78-12-A6

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Tax Revolt

Transcript Recently a California newspaper did a survey undoubtedly inspired by Proposition 13 but aimed at learning people's attitude toward government services and government spending. As it turned out 73.6% of the respondents had voted for Proposition 13. The poll sought answers as to the areas where government could be reduced, and how much "fat" those polled thought there was in government. When they were asked how much fat they thought there was in local government, the biggest percentage (just over half) estimated 25% or more. But almost 94% put it at above 10%. And, 77% said 10% or more of local government employees should be cut from the payroll. Here again the biggest percentage, 22.2% would eliminate 25% or more. Personally, I've always felt the best, and -- yes -- the humane way to reduce the government payroll is by attrition. Put a freeze on hiring replacements for those who retire or leave government service. We made this work in California and there were no layoffs. Most interesting in the poll, however, was where people thought the cuts should be made. They were given a pretty complete list of city functions and asked, yes or no on whether cuts should be made in each of these services. More than 85% said "no" to reducing police or fire protection. Next highest support -- a fraction over 65% -- was for street maintenance. But in the "yes" vote -- where they felt cuts should be made -- more than 95% said, "in administration". Around 85% would cut aid to non-profit groups and the size of the city work force. Nearly 80% of those polled would cut downtown redevelopment and planning. Switching to county functions, almost 82% would not make cuts in the Sheriff's Department. But almost 88% would reduce welfare and public assistance, 80% would cut planning and more than 82% would reduce the size of the work force. But here again, the biggest cut by far wanted was in administrative overhead -- 94.7%. Finally, the poll took up school spending. In basic education activities 84.2% said "no" to any cuts and more than 63% would not reduce the number of teachers or increase class size. However, almost 94% would cut administration. And 86.3 would cut programs such as bilingual education. Around 65% would close neighborhood schools with low enrollment and child care centers, and 58% would trim spending on extra-curricular activities such as band, art classes and driver education. Almost 80% would reduce the size of the work force. The final two questions in the poll should be of special interest to elected public servants. More than three-fourths (76.7%) said they would favor a state constitutional amendment that would limit how much money state and local governments could spend. And 77.6% said they did not -- repeat -- not want other taxes increased to help pay for services that may be cut as a result of Proposition 13. Just maybe some one in government had better be listening. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-12-A6 Production Date 08/07/1978 Book/Page RPtV-354 Audio Youtube? No
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