About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


27 Tax Features 1 (1983)

handle is hein.tera/taxfeaturs0027 and id is 1 raw text is: TAX FEATURE U.S. Economy WiU Face Window of Opportunity in 1983 T wo Oklahoma Congressmen told attendees at the Tax Foundation's annual conference and dinner that they consider 1983 a critical year in our national economic life. Representative James R. Jones, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, in accepting the Tax Foundation's Distinguished Public Service Award, told those attending the dinner, I consider it to be one of the most critical years in the economic history of the United States, certainly of this half of the twentieth century. Senator David Boren, senior Senator from Oklahoma and a ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, delivered essentially the same message to the luncheon. If we can bring together the elements necessary to solve the problems that we face, we could put our economy on solid and stable footing, he said, to begin a recovery that could be far more prolonged and, really, far more sound and meaningful than any recovery we have had coming out of an economic cycle for many years. Both lawmakers focused on a number of things which would have to be done in order to take advantage of what Jones described as a window of opportunity... the best chance we have in the next three years of putting together a bipartisan coalition. Both agreed that deficits must be reduced and the rate of growth of Federal spending must be slowed. Unless we bring down the deficit, we cannot sustain any kind of economic recovery, because sooner or later we will again have a clash between private sector borrowing and public sector borrowing, Boren told his audience. We have tried to control it by slogans. We have tried to control it by theory. We have tried to control it by wishing it away, Jones charged. But we really haven't tackled the way you control it: You cut spending. If necessary, you raise sufficient revenues to pay for the essential costs of government. Emphasizing that we have essentially concentrated on less than 20 percent of the entire budget in cutting spending so far, Jones maintained that the Congress and the Administration would have to concentrate on the remaining 80+ percent of that budget, including military expenditures, entitlement programs, and interest on the debt. Both agreed that Social Security was the largest part of the entitlements problem needing attention. On the possible solutions, the speakers diverged some- what. Boren rejected any pump-priming efforts, and called for a program which would have a dramatic (Continued on page 4) Consumption and Flat Taxes Weighed as Alternates to Income Tax System A lternatives to the present Fdrltax system served as the topics of discussion for A] Ullman and Robert E. Hall at the Tax Foundation's December 1 National Confer- ence. Ullman, who served as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from 1975 to 1981, discussed the consumption tax as a substitute for Federal corporate and personal income taxes. He said that his experience on the Ways and Means Committee made it obvious to him that major restructuring of the tax system was absolutely essential. He introduced legislation, in 1979 and again in 1980, calling for extensive restructuring of our tax system, involving major reduction in income taxes and payroll taxes, offset dollar-for-dollar by a broadly based, flat- rate transaction tax on the product side. He did so, he explained, out of a firm belief that the other components that balance growth cannot be achieved without developing a revenue system that produces adequate revenue to pay for government. Ullman also spoke of the need for a new tax policy solution to turn around the incentives in our capital system toward savings, investment, and productivity. He indicated that only by a shift away from the income (Continued on page 2) 11HIS ISSUE: PAGE 1 Boren calls for freeze; Jones sees need for centrist coalition Alternative tax systems weighed PAGE 2 Strong upturn predicted PAGE 3 Social Security victim of grandstanding PAGE 4 Congressional Scorecard INSERT: Special Report on the Federal Budget LI TAX FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED 1875 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 VOL. 27 NO. I JANUARY 1983 TAX FOUNDATION'S MONTHLY