75-20-A1
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Economic Planning[edit]
Transcript[edit]Can we have a government master planning board with its own plan for economic growth and balanced regional development among other things and still be free? I'll be right back. In May Senate Bill 1795 was introduced into the United States Senate under the title the Balanced Growth and Economic Planning Act of 1975. It was referred to the Committee on Government Operations. At the time its sponsors, Senators Humphrey and Javits, Democrat and Republican respectively held a press conference but since then we've heard very little about it. That doesn't mean we should forget about it. Senator Humphrey called it, "Perhaps the most important bill I've authored in my senate career." Senator Javits said "It's a measure of such importance that I didn't feel I could let the occasion go by without making some statement about it." Neither of them happened to mention that the bill was conceived by the Initiative Committee for Economic Planning, co-chaired by Leonard Woodcock of the U.A.W. and Professor Leontif, late of Harvard. Not that that's particularly important. What is important is the bill itself, and its potential for harm. We're asked to believe that our government can create an economic planning board whose function is to develop a master plan for economic growth that will set long-term goals for full employment, price stability, balanced regional development and an equitable distribution of income. Conceivably that regional development idea could mean control over where a man must live in order to work. Do all this and not impose it on us by force at the eventual cost of our freedom. Now we're told there would be no coercion under this plan. The planning board can only try to persuade us to adopt its recommendations voluntarily, except that Congress could enact them all or in part into law. I don't think I'm being reckless if I suggest that based on the record, that's what will happen. Congress will adopt laws. Right now government is actually disposing of 37% of our total gross national product. We know that with this have come thousands and thousands of regulations touching on almost every facet of our lives. Every government in history with that kind of power has ended political freedom for its people. Planning by its very nature implies control. There's no way to have blueprints if the people aren't forced to follow them. Other nations have experimented with so-called democratic planning, and have found that not only is freedom curtailed, but prosperity, the excuse for the planning in the first place, is lost. With apologies to our English cousins, we can find some evidence of that last point in their own government planned and run economy. Under the Labor government, they've nationalized a number of industries, certainly the ultimate in government planning. This has not produced prosperity. Britain's nationalized railroads have raised fares twice but lost 350 million dollars last year. Their electric power industry lost 565 million and the gas industry 97 million. Nationalized steel is losing 11 million dollars a week and the inflation rate is nearly 30 percent. It's time once more to write your Senator and Congressman. The bill is SB 1795 and it could pretty much ruin what we started in 1776. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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