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Show SCANNING THE WEEK'S NEWS ojJAain Street and the World Congress Goes Home After Passing $5.6 Billion Tax-increase Measure ! second session convenes, try to convince the people TTh. of their great achievements. The fact remaUTotv r "me ord is not too good and the prospects for the second session because j will meet during a pres.dential election year, are even worse. The congress spent week in the MacArthur hearings the Kefauver ime inTy; fr0 ft ? StUbr,rSiVe activities andorruptTon in pvernment. Most of the important legislation enacted dealt with foreign I jBair, while the domestic field was nearly forgotten. There was no civil rights progress; no marked advance in the Hoover plan for govern-nt govern-nt reorganization excepting reform of the R.F.C.; civil defense gained a stepchild; needed amendments to the Defense Production ! Act were neglected statehood for Alaska and Hawaii remain undecided The congress set another mark, the longest unbroken session of any peacetime congress since 1913-14, with the senate in session 172 days : and lhe house 163. The senate oratory filled 7,927 pages of the congres-V; congres-V; si0Ml record and the house 6,003 pages. And during the session 180 A public laws and 338 private laws were enacted. f ' In the dying hours of the session the house and senate enacted three bins authorizing the spending of $13,000,000,000, all aimed at strengthen-J strengthen-J jng the security of the U.S. at home and abroad. It swelled to $95 000 000 -J ooo the appropriations passed during the year, of which $80,000 000 000 vas tor defense purposes. JAXES-President Truman signed the $5,691,000,000 tax-increase bill, one of the last measures passed in the first session of the 82nd congress, and on November 1 the average home towners will begin to pay it.. Besides increases ranging from 11 to 12 per cent for most taxpayers, excise taxes go up on a long list of items including liquor jasoline, and household appliances. Bigger Income and excess-profits taxes are in store for some industries. The President, however, was very1 definite in his opinion of the 5s increase measure. To begin with, he felt it was not enough (he had asked fcr $10,000,000,000 and indicated he would ask congress in January to 1 improve the tax law. He criticized it as containing too many loopholes l;; jn(i in some respects providing additional means by which wealthy Si individuals can escape paying their proper share. :i He also criticized the Jenner rider permitting states to publicize 'f relief rolls without losing their share of .federal social security allot- merits. This, he said, is quite unrelated to the purpose of raising revenue and "may well result in unwarranted publicity and personal indignity and unhappiness for aged people and others receiving public assistance." s " THE POWDER KEG The Middle East has become the powder keg -which may blow the world into World War III. Since ordering the 5 British out of the Suez canal zone and the Sudan, armed clashes have is occurred between forces of the two countries. Egypt has ordered general p-. mobilization of man power in wartime fashion and the British have reinforced their canal forces with troops, planes and warships. J The Egyptian crisis is a manifestation of the 'growing fever of nationalism in the Moslem states which started when Iran nationalized ' its oil industry and kicked the British out. But unlike the Iranian question, V the Suez and its safety is of vital importance to the free world. On the surface Egypt would seem too weak to throw the British out, but the nest fears a series of incidents that could set the entire Middle East aflame. 2 Should the crisis reach to point of open warfare between the two J countries the Communists can be expected to step in and World War III could start at any moment. ; VATICAN ENVOY President Truman nominated Gen. Mark Clark, chief of the Army Field Forces, to be the first United States ambassador to Vatican City. American diplomatic relations .with the Vatican, which had been terminated by act of congress in 1867, were resumed twelve years ago by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since early 1950, however, there has been no diplomatic relationship z ivith the Vatican and President Truman's nomination of Gen. Clark was - unexpected. ; Because of considerable criticism concerning the move, the President ; announced several days later he had decided not to carry out diplomatic representation at the Vatican until congress has acted on the controversa issue. Congress will probably take the matter under consideration i shortly after it convenes January 8. - FEDERAL DEFICIT ',e government has operated in the red this . jear. Next year it will go even deeper in the red and nothing that ; congress has done or economies will prevent it. Expenditure for the fiscal year 1952 will amount to approximately '. 570 billion, it is estimated. Receipts will amount to $63.7 billion, leaving a deficit of $6.3 billion. , In the fiscal year 1953 expenditures will amount to an estimated S35-S90 billion while receipts will total $66.6 billion. This leaves about 518.4-$23.4 billion deficit.- Congress is not likely to increase taxes next year because it is a presidential election year, most observers believe. The only way to cut down this deficit would be to reduce defense spending and foreign aid. There may be some cut in foreign aid, but little, if any, in defense spending. The "pay-as-we-go" policy expounded by the administration seems extremely remote at this time. |
