Montana labor news., 1944-03-02
BARKLEY BREAKS
With ROOSEVELT
OVER TAX Veto

WASHINGTON. - (FP) - President
Roosevelt faced a major revolt in Con-
gress February % as Senator Alben
Barkley D.-Ky) resigned his post as
majority leader in protest against the
Presidents veto of the tax bill.
In a move which confronted the ad-
ministration with its most serious do
mestic crisis to date, the veteran .Roose-
welt supporter announced in an hour
long speech, tinged with bitterness, that
he would officially hand in his resigna-
ton at a Democratic caucus meeting
the following day
Republicans and majority OF the
Democrats present in the Senate cham
Der gave Barkley a noisy, standing ova-
ton at the end of his remarks, delivered
at points in shout Congressional
leaders we're freely predicting that Bark
ley would be reelected to his post at
the caucus, despite his insistence at a
press conference later in the day that
he was through.
The Kentuckian's break with the ad-
ministration strengthened immeasur-
ably chances that Congress would over
ride the tax veto Following news Of
Barkley's resignation, Democrats and
Republicans in both Houses joined in
an all-out onslaught on the Presidents
policies, which topped in bitterness the
recent subsidy and soldier vote debates.
In separate telegrams to congressional
leaders late February %, AFL Pres. Will
liam Green and CIO Pres. Philip Mur-
ray urged Congress to uphold the Presi-
dents veto Terming Roosevelt's argu-
ments sound and unanswerable," " Green
described the tax bill as totally made
quate' Murray blasted the bill for its
open invitation to war profiteering and
called for enactment of fair and re-
alistic tax program"
Igniting the congressional explosions
were the hard-hitting contents of the
Presidents veto message, in which he
termed the 50 billion tax measure enact
ed by Congress "relief not for the needy
but for the greedy"
Roosevelt pointed out that although
the Treasury had asked for $1Ois bill
lion, the present measure 'purported'
to raise a little over 50 billion, but actu-
ally would net less than one billion.
Specific criticisms which the Presi-
dent leyeled at the tax measure follow;
Freezing of social security tax rates at
1e5 comes at a time when industry and
labor are best able to adjust themselves
to such increases. These automatic in
creases are required to meet the claims
that are being built up against the social
security fund. Such a postponement
does not seem wise"
Termination of war contract renego-
tiation authority on Dec. 81, 1914 seems
unwise at this time because no person
can at present determine what a rene
gotiation time limit should be-"
THE bill is replete with provisions
which not only afford indefensible spe-
cal privileges to favored groups but set
dangerous precedents for the future"
"The American taxpayer has been
promised of late that tax laws and re-
turns will be drastically simplified. This
bill does not make good that promise
d. For fear of dropping from the tax
rolls those taxpayers who are at the
bottom of the income scale, the bill re-
tains the victory tax-while at the same
time it grants extensive concessions to
many special interest groups"
Asserting that he had been urged to
accept "a small piece Of crust as better
than nothing at all, the President said
caustically, Il might have done so if
had not noted that the small piece Of
crust contained so many extraneous and
inedible materials"