| Show NOT MUCH HELP w CONGRESS d di i i sa a asa sa sai y i s i t r r UNEMPLOYED INT Irot f- f utu Wed We'd feel a lot better about the Humphrey-Hawkins Humphrey bill if it hadn't come out of Washington For years the federal government has enacted one program after another to cure unemployment Yet somehow the jobless rolls over the long term have gotten bigger not smaller and the money poured into those programs have added to inflation and made it even tougher than ever on the unemployed the displaced and the disadvantaged That's probably why another big government effort like Humphrey-Hawkins Humphrey complete with lofty goals and soaring rhetoric and a gun 21 Washington sendoff is causing nervous twitches in the rest of the country Supporters of the plan say it has been greatly modified since first proposed a couple of years ago and is now a mere statement statement statement state state- ment of goals That may be true But when you set a goal which many economists consider unrealistic to bring down unemployment by so much in such-and-such such a year you have committed Congress and nd the administration to action Tremendous Tremendous Tremendous Tre Tre- political pressures will build up to make it happen and that means more programs more money and if that doesn't work still more money The catch in all this is inflation inflation inflation-inflation inflation that eats up savings savings savings sav sav- ings erodes earnings saps business confidence and leads ul ultimately ultimately ultimately ul- ul to economic slowdown and still more ment Any temporary spurt in end dead-end jobs at public expense will never be worth that kind of misery Frankly we wish Congress and the administration would lower the rhetoric and come up with a workable small government government government gov gov- plan plan like like the right kind of tax cuts to trigger job creation in the private sector or elimination of those costly regulations that drag down the economy We think that kind of approach will work It deserves a try l 1 L' L J 1 1 |
