A Time to Heal: on Tax Reform


Gerald Ford: Permanent tax cuts accompanies by spending cuts

I said, "We must decide whether we shall continue the path toward bigger government, higher taxes and high inflation--or halt the momentous growth of government. Tonight I will set forth two proposals that represent the answer I believe we must choose. First, I propose that we make a substantial and permanent reduction on our federal taxes and 2nd that we make a substantial reduction in the growth of federal spending."

I would ask Congress for a permanent tax reduction--the biggest in our history of $28 billion. But I would not sign the tax legislation unless Congress pledged to cut anticipated federal spending by an equivalent $28 billion. That would bring the federal budget down to $395 billion. "If we cut only taxes but do not cut the growth of government spending," I explained, "budget deficits will continue to climb, we will have more inflation, and ultimately we will have more unemployment. Substantial cuts in your taxes must be tied to substantial cuts in growth of government spending."

Source: A Time To Heal, by Gerald Ford, p.314-315 Oct 6, 1975

Gerald Ford: Raised taxes to fight inflation

All these programs [to whip inflation], I knew, would be costly - as much as $5 billion-so I asked for a 1 year temporary tax surcharge of 5% on corporations and individuals earning more than $150,000 per year. For a family of 4 with a gross income of $20,000, the extra tax would amount to $42 per year, and that, I thought, was not too heavy a price to pay.
Source: A Time To Heal, by Gerald Ford, p.194-195 Oct 8, 1974

  • The above quotations are from A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford.
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Page last updated: Feb 25, 2019