Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1974. január-június (28. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1974-03-28 / 13. szám
Thursday, March, 28. 1974 Military Gets Biggest Boost in Nixon Budget I N HIS BUDGET MESSAGE to the Congress, President Nixon introduced his new fiscal 1975 budget as one which reflects an economic policy of "proceeding, but with caution.” The reason he is proceeding with “caution” is because qf the current economic mess he himself has helped create. And, unless Congress thoroughly revamps Nixon’s new budget, next year the President will have to proceed with even more “caution.” Nixon’s new budget calls for federal outlays of $304.4 billion, up an estimated $30 billion from the 1974 budget, with an estimated deficit of $9.4 billion. This new Nixon budget, his sixth since taking office, brings the total budget deficit created during his Administration to a whopping $77 billion dollars. The biggest single increase in the new budget, $7.1 billion, goes for military spending, thereby crushing the hopes of millions of Americans who anticipated that the end of the Vietnamese war would see a redirecting of the nation’s resources into much needed domestic programs. In fact, Nixon has sláted an 80% increase for military aid to South Vietnam. Half a billion dollars are allocated to increase military research and development while cuts were made in research programs studying occupational health hazards. In keeping with such past budget practices as piling up inflationary deficits on vast military spending and cutting back on much needed programs, President Nixon has again tried to befuddle the public with statistical deception. For example, he groups a myriad of programs under a new heading described as “Income Security Outlays” and then boasts how big these “income security payments” will be. Yet, well over half of these payments will be composed of Social Security payments which workers themselves finance. In fact, Social Security taxes account for $73.6 billion while only $64 billion go out in Social Security payments. Another fraudulent use of scrambled figures shows up in his boasts of increased levels of spending for various domestic programs. In some instances, such as grants for sewage treatment plants, his proposed increased spending levels are well below the levels authorized by Congress. In addition, many domestic programs whose spending levels are up, such as Medicare and Medicaid, automatically have their benefit levels increased. Yet this does not prevent the President from taking credit for the boost. On the other hand, the President is given authority to increase or decrease funds of the much needed Hill-Burton hospital construction program and he proposed to drop it. In scanning through the entire budget, the only item of positive note is a scant $212 million increase slated for sorely-needed mass transit programs. In summary, the new Nixon budget represents nothing new from Nixon. The budget, like all of Nixon’s economic policies ami programs, smacks of the pro-employer, anti-worker bia3 that has characterized his Administration since he has taken office. His handling of the economy, in concert with a pliant congress, has resulted in massive profits for the corporations, and a real wage loss of 1.5% in 1973 for the average American worker. If the Congress continues to sit back and allow this budget to pass without major revisions and re-directions of federal funds, next year we will see another “cautious” do-nothing budget. N NEW YORK, N.Y. Az American Committee of the Foreign Born (Idegenszúletésüek Védelmi Bizottsága) szervezeseben tüntetés folyt le szombaton, március 23.-an a State Department New York i hivatala előtt, 636 Fifth Avenue. A tüntetés célja tiltakozás volt a Bevándorlási Hivatal eljarasa ellen, amikor elrendelte Turenne Déville, Haiti-i menekült deportálását. Az üldöztetés következtében Déville öngyilkos lett, csak orakkal a deportálás előtt. A tüntetés után gyűlést tartottak a Bryant Park mellett, ahol Bella Abzug és Sterling Carey, á National Council of Churches elnöke szólt az összegyűlt 300 főnyi résztvevohöz, utána, gyászmenetként az ENSZ palotájához meneteltek. LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas. Mintegy 1700-an vettek reszt a második Fekete Országos Politikai Konvención, amely az 1972-ben, Gary, Ind.-ban tartott alakuló konferenciát követte. A gyűlés fó szónokai Richard Hatcher, Gary, Ind. polgármestere és Ronald Dellums, kaliforniai képviselő, valamint Imamu Amiri Baraka, a neves iró voltak. SENATE STUDY FINDS: Inflation May Cause Health Crisis WASHINGTON — Rising food prices are forcing American families to eat less nutritiously, a Senate committee has found, and the chairman warns that “we may have a crisis affecting the health and well-being of millions of Americans.” Furthermore, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs has found that the high cost of food has pushed the critne rate up. The committee reported that food prices rose last year more rapidly than at any time since the Korean War. The Detroit area suffered the worst, with prices soaring 55 percent between 1967 and last June. The Northeast area experienced a 41 percent price hike, and the most rapid price changes oc- cured in Boston, Salt Lake City, and Dallas. CRITICIZE UÄ. STATISTICS The report criticized federal statistics-gathering agencies for what it termed “inadequate information.” No government-sponsored naSOBEL OVERSEAS CORP. IKKA FŐÜGYNÖKSÉG 210 EAST 86TH STREET, NEW YORK, N. Y. 10028 TELEFON: (212) 535-6490 UTAZÁSI IRODA: IBUSZ HIVATALOS KÉPVISELETE. SZÁLLODA FOGLALÁS — IKKA UTALVÁNY VIZUMSZERZÉS. — LÁTOGATÓK KIHOZATALA. GYÓGYSZEREK ÉS VÁMMENTES KÜLDEMÉNYEK. IKKA MAGYARORSZÁGRA TlJZEX CSEHSZLOVÁKIÁBA tionwide monitoring of the impact of food prices on nutrition was attempted, the study said, “and existing statistical indices maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are of limited value.” SPREADING HUNGER Neverthless, the Senate committee was able to uncover several facts. The most startling was a conclusion based on reports from medical experts and local officials: there is more hunger in this country today than in recent years. “The ability of American families to feed themselves adequately is threatened by inflation and the energy crisis,” the, committee reported. “Consumers reacted to higher food prices by cutting back on their food consumption and by changing their eating habits for the worse . . . There was an increase in the human consumption of cat and dog food. “Neverthless, Americans still paid more of their total income for food last year than the'year before.” Coupled with the rise in food prices has been a decrease in the number of school lunch programs, and an increase in applications for food stamps. SHOPLIFTING INCREASES Rapid price increases have spurred rrimes, the committee xound: “Shoplifting and illegal hunting has sharply increased, along v/ith cattle rustling and meat smuggling from other countries." increased also. There were a larger number of boycott and consumer protest demonstrations last year than ever before. The study recommended in- creaséd efforts to make food stamps available by increasing the capacity of local governments to supply them. The report also urged that efforts to feed the elderly be doubled — the program now serves only 200,000 nationwide — and that federal, state and local governments should insure that good quality food at reasonable prices be made available to those living in low-income areas. WORSENING SITUATION Members of the committee predicted the situation will get worse. “In the year to come, increased cost of fuel to run harvesting equipment will push the price of food up even higher,” Sen. George McGovern (D., S. Dak.) said. “And if the economy slows down, as- currently predicted by experts, or becomes worse with unemployment rising while real income declines in the face of continuing inflation, we may undoubtedly have a genuine crisis affecting the health and well-being of millions of Americans. For some, it is already a crisis.” CRISIS AT SUPERMARKET McGovern is the committee’s chairman.. Sen. Charles Percy (R., ül,,) echoed his concern; “I havp heard it suggested that by June of this year the crisis at the supermarket checkout counter will greatly overshadow the present-day crisis at gas — AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO----XX ___