xt7wwp9t2q46_122 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 125 "You Owe Thirty-One Billion Dollars" Speech of Jouett Shouse broadcast over the National Broadcasting Company network on May 19, 1936 text No. 125 "You Owe Thirty-One Billion Dollars" Speech of Jouett Shouse broadcast over the National Broadcasting Company network on May 19, 1936 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_125/Am_Lib_Leag_125_001/Am_Lib_Leag_125_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_122 xt7wwp9t2q46 THE AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE   4 V
ir   You 0we
The American Liberty League is organized to defend Q , , ,
and uphold the Constitution of the United States and to Q  -0n‘-B Bllllnn
gather and disseminate information that (1) will teach Q in   I
the necessity of respect for the rights of persons and Q 0 ars .
property as fundamental to every successful form of gov- E
ernment and (2) will teach the duty of government to E
encourage and protect individual and group initiative    
and enterprise, to foster the right to work, eam, save, Q Q
and acquire property, and to preserve the ownership and Q * * *
lawful use of property when acquired. Q
The League believe  in the doctrine expressed by Q
, George Washington in his Farewell Address that while  
the people may amend the Constitution to meet condi- 5
tions arising in a changing world, there must “be no Q Speech of
change by usurpation; for this * * * is the customary Q
weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”   JOUETT SHOUSE
Since the League is wholly dependent upon the con-   President ef the American Liberty L€¤g\16
tributions of its members for financial support it hopes  
that you will become a contributing member. However,   mm" the "€tw°"k of the
if you cannot contribute it will welcome your support as   National Broadcasting Company
a non-contributing member. 5
g May 19, 1936
Enrollment Blank  
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE   ‘
NATIONAL PRESS Burtomc _  
WAsn1Nc·roN, D. C.   `AE C4
Date ...............   "   "’
  *3  r   g
I desire to be enrolled as a member of the       0
. · . > try LV
American Liberty League. 5
Signature ..........................................   l _
[Name ....... ( ...... . ............................. Q _
I 2
E Street ................................... _ .........  
E   AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
s Town ............................................   ¥ ` Nwoml Headquanem
L3 I   _` NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
Q1 [County .......................... State ...........   WASHINGT0N’ D' C'
Enclosed find my contribution of $ ..........   * *
to help support the activities of the League.   I
Q Document No. 125
(125)  

 You Owe Thirty-One Billion Dollars
*
IWANT to talk to you briefly about two in-
stitutions, both of which touch closely our
pocketbooks and our self-respect. I refer to
annual budgets—the old-fashioned American
household budget and the budget of the United
States Government. The two belong together
in this discussion because they are intimately
related in theory and practice. At the outset I
assert the belief that you householders are bet-
ter budget-makers than are your hired repre-
sentatives in high authority. As you know, a
[F budget is simply an estimate of receipts and
i expenditures, usually made up. in advance for
  . . . H the comin ear. B uttin these items down
HEN you have finished with this 1 on paper ifdru estabfislf a bfsis upon which at
PamPhle$ please Pass is vn sa same least you can come close to such a control of
friend 0,. acquaintance who might be expenditures that you will not reach the end
. . . . of the year with what you would call debts, but
_ mwrest€d’ calling his attention to the which the Government calls a deficit. The wise
membership blank im Page 12- budget-maker contrives to keep outgo about
even with income. He balances his budget.
He even aims at having something left over for
a savings account. He calls that a nest egg for
a rainy day. The Government, when and if it
has one, calls it a surplus. A surplus in the
household budget is a blessing that may ease
the grief and worry of sudden necessity for hos-
pitals and doctors. The Government, if it had
a surplus, would be in a position to meet the
costs of drouths, disasters and depressions with-
` out having to impose additional taxes or borrow
the needed money.
IF THE HOUSEHOLDER finds he is in the
  red at the end of the year and wishes to main-
j tain his current credit, he borrows to make up
  the difference. He then has a talk with his
Y wife and tells her they will have to cut expenses
  to pay off this year’s debt and avoid another
. 3

