Richard Nixon photo

Campaign Statement About Federal Spending.

October 28, 1972

THE NUMBER ONE domestic issue of this election is the right of the working men and women of America to keep most of what they earn to spend as they choose, rather than seeing half of their earnings or more taxed away and given to someone else by bureaucrats in Washington.

A few politicians have called for huge new spending programs which would add as much as $150 billion to the Federal budget and would require the biggest tax increase in American history.

I have pledged to hold the line on taxes in 1973 and throughout my second term as President, assuming cooperation from the Congress.

I am committed to resisting with all the powers at my command any Federal spending which would confront us with the unacceptable choice between higher taxes, which would take more of the worker's paycheck, and renewed inflation, which would erode the buying power of that paycheck.

That is why I asked the Congress to place a $250 billion ceiling on Federal spending in the current fiscal year--which it refused to do. That is why I vetoed a number of budget-breaking money bills yesterday.

If we can succeed in keeping taxes from going any higher, and if we can continue gaining ground in the fight against rising prices--a fight which has cut the rate of inflation almost in half since 1969--then we can have the kind of vibrant, prosperous economic growth which generates real jobs and provides higher living standards for all Americans.

I believe that this country needs 4 more years of the solid pocketbook progress we have achieved this year, when real spendable earnings of the average wage earner have made their first major gains since 1965--a buying power increase equivalent to two extra weekly paychecks in a year.

I believe that Michigan needs more of the economic policies which have brought the gross weekly earnings of manufacturing workers here in Saginaw up more than 11 percent this August over last August, and which have cut inflation in the Detroit area from a rate of 6. 1 percent during 1970 to 3.9 percent so far this year.

But I am far from satisfied with our record on combating inflation and on finding jobs for everyone who wants to work. We must do still better, and we shall.

In this effort, I hope to have the invaluable assistance of Senator Bob Griffin in the future as I have had it in the past.

From his key position on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Griffin has supported my new economic policy; he has supported my efforts to clamp a taxproof lid on the Federal budget; and he has fought for passage of general revenue sharing, the major new law I signed in Philadelphia last week, which can help to provide local tax relief and give the people of every city and State greater control over their own lives.

I consider him an exceptionally able advocate for the workingman and for Michigan, and a staunch ally in our battle against higher prices and higher taxes.

Note: The statement was released at Saginaw, Mich.

Richard Nixon, Campaign Statement About Federal Spending. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/255488

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