Tax Troubles

A tax cut is presumably a politician's easy way to popularity. But though President Kennedy is eager to achieve one, a Gallup poll last week showed 72% of the people opposed. At his press conference, Kennedy wanted to rewrite the pollsters' question: Wouldn't people be for a tax cut if it would put off a recession? Such advanced economics has not got across to the body politic, which seems to think that if the Government spends a lot of money, it ought to pay its debts.

And so another pet Kennedy proposal seemed about to bite the dust. He was just not having any luck with taxes:

>> He wants Congress to give him standby authority to cut taxes whenever a recession threatens. Not a chance.

>> He wants the tax laws amended to close loopholes and provide tax incentives for business without any loss to the Treasury.

>> Last week, by the time the Senate Finance Committee got through with it, the tax-revision bill might cost the Treasury $750 million.

>> He wants Congress to enact a spur-the-economy tax cut. But Wilbur Mills, the key committee chairman in the House, says he is "cool" to the idea; Harry Byrd, the Senate's No. 1 fiscal fellow, is deep-frozen against a tax cut.

Senate Warlords. Kennedy's tax troubles are one indication of how badly he has lost control of Congress during these dog days. It was Senate liberals, presumably on his side, who stopped the Senate with a ludicrous filibuster against one of his bills (see following story). Democrats currently hold nearly two-thirds of the seats in the Senate, but the place is now in a shambling state of anarchy, ignoring its leadership, and guided, if at all, by a coterie of individual warlords, each wielding limited power within fixed areas.

Part of the Democrats' difficulty is the lackluster floor leadership of Montana's Senator Mike Mansfield. A quiet, gentle man, Mansfield has notably failed to rally his colleagues behind Kennedy's programs. Explains one Democratic Senator: "Lyndon Johnson used to wring our arms out of their sockets; but then he'd give us a bear hug afterwards, and we tolerated him. Mike wouldn't even think of putting a gentle twist on a man's arm; we love him, but he gets nothing." In the vacuum, such senior Democrats as Oklahoma's Robert Kerf and Virginia's Byrd now go their own way, with little regard for the Administration's wishes. And it is they who have dominated the session.

Convincing the Elected. The scoreboard on Kennedy's congressional record, past, present and future: As of last week, every possibility has evaporated that the Senate might revive Kennedy's request for a Department of Urban Affairs. There is little likelihood that the Senate will replace his farm bill, which was defeated in the House. Medicare went down to Senate defeat several weeks ago. A vicious fight is expected in both House and Senate when it comes time to put up money for foreign aid. The request for increases in postal rates is stalled in the Senate. The foreign trade bill, approved by the House, has been held up by the Senate Finance Committee; some 200 witnesses are still waiting to testify against it though eventually it should pass.

Kennedy is now resolved to campaign in 15 states before the November election. It will not be enough for him to help get Democrats elected; he will have to do much better at selling them, and the country itself, on his programs.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.