 deficit next year. If, however, he is a happy- cit is to hc. To the makers of family budgets
go-lucky, devil-may-care sort of budget-maker who are puzzled by a discrepancy of nearly
he will say nothing and spend more. His will three thousand millions of dollars in an esti-
be a short course. It will not be long before mate of one year’s national budget I can offer
repeated deficits and repeated borrowings will one suggestion in explanation. The President
bring him to the day when he has no more was addressing a political meeting when he
credit. His household will cease to be a going made the “low” estimate of three billions and
concern. his Secretary of the Treasury was making an
Isn’t it the same with Government? Let us argument for more taxes when he said six bil-
review a few recent developments in national lions. It looks like a good spot for the use of
budget-making, annual deficits, borrowing and a little horse and buggy arithmetic.
finally in the growth of thathuge mountain of I
""°’P°“S‘b‘l"Y”y°“' Publm d°b‘· You WILL Noricr that Wt itttvt tttttttt
abruptly got away from the modest dollar in
THE rmsr STARTLING mor wt ttttttttttttt t E;€bl;‘:1“;h°aQl,Ol:;";lg}‘;§1'i? *h°fbm“;;? i" Fha P“b'
is that this is the sixth successive year in which L be mcaimied b the Orgglag  d mit 1; not to
the Government has spent more than it has thin t t Y th . . Y . °W 1; Som?. _
taken in. Those six annual deficits added to- ; . g 0 S agger .6 .1magmat1(m` 6 now It
_ 1S one thousand millions, but that doesn’t help
gether make a total to the end of this fiscal h O 1 . t d,d C
year of eighteen billions of dollars. _ E;   ° Eytninia cen year? ego 1 f Ongmiss
Because of bookkeeping methods the entire Hoi dogaxgafc O1? appropuitlons 0 one lill-
amount of the deficits is not represented in the Or a expenses O governmgiu Or
. . . one year. The sum was so great that it was
public debt but in borrowing to meet a large from page news PEO 16 called it Mthc Biui n
portion of these aggregate dehcits we have Dollar C0ugmSS`,, Th]; car Ou are S Cnd?n`
nearly doubled the public debt. It was sixteen about Bight billions Of diuarsy AS We Said b g
billions at the beginning of the depression and fore Ou OW th. t bil: bl?.
it is at this date, May 19, more than thirty-one d b ° 5}-1 6 lu. Z-one I mus as a pu lc
billions. This debt was undertaken in your C L .6t IIS app Y t C amount of your debt to
. . . something in concrete form to enable us, at least
 glgijjronc mens- The money s _ tttttty, tt ttttttt what ttttt ttttgt ttttt tttttttt.
I The present fiscal year will end on June 30. @$3;;yiiivtgjzf;l;C1;;:;;ntuz;§E:;n;;i;l;agghslig
In a ¤=<=€¤* Speech in New Y·¤k» Mt- Rowclt uttttttt sttttt tttd tt tttttttttttt that ttttt ttttttt
said we will have spent three billions of dollars at nearly thi1_ty_th1_cC billions of dollars NOW
more in this current year than we have taken if we were to sell all those farms at that valuaj
. in. A few days later Secretary Morgenthau of tim] and turn the C h d h
the Treasury Department testified before the U . as proce? S Over to t C
. . , , n1ted States Treasury there still would not be
Senate Finance Committee that th1s years defi- Sumciem money to Pay Your ublic debt that
cit would be nearly six billions. There is a will be owed at the and of HEX? month
difference of nearly three billions of dollars s °
which we will leave to the two gentlemen to  
iron out. t TRACING THE ORIGIN of your enormous
With the end of the year only forty-two days tl debt we find that the root of it all is excessive
distant nobody now knows what the actual deii- SP¢HfliI1g· W6 C&I1I10t blame the unbalanced
4 » 5

 budgets on decreased income because for two thing and if it does not work we shall try some-
years or more you have been turning over in- thing else. You have got to pay more taxes and
· creasingly large amounts to your agents, the your Government has got to reduce its expendi-
Government authorities, who handle your pub- tures. You would recognize the way out of such
lic business. You go further into the red each a problem if it arose in connection with your
year because, while you have been paying more household budget. There is nothing mysterious
in taxes, the Government has steadily increased about Government debt-making and debt-pay-
its spending. ing. There is no sleight of hand trick by which
As a matter of fact, at present unofficial esti- we turn red into black. Spending and borrow-
mates, for every dollar you turn over to it the ing cannot go on indefinitely if your Govern-
Administration is spending about two dollars. ment is to maintain its credit and its self-respect.
In other words, you entrust the Government
with four billions and the Government spends
eight. The Government winds up with a prob- WHEN WE APPROACH the subject of re-
able 1936 deficit of about four billion dollars. trenchment we are brought square up against
(We are not here following the divergent calcu- ‘ the problem of relief. Every humane consid-
lations of the President or of the Secretary of eration demands that whatever else we do, we
the Treasury.) Your Government has to bor- must care for those who are in distress. I do
row the four billions to keep the national house- not believe there is any man or woman of any
hold’s current credit in working order. If the class or group or creed or political party who
four billions is not paid back by means of more would suggest that your Government economize
taxes or by rigid economies it is going to con- at the expense of human lives, or that food,
tinue a part of the public debt. I wonder if it clothing and shelter should not be provided for
has occurred to you that the interest you pay those unable to care for themselves. Relief
each year on your public debt is about one probably will be necessary for some time to
billion dollars? That is something to think come. In the opinion of some of us this device
about in connection with the “Billion Dollar of work-relief has condemned itself. I, for one,
Congress” of a few years ago. favor using what Federal funds are necessary
Expenditures for next year are estimated to to help finance relief, but I believe the money
be even greater than for the present year. If could be used more effectively and far more
present policies are followed there is no hope ` economically if direct, actual administration of
of any material reduction for 1938. During the the job were left to the States. They, in my
fifteen-minute period in which I am speaking opinion, are in closer contact with their own
to you your Government is spending two hun- problems than any Federal bureau can possibly
dred and twenty-eight thousand dollars. In be, and by sharing in the expenditures the
these fifteen minutes your Government has gone States would have an incentive to make the
one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars money go as far as possible. I believe that boon-
further into the red. You householders, in doggling would be reduced, or eliminated. It
these fifteen minutes, have paid to your Govern- is regrettable that some officials in high author-
ment in taxes more than one hundred and " ity have acquired the habit of resentfully re-
fourteen thousand dollars. plying to criticism of waste and politics in relief
What are we going to do about it? We have by use of that ridiculous cry, “Ah, you are try-
only two things that we can do. It is not a ing to drive suffering humans back into the
situation in which we may say we shall try one soup lines!” If such stuff is deemed worthy
6 7

