Al2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 20,1981 OUR READERS WRITE (Continued from Page A 10) will continue to be faced with ever higher inflation and declining productivity. It’s against this back drop that we believe the arguments against the proposed tax rate reduction must be evaluated. In short, “business-as-usual” tax policy must be replaced by fundamental changes, if we are to regain long term economic health. Arguments against such changes in tax policy vary from the “timing is bad” to “it’ll be inflationary” to “the budget isn’t balanced.” ' The “tune is bad” argument is one that has really never been raised about the “timing of federal spending”. Timing is never right when it comes to taking tough economic medicine. Will the time be nght m 1985 after taxes go up another $2OO billion? To say that now is not the nght time to say that the tax structure is now at an optimum level and the changes proposed would leave individuals worse off. Most economists agree the present tax rate structure is not an optimal one. The “it’ll be inflationary” argument is not defensible since only a part of the tax reduction will be added to the deficit. Federal deficits, in and of themselves, are not inflationary. Germany and Japan have had substantial deficits but the central banks in these countries impose strict disicpline on money supply growth. The Administration continues to encourage the Federal Reserve not to inflate the money supply to accomodate the deficit. Both of these international com petitors have substantially higher productivity growth than the United States. The “budget isn’t balanced” £ IX THROUGH TELMARK AGRI-LEASE. From a Building to a Baler... Almost any kind, any make, any model of durable equipment or farm machinery, new or used, can be leased through a Telmark Agri-Lease. Telmark, the leasing subsidiary of Agway Inc., is dedicated to serving the agribusiness community. The highly qualified Telmark staff can provide fast service to meet your leasing requirements so you will be able to take advantage of op portunities as they arise. A Telmark Agri-Lease can improve your cash flow and save your operating capital. You avoid large down payments required with some other forms of financing. Give us your requirements and we’ll give you a proposal covering terms and lease payment schedules. Contact your Agway Salesperson or call or write: Telmark, Box 2323, Harrisburg, PA 17105 (717) 564-6587. argument is hollow m light of the unbalanced budget in 20 of the last 21 fiscal years. An unbalanced budget that accommodates more and more federal transfer payments is fundamentally dif ferent from a deficit which returns money to the savings pool for future capital investment in productive economic projects. The latter is more likely to be eliminated over time. The former is more likely to require larger future deficits. Under our present system, the budget will never be balanced because Congress will always find reasons to spend. There will always be the threat.of either economic recession or economic boom. The proposed tax cut would be a contract with the American people to alter the spending question from “How much money can be shoveled out the door via direct taxes and the inflation tax? to “How should Congress spend the limited amount of money the taxpayers allow them to spend? It is somewhat ironic that this round of the tax policy debate the burden of proof has been placed on those who support 10-percent reduction m tax rates for a three year penod. This is a substantial challenge. Our economic history has not been exactly filled with tax rate reductions and therefore there is a shortage of facts to support the policy initiative. The historical record has been one of increased taxes and spending. The results of these policies are apparent to almost everyone ever-higher inflation and ever-lower national productivity. Recent economic data have caused opponents of the tax part of the Economic Recovery Program to claim that things are getting better and that maybe it is tune to ease up on all the unpleasant talk about budget restraint and tax reductions. - It is undoubtedly satisfying to hear that consumer prices rose in April by only 0.4 percent, par ticularly since the April figure followed the favorable 0.6 percent increase m March. But, beware, we have been down this path before. In 1976, when the inflation rate moved from 13 percent to less than five percent, there was a relaxation in the battle against inflation and government spending was increased to combat the pending recession. We were back to “business as usual” by focusing on short-term economic in formation rather than the long term adverse economic trends. We know what happened to in flation after the government spending spree between 1976 and 1980. Policymakers had, once again, underestimated the per sistence of inflation and the need to make the tough economic policy I * , Long-term policies are essential to reverse the inflation and declining productivity trends that plague the economy. The tax part is the heart of the overall economic policy package. The proposed three-year reduction in income tax rates is directed at creating new wealth and increasing future savings. It is directed at increasing the ef ficiency of all resources and im proving the quality and quantity of the overall work effort. It is aimed at establishing incentives to work, save, and invest among individuals and businesses. The economic recovery package, including the tax report, is not without risks. There is a risk that the Federal Reserve will continue to inflate the .money supply. There is a risk that the federal spending reductions agreed on by Congress (Turn to Page A 29) Farm Calendar Today, June 20 Lancaster County Dairy Princess program, Lancaster Beaver-Lawerence, Perry, and Susquehanna Dairy Princess pageants Chester County Country Fair, Nottingham Park, 11 - 8 p.m. Seven Valleys Farm Tour, 10 -4, Seven Valleys Tuesday, June 23 ThomasviUe Community 4-H club meeting, York County 4-H> Center, 7:30 p.m., Program; June Dairy Month by Central Dairy 4-H Club Lebanon Oil Gas Leasing meeting, Municipal Building auditorium, 7:30p.m. Wednesday, June 24 25th Annual Md. Wool Pool, starts Now Is The Time ' (Continued from Page AlO) There is no herbicide that can be now is a good time to clean up your used without killing all the com. gram bins in preparation to har- On tilled or minimum tilled, the vest. cultivator can be used to kill the plants between the rows. On no-till there is no means of eradication except the hand hoe. The larger the com becomes, the less you’ll want to cultivate because of root pruning-. We are again back to using the hoe. All this volunteer com growing is a reminder that part of our 1900 crop was left in the field. To Prepare Grain Bins We are approaching barley harvest season with wheat not too far behind, so I would like io remind our grain producers that Agri-Lasej. at 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 and all day Thursday, 7-3 p.m., Timonium fairgrounds Berks gas, oil lease meeting, Kempton Rod and Gun Club, 3 miles north of- Lenhartsville, Rt. 143,8 p.m. Friday, June 26 Lycoming County Dairy Princess pageant, 7:30 p.m., Lycoming Mall, Route 220. York Farmers Forum, 7 p.ra. Rutters Restaurant. Saturday, June 27 PA Holstein Assn. State Sale Eastern Regional Jr. Angus Heifer Show, Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Gaithersburg, Md.; concludes tomorrow PA Red Cherry Showers annual meeting, 6:30 p.m.. Lamp Port Restaurant, Gettysburg PA Polled Hereford Assn, field day, JDH Farm, Dover, 104 p.m. First, clean out all the old grain. Sweep down the sidewalls and floor making sure to remove old grain lodged in the cracks. Next spray the floor and walls with a residual insecticide. Malathion of Methoxychlor are still very effective follow the label for directions. Finally, prevent birds and rodents from entering the bin. Repair holes with metal or other rat-proof material. Clean up all spilled grain around the bin to discourage the various pests from the area. *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers