President Reagan vowed in unmistakable terms Wednesday to veto any bill that would increase taxes, telling congressmen who might even be pondering such an effort: “Go ahead, make my day.”
Reagan mixed these taunts with his most sweeping denunciation of Congress since last year’s election campaign, saying of Republicans and Democrats alike: “They just can’t stop squandering the people’s money. . . . Despite all the rhetoric about the deficit, Congress has been carrying on its old pork-barreling politics as usual.”
Blusterous Broadside
The President’s blusterous broadside, delivered at the White House before a group of 100 applauding business executives, came on a day that the Republican-controlled Senate Budget Committee first voted down Reagan’s proposed 1986 budget and then late in the evening adopted its own package of spending cuts in domestic and military programs combined with a freeze on Social Security benefits.
But, because this was only the first of many congressional budget battles, Reagan’s tough words also had the larger aim of pressuring an increasingly reluctant Congress to accept his budget formula of deep cuts in domestic spending, a continued major buildup in defense and no tax increases.
Uses Firmest Language
Reagan particularly used the occasion to again declare categorically that there will be no tax increase to lower the federal deficit, which is projected to reach $220 billion in fiscal 1986. In doing so, Reagan used his firmest language yet, going far beyond his 1984 campaign pledge to raise taxes “only as a last resort.”
“The scene in the Senate Budget Committee this past week was a disappointing one for the American people,” Reagan said. “They (senators) seem to be in full-scale retreat from spending cuts and are talking about raising people’s taxes again. When push comes to shove, I guess it’s always easier to let the taxpayer take the fall.”
The President added: “Well, let them be forewarned: No matter how well intentioned they might be, no matter what their illusions might be, I have my veto pen drawn and ready for any tax increase that Congress might even think of sending up.
“And I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: ‘Go ahead, make my day.’ ”
The “make my day” line originally was used by detective “Dirty Harry” Callahan, played by actor Clint Eastwood, in the movie “Sudden Impact.” Harry delivered the line while pointing a revolver at a criminal who was trying to decide whether to resist or surrender.
Draws Angry Reaction
Although the spending program that the Senate Budget Committee approved late Wednesday contained no new taxes, as some members had advocated, Reagan’s echoing of the line earlier in the day brought swift and angry reaction from some members of the committee as they met.
Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), whose proposed $357-billion, five-year tax increase was rejected Wednesday by fellow committee members, called Reagan’s comment “outrageous.” He added: “How can we do our work when the President refuses to help solve the (deficit) problem?”
Sen. Mark Andrews (R-N.D.) described as “baloney” Reagan’s contention that his reelection represented a voter mandate to oppose tax increases. Andrews noted that Reagan campaigned for his first term in 1980 on a platform of balancing the budget within three years.
President Is Adamant
“As one Republican, I’m trying to live up to the President’s pledge of getting the deficit under control,” Andrews told the committee. “I don’t know any other way to do it (except raising taxes).”
But White House officials, who asked not to be identified, said Reagan has become so adamantly opposed to a tax increase that pragmatic advisers have stopped trying to prod him into accepting one–even as part of a “loophole closing” or a “tax simplification” package.
“Later in this session of Congress, we’ll be presenting our proposals for tax reform,” Reagan said, “and I just want to re-emphasize one thing: Tax reform will not be a tax increase in disguise.
‘Tax on Hope, Optimism’
“One of the first rules of economics is, if you tax something, you get less of it,” Reagan said to the group, the American Business Conference. “High tax rates discourage work, risk-taking, initiative and imagination. And they’re really a tax on hope, optimism and our faith in the future.”
Reagan reiterated his view that, if Congress accepts his domestic spending cuts, the deficit problem gradually will take care of itself as the economy continues to expand and generates more tax revenues.