 of any answer the answer might be that honest Isn’t it about time you tell the Congress that is
horse sense in administering relief funds means supposed to represent you that while you are
more relief for those needing relief. In the willing to make any sacrifice to prevent suffer-
last three years about ten billions of dollars ing among the needy, you demand that your
have been allocated for relief purposes. There Government give heed to the same common
are still twelve millions of unemployed and sense economy that must govern your family
twenty millions are on relief. budget`?
Isn’t it about time to have some careful, non- All of us will be willing to draw in the old
political examination of the mess that has de- helt another notoh and pay any taxes necessary
veloped in the handling of relief `? Mr. Roose- to get our Government back on a business-like
velt resents any suggestion of this from any basis. But we have the right to demand thatl
Source and p1‘0G€€dS to call those W}10 P1‘0POS€ those in charge of the Government budget shall
it the creatures of entrenched greed. Mr. Roose- turn from their reokless course and no longer
velt also demands that all relief money shall be waste our money in useless expenditures,
turned over to him to spend as he pleases. The only possible source of revenue with
. There were some of us who argued in the spring a which to meet the heavy obligations of which
of 1935 that under the terms of the decision of we have been speaking is your pocketbook.
the Supreme Court in the Amazon Oil Case the You must pay more taxes. You might as well
work-relief app1‘0p1‘i3ti0Il act WRS 0bVi0llS1Y HH- » face the fact. It is the inevitable consequence
constitutional. You will remember that Con- that after a period of reckless spending the
gress in that act turned over to Mr. Roosevelt American householder must pay the bill. You
the gigantic sum of $4,880,000,000. And Mr. may be told that the rich will have to carry the
Roosevelt is spending this money exactly as he greater share of the burden. That is not true.
sees fit. One of the agencies he created was the In bringing taxes up to a total of about four
Resettlement Administration with Professor billions annually we have already put as great
Rexford Guy Tugwell at its head. In a case a load on wealth as it will stand, short of con-
that arose in connection with that particular fiscation. It is you people with medium incomes
activity the Appellate Court of the District of and moderate savings who will be called upon
Columbia, in a decision handed down yesterday, to make these new sacrifices. You will be taxed
not only outlawed the Resettlement Administra- by direct methods and by indirect. Income
tion but expressed the opinion that the whole taxes must sooner or later be levied on a broader
work-relief act is unconstitutional. And yet base, so as to include more people and smaller
Mr. Roosevelt is demanding that Congress ap- incomes.
propriate to him in the same way and without
restriction the further sum of one billion four ‘ t
hundred and twenty-five million dollars. AT THE DEMAND of Mr. Roosevelt a so-
D called tax bill recently was passed by the House
of Representatives and is now under considera-
WHOSE MONEYris this? It does not belong tion in the Senate. It is not a revenue measure
to Congress, it does not belong to Mr. Roosevelt. in the accepted sense. Its prime purpose is to
\ It is your money. You have to pay the taxes E regulate industry and business by compelling
to raise it. You are burdened with the debt in the distribution of reserve funds. It would
connection with it. The value of anything you dissipate those surpluses of which we spoke a
own is affected by that ydebt and those taxes. few minutes ago. It would destroy ability to
FZ 9

 keep factories and mills open and men and
women working in the lean years. It would in-
crease the distress of any depression. And, on
top of all that, it has been discovered that it
would come nowhere near yielding the revenue l
needed or wishfully predicted. What your pub-
lic budget needs is revenue. Experiments in
social reform and continued interference with
business will only further confuse your im-
mediate problem. It is time to start toward
balanced budgets. v
Both significant and hope-inspiring is the fact
that although this latest bill was drafted under
instruction of Mr. Roosevelt himself it was a
group of Democratic Senators who exposed its
fallacies and pointed out the dangers buried in
its maze of words. Your debt is not essentially
a partisan problem. It is a sum in old-fashioned
arithmetic. ’
One thing more. This tax bill of which we
have heard so much recently seeks to raise about
eight hundred million dollars. Let us remem-
ber that the Government could easily have that
amount in hand by saving it out of your eight
billion dollar budget. You owe thirty-one bil-
lions of dollars. You know what your own
household budget is and how to manage it. Your
privilege and your duty now is to assist in con-
vincing your Representatives that neither a _
government, nor a family, can continue to pile
up deficits and survive. R
FI
_ ¤%4 ’