost that
plays havoc with his wage-price guidelines. Then the White House denounces as
"irresponsible and inflationary" a fractional increase in the price of steel.
Finally, with ostrich-like head-in-the-sand attitude, Mr. Johnson insists
that his 3.2 per cent wage-price guidelines are still valid when anyone with a
sense of the realities knows they are dead.
What about the little bit of inflation that Mr. Johnson seeks to minimize
while acting as his own Minister of Propaganda?
It's not a little bit. It already is hurting the poor and the pensioners
a lot. It's going to get much worse for everybody over the next six months.
(MORE)
-2-
SPEECH EXCERPTS--
The President said last Tuesday that the cost of living has risen only
2.5 per cent in the last 12 months as compared with an average 2.5 per cent rise
in the years since World War II.
What he didn't say is that the cost of living has been climbing almost
twice as fast this year as in 1965. The cost of living rose over 2 per cent
last year. This year the cost of living is jumping at a rate of 4 per cent,
based on official figures for the first six months.
The fact that the Johnson Administration insists on expanding Great Society
spending while Vietnam War costs are running $1.5 billion to $2 billion a month
makes a 4 per cent cost of living rise virtually certain for '66.
How hard will this hit Americans? It will cost the so-called average family
with an income of about $6,500 a year some $230 more for the goods and services
they need. Families of businessmen and others with higher incomes will lay out
proportionately more as the price of Johnson-Humphrey inflation.
Mr. Johnson can minimize it all he wants to--you and I know we're in a
frightening upsurge of instant inflation. And all of Lyndon's Big Daddyism and
soothing syrup isn't going to help.
There's a still more frightening road ahead. Things are going to get much
worse. We've already experienced the fastest six-month climb in the cost of
living in eight years. Fasten your seatbelts. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Price tags across the board are going up and up. This could lead to the
worst recession we've seen in years.
The Johnson Administration's failure to set an example for the nation by
cutting non-defense federal spending is fuel for the fires of inflation. The
Johnson-Humphrey atmosphere of "a little inflation is a good thing" promises to
touch off an upward spiral of wages and prices in 1967 that will plunge this
country over an economic precipice.
Who's to blame? Again we come back to the man in the White House and
Democrats in Congress. Until the people send us more troops, Republicans can't
do anything in the Democrat-controlled Congress but plead the case for fiscal
sanity. Unfortunately, the President and his Party aren't listening. I think
the people are.
# # #