Milford chronicle., 1961-09-22
MILLIONARIES ARE SCARCE

And these incomes are taxed 10 tne nit now,
with the top rate being a cool 81 per cent.
Moreover, says the Citizens Public Ex-
penditure Survey, the taxes actually paid
by the millionaire group are just enough to
run the government for 2512 hours-a tri-
file more than one day And even if they
were taxed 100 per cent the increase IN
revenue would merely support the govern
ment for another 141a hours.
There just isn't enough money in the big
or even the middle income categories to OPP
crate 500 billion year government 50
the lower income people must pay the bill.
A SOUND AND NEEDED PROGRAM
1t looks as if this Administration may
try to do something about the chaotic COM
mercial transportation problem. In recent
speech, Commerce Under Secretary for
Transportation Martin advocated repeal or
modification of exemptions in the law which
make possible unregulated competition with
regulated carriers; revision of tax laws to
provide more capital for expansion in the
railroad industry, and improved enforce
ment of regulations to curb illegal opera
tons in the for-hire field He also gave his
approval to a rate making rule passed in
1858, which requires the Interstate Com
merce Commission not to consider the I'M
pact of lower rates by one mode of trans
port on the traffic of another. This is par
ticularly important today, for a proposed
Congressional bill would require the ice to
consider that and thus would, in effect, pre-
vent railroad or another kind of carrier
from using it's inherent advantages to at
tract business by offering lower rates.
1t now remains to be seen what con-
crete action will come from this and from
other proposals to bring obsolete regula-
tory laws and policies up to date. Matters
Ill he D,,,{ -hor IS no
more time to be wasted The railroads,
which are the absolutely basic form of trans
portation, and the one which we could not
do without, are starving for revenue. Num-
bers of them are running in the red. They
aren't asking for favors-they are asking
only for the opportunity to compete for
business with other carriers on a fair and
equitable basis, in which none is penalized
and none favored. That is precisely what
the public interest demands.
MILITARY PROGRAM WILL BE FELT
The impact of the stepped-up military
program has not yet been felt But this per-
iod of relative tranquility if such a word
can be used in today's unpredictable world)
will be short-lived. In the near future thou
sands of reserves and members of the Ma
tional Guard will be called to duty. This
will be done, in the beginning at any rate, on
selective rather than unit basis. Certain
skils are needed now, and individuals pos
sessing them will get the summonses.
Draft calls are to be increased three
times over, at the start If conditions wors-
en-, of course, much larger increases will
follow.
The overall military budget is now $4S
billion year. Congress swiftly approved
the Presidents requests with hardly dis
senting vote, and in some instances, appro-
priated more than was asked. AS column
list Robert S. Allen writes: THAT stipend
Gus total could go higher, depending on what
happens in Berlin, Cuba, South Vietnam,
Iran and other danger points. But S4S
billion defense budget is a certainty for the
next several or more years. This will have
telling impact on virtually every aspect OF
the national economy"
The President has said that he may
ask for tax increases, of an as yet undisclos-
ed nature, early next year. He added that
whether he does or not will depend on the
governments receipts from existing taxes.
At the same time he has promised balanced
budgets to come. Very few economists be-
lieve that the receipts will increase enough,
even if there is big business boom, to take
care of the multi-bilion dollar boost in the
budget And Congressional leaders have
said that they will approve higher taxes
when and if they prove necessary.
Along with all this, highly significant
change in military attitude has been taking
place. For considerable period of time all
the emphasis was laid on major nuclear
war-war to the absolute finish, in which
the ultimate weapons would be employed.
Some military men anticipated that such a
war would be decided in "a or 48 hours.
But now there is a widely held belief that
the chance of this kind Of war is remote,
that no one would be insane enough to start
it, and that future conflicts, if they come,
will be fought with what are known as con-
ventional weapons. They would thus be
limited in scope and destructiveness.
On top of that, the ultimate weapons
would not be suited, all other questions aside
to the sO-called "brush fire" wars we may
be called unan To fiuht In NariQus farflunp