They really rubbed it in, when Mr. Reagan said that he would meet with the congressional leaders and that “everything” would be on the table. (Everything except Social Security.) At least four questioners made him say it, more or less: that higher taxes would be considered. The President did go so far as to say that some taxes were worse than others, for instance, the “income tax.” But otherwise he took the same position with the press he’d have taken if asked what was the next target in Iran he’d be likely to hit in retaliation. He said all this would be a part of the negotiating session. The President’s aim is as it always has been. What he wants from Congress is a) reduced non-defense expenditures; b) a lineitem veto; and c) a constitutional amendment providing for a balanced budget.
It is time to pause, yet again, over the dismaying insistence of both Congress and the President on excluding Social Security from consideration. We are reminded that, shortly after Mr. Reagan took office, under the guidance of David Stockman he put out a tentative proposal to curb certain Social Security excesses—and the Senate moved over him like a Panzer division. Since then, Mr. Reagan has treated Social Security as he might a cobra: he won’t even come near it. But it is, truly, the biggest fiscal scandal in town, and it was hardly touched by the big bipartisan revisions of 1983.
Comments