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Show LOOKING fcrf AHEAD Yfti GEORGES. BENSON vifS pmldnl-H'til'l gflUft I 1 Sunt M'" OUTLOOK I THE tkkasikv WASHINGTON Marion B. Jsom, Under Secretary of the Treasury, told me, in an interview w, office just across Executive Avenuo from the White House, that the Treasury Department is participating in two study projects of vital importance to the citizen-taxpayers citizen-taxpayers of the nation. "One," he explained, "is to determine what taxes will be needed after the Truman Tru-man budget for 195S-51 has been reviewed, department by department; depart-ment; and the other is a long range study looking toward a possible pos-sible revision and improvement of the entire tax structure of the government." gov-ernment." This was another in the series of interviews I've been doing with key people in President Eisenhower's Eisenhow-er's official family. My desire is to present the facts about the new officials and their plans in a non-partisan manner. As a result of my talks with Under Secretary Folsom and other key government leaders, including members of the Senate and House, I'm convinced that a resolute and early objective of the administration is the reduction reduc-tion of taxes for all citizens. But to be sound and of real permanence perman-ence such a reduction in taxes, administration ad-ministration leaders are convinced must be preceded by a balancing of the budget as well as a careful and thorough study of just where tax changes should be made. Sound Fiscal Thinking Folsom,, recognized as one of the top fiscal authorities in America, resigned from three important positions po-sitions in order to be free to give his full time to the Treasury Department. De-partment. The posts he left were (1) Treasurer and Director of the world-wide Eastman Kodak Com- pany; (2) Chairman of the Com-1 mittee for Economic Development; and (3) Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It gives me personal satisfaction to see a man of such assepted ability willing to make a sacrifice in salary sal-ary in order to "make whatever contribution I can," as he put it, "to the welfare of the nation." He cited excerpts of President Eisenhower's Eisen-hower's State of the Union address add-ress as the foundation for both the short range and the long range fiscal programs now being studied by the Treasury Department. , The new Under Secretary believes, be-lieves, with President Eisenhower, that the first step in sound government govern-ment is a balanced budget. During March and on into April, Cabinet members and all department and agency heads were making an item by-item study of each section of the Truman 1953-5. budget, with the advice and help of Budget Director-Joseph Dodge, and his staff. They are trimming it, realistically, but the amount of the total cut recommended may not be known for several weeks. Then Look at Taxes When the budget revisions are made, then the Eisenhower fiscal team will size up the tax sources and draw their estimates. Then and then only, the Under Secretary said, can any sound appraisal be made of the tax cutting possibilities. possibili-ties. Folsom explained that the previous administration had made so many contracts and commitments commit-ments extending so far into the future that the present administration adminis-tration is greatly handicapped in making econofies this first year. The type of adminsitration efficiency effic-iency and economy that the Eisenhower Eisen-hower team has been promising to the public cannot arrive in full measure until 1954, he noted. The tax revision recommendations recommenda-tions will require still further time. The Treasury Department, in which the Internal Revenue Bureau Bur-eau functions, is assembling a team of the top tax experts in the nation, and those already on the job have begun studies of various tax revision plans submitted by such organizations as the American Ameri-can Bar Association, the American Ameri-can Institute of Accountants, the Committee for Economic Development, Develop-ment, the National Association of Manufacturers, and various other taxpayer groups. Similar studies are being conducted by the universally uni-versally respected Joint Congressional Congres-sional Committee on Taxation. The objective of these studies is to develop a tax system which will, as the President stated, "impose the least possible obstacle to the dynamic growth of the country." Decentralizing Taxes ? A Presidential Commission has been announced which will direct a long range study of the relationship rela-tionship between federal, state and local taxes. Besides federal officials offi-cials and topi-flight citizen-leaders, representatives of the state governments gov-ernments will probably be included in its membership. In fact, the most promising feature is the possibility pos-sibility of relinquishing to local governments some tax sources now monopolized by the federal government, govern-ment, as well as some services now rendered. This is a healthy goal; and it is encouraging to find it being talked about among the key people in our nation's capitol. |