May 6, 1975
Page 13220
MUSKIE'S VICTORY
Mr. FANNIN. Mr. President, as one who voted against the Senate Budget Committee's proposed budget resolution for fiscal 1976 as a "blueprint for economic disaster" and in favor of the alternative resolution introduced by Senator BUCKLEY, I wish to call the attention of my colleagues to an editorial which appeared in the Wall Street Journal of May 5.
This brief article sums up the feelings of uncertainty and disappointment I had as I studied the $365 billion Federal spending level and almost $70 billion planned deficit recommended by Senator MUSKIE and his committee and approved by this body.
Senators BUCKLEY, McCLURE, and BROCK proposed instead to set total budget outlays for the next fiscal year at $340 billion, with a deficit at $34.7 billion. Unfortunately the Senate decided that an additional $25 billion would be needed to get us out of the recession, at a time when many economists and business indicators tell us that we are already coming out of our economic difficulties.
The Buckley substitute was defeated, and the Budget Committee won the day. Many of us wonder, however, whether we can safely and for long sustain such huge red-ink budgets. Or will such spending and deficits in fact threaten our country's recovery, rekindle the fires of inflation and increase interest rates, and so cause a severe credit crisis for industry and a loss of jobs for workers? Can we even count on the authorizing committees to stay within these target spending levels, or will the Members be tempted to seek even more funds for their favorite special programs?
We shall soon know the answers to these questions. We shall soon determine if the Congress can practice self-restraint and if the new budgetary process will really produce positive results.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the Wall Street Journal editorial be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows
MUSKIE'S VICTORY
Senator Muskie's success in beating off an attempt by Senator Buckley to halve the budget deficit projected by the Senate for fiscal 1976 has been described as a "victory" for the Maine Democrat.
And indeed the head of the Senate's new Budget Committee displayed a sure hand. The Buckley proposal, he said, would lop $100 billion off the GNP and raise unemployment to 12%. Senator Beall, a Maryland Republican, offered his own assurances that the economy can afford a $70 billion deficit.
No doubt we should all be thankful that we have Senators with so much self-assurance about the economic outlook, particularly when men who know a great deal about economics are crouching in fear before the prospect of such huge federal deficits. And the precision of Mr. Muskie's numbers on what a $35 billion smaller deficit would or would not do is absolutely astounding.
As a result of such coolness under fire, Senator Muskie has another victory and Senator Buckley has suffered defeat. But to paraphrase the ancient Pyrrhus, a few more such Muskie victories and we may all be undone.