Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-08-13
No Time for Congress
And President to Relax
Much in Woy Of Fiscal
Legislation Is Pressing
By Gould Lincoln

Legislation Is Pressing
By Gould Lincoln
Most of the members Of the SD Con-
greSS are back home taking stock Of the
political situation. They will be hear
ing at first hand the reaction Of the
voters to the Eisenhower administra-
ton, and particularly important to
themselves, the voters reaction to the
record so far made by the Congress.
The 1854 congressional campaign quite
apparently is already under way.
It's tempo will increase rapidly as the
months slip by, Already, since the adj
iournment of Congress, President Eisen-
hover has gone on the air to tell the
Nation his own conception Of the prog
ress made toward peace and cleaning
UP the mess which the Truman admin
istration left behind it. Speaker Mar
tin OF the House, week later, was on
both radio and televiSion extolling the
handling Of the Government by Gen
Eisenhower and the legislative record
OF the first session of the Republican,
controlled Congress. They are getting
in the first blows, before the Democrats
unlimber their guns at big Adlai
Stevenson get-together N Chicago the
middle of September.
The Eisenhower administration has
done well in its first half year. Never
thelesS, lot of holes remain to be filled
"a lot OF campaign pledges to be car
ried out.
Legislation Required.
Some of the latter require legislation,
like the revision and reduction of taxes,
the amendment of the Taft-Hartley la
Dor law and the improvement Of the
social security laws. The administration
also is confronted with probable need
to increase the national debt limit-to
$500 bi'3Sn, perhaps. It's no time for
either NJ President or the Republican
Congress to take off five or six months,
during which the legislative program is
left hanging in the air. Yet word has
just come from the summer White
House in Colorado that the President is
seeking to avoid a special session of
Congress in the fall; that in order to
avoid such session the President has
instructed all heads Of Government de.
partments and agencies and their budg-
ct officers to cut down actual spending
for the rest of the year, so that 1t will
not be necessary to increase the debt
limit before January and the opening
of the regular second session Of Con-
greSS.
It's excellent to cut down spending,
in face of the fiscal condition which
confronts the Government. But to do
so merely to avoid special session Of
Congress is not good reason. Par
ticularly in view of the advisability Of
having the Congress get down to .
big job ahead of it.
Gen. Eisenhower succeeded in dealing
with Congress during the session now
closed to higher degree than any Chief
Executive since the early days of the
Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.
Much is going to depend on how well
he gets along with the legislators when
major items of his program are dealt
with. If he is going to meet strong
opposition, the sooner he meets 1t the
better.
The President and the Congress have
made a good beginning toward getting
the tcountry on a sound financial basis.
Together they Topped $13 billion of
the 1854 budget which President Tru-
man submitted to Congress last jan
uary, before he left Office. That's lot
of money the taxpayers will not be
compelled to pay in the future. But
there remains the job of revising and
cutting taxes. which the people expect
of the Eisenhower administration. The
tussle in Congress over these problems
seek tax relief. The House Ways and
Means Committee is now working on
tax revision. 1t should be in position
to make important recommendation
by October or November. Also, the
Government should have by that time
a pretty good idea what it will need to
carry on during the remainder Of fiscal
1854 and during fiscal 1855. which
begins July next year.
President Took Lead.
Gen. Eisenhower did not hesitate to
take the lead and win the support Of
Congress for his fiscal policy during
the last session of Congress. He re-
sisted strongly the effort to cut taxes,
when the Federal deficit was increasing
and the chance of a balanced budget
was dim. He succeeded in having the
excess profits tax retained for six
months. He has, since Congress adj
journed, rejected bill cutting admis-
sionS taxes for the moving-picture in
dustry. A number of tax cuts are due,
by law, to take effect in 1854. The first
is the elimination of an IL per cent,
across-the- board tax on individual in.
coy,oeS which eYnirnS December Al 1t
will reduce Federal revenue by some
So billion. If any attempt is made to
block this cut, there will be q howl
throughout the country. And If the
Government is going to need the
money, the sooner the Eisenhower adj
ministration begins to tell the people
why these taxes are essential the bet
ter.
It's going to take a lot of explain
ing, particularly after an end of the
fighting in Korea. The Eisenhower
administration is benefiting by the
cease-f1re in Korea. It's something tan
gible, and hailed by millions Of peo-
pie. If further peace moves are sue
cessful, the President will be riding
high, wide and handsome next year.
Nothing the Democrats can say will
void that benefit. Also the adminiStra-
ton is benefiting by continued pros
perity in this country. The next IL
months will tell tale Of vast impor-
lance. It's no time, however. for the
President and Congress to sit back and
relax.