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5 64 Standard Quiet, please. You might say just one moment, please. Quiet. Here in Washington is Senator George Smathers reporting to the people of Florida answering questions of a legislative nature that pertain to the nation and to the state of Florida. Now, here is the first question Senator, the finance committee of which you are a member, is now considering the debt limit.

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Can you tell us just exactly what this debt limit bill proposed? Well, the field, as it came over from the house, was in two stages, at first agreed to raise the debt ceiling to roughly 307 billions of dollars, now three or five and then by the up till August to raise it there after 2, 309 billion.

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And then they asked that the bill be brought back to the Congress for a further extension in the raising of the debt ceiling. Uh, second Secretary of Treasury tells us that they're going to have to have a ceiling of somewhere about 319 billions of dollars by the middle of August, because that's the time of the year when the Treasury goes out and borrows its money to meet off its short to meet pay off its short term obligations.

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And if the limit of 309 billion will not be sufficient. Well, Senator, if this bill should not pass, what would be the result in cost to government? Well, actually those who argue for economy and I'm for economy to. But I think it's the wrong place to talk about economy by limiting the debt ceiling, because what we then do is not give the Treasury Department the opportunity to go out in the open market and, you might say, make borrowings of money at what are favorable interest rates to them.

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We limit him by the debt ceiling and say that you cannot go above a certain amount so that you restrict when when the debt is right up against the ceiling, you restrict that amount, which they can go out and borrow. So then they have to turn around and sell a lot of assets, which at the moment we don't think that they should do, even though the government has a lot of things which they can sell.

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I don't want to get into that, but you force them to take money when they can get it, and they have to pay a higher interest rate. And we're already paying over 10 point to billions of dollars a year interest on the national debt as it is now.

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So this is a type of false economy and my judgment to talk about limiting the debt ceiling. Well, Senator, what has happened to the national debt in the last 10 years in relation to national income? Well, actually, the national debt two in relation to our national income has gone down, even though, of course, the national debt has gone up.

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But are general. Our gross national product has gone up. Our national income has gone up 1945 for example. We had a 98 point billion, uh, debt. I mean the budget and we had a national income of about 100 and 83 billions of dollars. And that may that figured out that 53% of our national income was used by the budget that has since gone down to 1963.

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We've got a $94.3 billion budget. Now we have a national income now of 460 billions of dollars and just figures out where our budget is less than 20% of our national income. So while we grow in point of population and in richness and assets, our budget, even though its largest actually as a percentage of our income is getting left well, Senator, we hear a great deal about the federal debt.

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What's happening to the debts of other governmental units? Well, they state and local government is going up, of course, exceedingly faster than is the federal indebtedness. While federal and debt and has only increased 11% in the last roughly in the last six years, state and local government has gone up, in some instance, as high as 300%.

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But if for an overall average of about 60% 1 more quick question, Senator, what's going to stop that trend locally and nationally? Well, the trend of of I don't know what's going to stop it. It's only when people will stop asking for so much services. I don't women.

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You threw me right there. I'm not do it over again