Show bl i Babson's AUTHENTIC STATEMENT auger vv Special to THE VERNAL EXPRESS HIGHER TAXES Babson Park Mass The great reat debate is in full swing in Washington President John John- Johnson Johnson son has asked for a hike in incorporate corporate and Individual In- In Income in come e me taxes lie Ill calls the pro pre posed increase a 6 per pel cent sur charge This will be levied on the tax Itself figured at pro pre waiting rates and will be added at the end of the form Hence fence as the resident President Intends the new tax can be easily removed as soon as the emergency in Vietnam is over Battle Lines Drawn A storm of charges and count count- counter er charges has been stirred liP up by Mr 11 Johnsons Johnson's reco ion Criticism is not aimed at atthe atthe the kind of tax First the amount around 5 billion Is not very heavy in relation to toa toa a nearly billion economy nor contrasted with a budget close to billion Second the low income citizen can hardly get excited cd for it is intended that a family with two children have taxable In In- In rouse come exempted The big ig battle is between economists and would would-be econ econ econ- economists The camp holds that that the private area of our economy economy is already in a recession they say this is obscured by tile the tremendous tremendous ous surge in arms production In the opposite corner cornel are arc the inflation anti forces they maintain main main- tain that the federal budget is already out of whack and any further bulge in the deficit will start inflationary fires raging again Enter Politics As you may guess such a brawl among the intellectuals is isa isa a order made opportunity for Cor our politicians in the Capital And they have jumped in with both feet Republicans and andI I some conservative Democrats are demanding that no tax charge be considered until the Presidents President's spending proposals have been gone over with wills a tooth fine comb Their cry Cut spending to balance the budget Across the aisle however the banners of the Great Society have been raised Despite defections de- de defections at the conservative fringes there is a hard core of determination It is emphasized sized that the United States is strong enough to meet its com com- commitments commitments both at home and abroad Surely the Democratic argument runs we are not go big Ing to abandon the underprivileged and ami the needy when the country is spending less than 9 per cent of oC its annual Gross National Pro Product on total de de- de defense Walt Wait And See Through the smoke of battle only one signpost can enn be seen It points to II a delay of months before any final decision on a tax boost may he be reached by bythe bythe the Congress Working on the side of procrastination is the Democratic conviction that the Republicans will be able abe to cut only tiny slices from the over stuffed Administration budget They arc confident that al- al although although though the opposition may be strong enough to obstruct they certainly do not have the power to launch a successful attack Then too those with an eye on what the economists are say say- fag ing are quite happy to adopt a see and policy for the next few months This applies to both Republicans and Dem They feel that by late spring or early summer more will be known about the health and being of our business body Then will be time enough to take the unpleasant action War The Key Right now the odds favor some sane kind of surcharge tax this year But the decision is not for the USA alone to tomake make muke All the hue and cry about the tho health of the private sector of the economy may make good headlines Surely however no noone noone one expects that the nation is going to slip far Into recession In the next six months if the war continues In Southeast Asia Hence if Ito lIo Chi Minh is still avoiding truce talks by midsummer the country will undoubtedly have ha higher taxes by year end Yet it must not be forgotten that there is another side to the coin hop hopefully fully a brighter one Should decide before autumn that talking could be bemore more mOle profitable than fighting we freely that the Congress would not vote for a bigger tax bite That Is why we 1 say that war is the key to a tax or no |