Masonry Magazine March 1975 Page. 14
Live action demonstrations of equipment by 19 of the nation's leading suppliers to the construction industry took place during the outdoor New Ideas, Products & Equipment Showcase.
1975 MCAA Convention Report
(Continued from page 13)
To be responsive in price, responsive in time, responsive in workmanship and attitudes is going to require some major restructuring of subcontracting firms.
"How you respond to increased responsibility will in large measure determine the progress of the industry as a whole. Subs are improving their skills. It is happening slowly, but it is the most important happening in the industry today."
David Brinkley tackled the subject of federal taxation, calling it the "most inflated element in our economy. Most people do not realize that the biggest increase in our cost of living is not food, not housing, not clothing, not utilities, not medical care. The biggest increase in our cost of living is taxes."
He particularly took issue with Congress' recent rejection of a bill that would permit tax-free interest on savings accounts. He felt that eliminating such a tax would have encouraged savings accumulation and helped the housing industry by making more capital financing available for home buyers.
"If the housing industry were returned to something like full capacity," Brinkley said, "the increased income it would generate would produce for the government more taxes than it lost from the tax-free interest."
He went on to say that saving money today is so expensive that few Americans can afford it. "Is it any wonder that savings are down, that the home industry is in a depression, that interest is high, that people in the building industry are unemployed, that they are paying no taxes because they have no income," Brinkley said.
"And these people are often collecting unemployment compensation or even welfare and food stamps, they are not buying cars or other goods, causing unemployment in those industries. With that kind of thinking applied in Congress to our national problems, is it any wonder that we have economic troubles? The basic trouble, in my view, is that politics and economics do not mix."
Brinkley asserted that the present tax structure would (Continued on page 16)
Nearly 1,000 mason contractors and other interested spectators were on hand for the two-and-one-half-hour equipment demonstrations.
With the temperature in the 70's, the weather was ideal for the MCAA Showcase held in a specially reserved area of the hotel parking lot.