This Day In 1970's History: Friday January 24, 1975
- The House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation that would not only stop President Ford from imposing higher fees on imported petroleum, but also would prevent him from taking an alternative measure he has been considering, the establishment of restrictive quotas on imports. The committee's bill would ban any presidential action affecting oil imports for 90 days. It was approved by a vote of 19 to 15, with four oil-state Democrats joining unanimous Republican opposition. [New York Times]
- An advisory council of prominent citizens reviewing the Social Security system finds that benefits will start exceeding tax receipts next year by several billion dollars, and will recommend a change in the system's financing. The change tentatively decided upon would convert slightly more than half of the financing of Medicare for the aged to general Treasury revenues and out of the Social Security payroll tax. This would leave the Social Security tax unchanged from its present rate of 5.85 percent for both employee and employer, but would devote more of it to the basic Social Security retirement, survivors' and disability benefits. [New York Times]
- A Federal Court of Appeals in Denver overturned an antitrust conviction of the International Business Machines Corporation that had ordered the company to pay $259.5 million to the Telex Corporation, manufacturer of computer equipment. At the same time the court's judgment against Telex in a countersuit was affirmed. [New York Times]
- The White House press secretary categorically denied that the United States was preparing three Army divisions for possible use in the Middle East. The strong denial was considered necessary because a question asked of Mr. Ford in a television interview Thursday night led to speculation whether the Pentagon in fact was preparing an expeditionary force for possible use in the Middle East. If the denial by the White House and the Pentagon is correct, the misunderstanding apparently resulted from a series of journalistic and official errors. [New York Times]
- The Soviet Union reported that it had made economic progress in 1974, but official government figures disclosed that there were numerous failures to meet goals for increased production of consumer goods. An increase in consumer items had been one of the principal objectives of the 1971-75 five-year plan. [New York Times]
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