US Presidency
1974

I am, I am asking you to approve a l-year temporary tax surcharge of 5 percent on corporate and upper-level individual incomes. This would generally exclude from the surcharge those families with gross incomes below $ 15,000 a year. The estimated $ 5 billion in extra revenue to be raised by this inflation-fighting tax should pay for the new programs I have recommended in this message. I think, and I suspect each of you know, this is the acid test of our joint determination to whip inflation in America. I would not ask this if major loopholes were not now being closed by the Committee on Ways and Means ' tax reform bill. I urge you to join me before your recess, in addition to what I have said before, to join me by voting to set a target spending limit, let me emphasize it, a target spending limit of $ 300 billion for the Federal fiscal budget of 1975.