Masonry Magazine January 1975 Page. 44
Cumberland
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MASONRY WALL
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Cumberland
CORPORATION
Post Office Box 1446, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401
Telephone: 615/756-5630
Washington Wire
It is hard to say what other tax reforms will pass in 1975. Liberals have a long list of alleged "loopholes" that they dearly want to plug. But these may be put aside since they would take time to draft and fast action on oil is desired.
THERE WILL BE SOME STEPS to conserve energy on other than a voluntary basis. The 10 or 20 cent-a-gallon excise may be out of the picture on the President's opposition. But a higher tariff on imported oil would also lift gasoline prices at the pump and discourage consumption just as effectively. And don't rule out a horse-power tax on autos as a long-range energy-saver.
IT STILL ADDS UP to a lot of red ink: $17 billion this fiscal year already seems a certainty and the final total could go even higher still. The deficit could approach $30 billion for fiscal 1976, which begins July 1. Indeed, it may take strenuous efforts to keep the red ink below $40 billion.
FORD MAY OFFER a bold welfare-reform plan, providing $3,600 a year to a family of four. It may help 42 million, cost $21.6 billion annually, and wipe out other public assistance, such as food stamps and housing aid. Every able-bodied recipient would be required to accept a job, if offered. He would lose only 50 cents in aid for each dollar of income he would earn.
A national health-insurance plan is likely to pass in 1975. Both Ford and Congress give it top priority. But labor and the Democrats will fight for a broader plan than he wants.
DON'T RULE OUT A RETURN to wage-price controls some time this year. Congress may pass a bill giving the President authority to impose restraint, even though he now says he doesn't want the power and won't use it if given. But the persistence of the rampaging inflation could well change his mind, especially with the economy so weak and sluggish and in nezd of stimulation. The White House in concerned that pump-priming will lead to new inflation. With controls on wages and prices, Ford would have more leeway to stimulate.
Some economists believe that controls will work successfully this time around. Prices are far easier to hold down during periods in which there is considerable slack in the economy.
ANOTHER FIGHT IS DUE over bills to set up a consumer-protection agency. An independent body would represent consumers within the Federal government. Business groups were very successful in defeating the legislation last year. But prospects for the bill seem better in this new, more liberal Congress. Senator Abraham Ribicoff is chairman of the Government Operations Committee. He was one of the principal advocates of the independent agency during 1974.
"NO-FAULT" AUTO INSURANCE could make it through Congress this year. The bill was approved by a (Continued from page 54)