The Decisions at Vail
Through two arduous days of economy-energy discussions at President FordÛªs ski chalet in Vail, Colo., it became obvious that Secretary of the Treasury William Simon had lost his long fight for a restrictive, anti-iniia-tionary budget in the face of recession.</br></br>Although no decision was announced byjMr. Ford, even SimonÛªs lieutenants cohcede he is the loser of a year-long strugle with lame-duck Budget Director Roy Ash. The President will support not only income tax cuts but high federal spending to stimulate business. Injuring a colossal budget deficit that could surpass $40 billion.</br></br>Both to recoup part of that loss and to conserve energy, Mr. Ford last weekend definitely approved a new excise tax on oil imports. That is part of an overall energy package, approved at Vail, to reduce consumption and increase production while abandoning the old Nixon-Ford concept of solving the energy crisis by voluntary action.</br></br>13his, dressed in ski sweaters in the luxurious winter resort, the President and his top officials on Dec. 27 and 28 buried economy-energy policies of Mr. FordÛªs first five months and their Nixon roots. In incongruous surroundings, Mr. Ford belatedly changed economic direction at a time when public confidence was falling quickly.</br></br>The most basic debate came Saturday morning, beginning the second day of meetings. Simon made his last pitch for budget restraint. While advocating anti-recessionary tax cuts, the Secretary of the Treasury warned that federal spending must be checked to prevent perpetual inflation. Indeed, Simon has hoped tax cuts would permit reducing both federal spending and the government itself.