What appears to be simple government planning, to achieve what seem to be worthwhile goals, will absolutely degenerate into total planning. It will encompass production numbers, product design, and ultimately product ownership. And whether you want to call the enemy government planning, or government establishment of goals, there is only one name for it. It is Socialism. If that’s what you want, you have no problem. Just do nothing. And the liberals will elect people to Congress who will give it to you.
S. 1795 could extend the authority of government into a takeover of the functions of the marketplace. What the American public wants to buy, and at what price, would no longer be the guideline for American business. Instead, the manufacturer and the businessman would have to look first to Washington, rather than to the consumer.
I assure you, Senator Javits and others are dead serious in this frontal assault against our free enterprise system. Make no mistake about it, we are talking survival.
The danger is from those who believe that government should be the source of all economic hope for the individual. The danger is from those who believe that government planning is a better device than the free marketplace for distribution of goods and distribution of the nation’s wealth.
This bill could affect the business of every executive in this room. It could affect the entire national economy and the private lives of every American citizen.