PROXMIRE SEES ANTI-MISSILES AS ONLY BASIS FOR TAX RISE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080028-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 13, 2006
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: December 6, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2006/11/13: CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080028-7
--EVENING STAR, 6 "Dec 66--
t
By CECIL HOLLAND
star Staff writer
Sen. William Proxmire, D-
Wis., said today he sees no need
for a tax increase unless the
country should embark on a vast
undertaking to counter reported
i Russian deployment of an. anti-
missile system.
He said this, rather than the
Vietnamese war, should deter-
mine what should be done about
increasing taxes.
Proxmire outlined his views in
a speech prepared for delivery
before the Tax Foundation, Inc.,
in New York. In this speech he
outlined numerous other ways
for cutting federal expenditures
to avoid tax increases.
r,a 4 O~k
U U t-
Proxmire's views carried
some weight because of his
position as ranking member of
the Senate Bank and Currency
Committee in the 90th Congress
taking over in January. He is
also a member of the Senate
Appropriations Committee and
the Joint Congressional Econom-
ics Committee.
Cost to Be Great
Proxmire noted that President
Johnson and Secretary of De-
fense Robert S. McNamara
indicated recently that the
Russians are deploying an anti-
missile system. At the time,
Proxmire added, McNamara
said he was recommending the
immediate deployment of a new
Poseidon missile at a construc-
tion cost of $2 billion and a
deployment cost of several
billion, to replace the present
Polaris missile.
Then, Proxmire said, Sen.
Richard B. Russell, D-Ga.,
chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, said that
on the basis of what McNamara
said this country should move at
once to construct and deploy its
own Nike-X anti-missile system.
"The cost of such deployment
would be very great indeed,"
Proxmire said. "If Congress and
the administration decide to act,
the urgency will be intense."
Proxmire said that in recent
months wholesale prices, prices
paid to farmers, industrial
activity, new factory orders, and
many other economic indicators
have all leveled off. In addition,
he added, the construction
industry is in serious trouble.
In view of all these factors,
Proxmire suggested, in lieu of a
1 tax increase the following:
1. Spending cuts "far more
deeply" than the President has
indicated he will make.
2. Recall of four of the six
American divisions in Europe,
which he said would save $1
billion.
3. Reduction of the space
program by $1 billion, which he
said could be accomplished
without slowing down the moon
program.
4. Postponement or cancella-
tion of the supersonic transport
program, which is scheduled to
cost $40 million -a month for
prototype construction beginning
in February.
Approved For Release 2006/11/13: CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080028-7