Carter Hits 'Pork Barrel' Bills
President Carter, stepping up his anti-inflation rhetoric, said yesterday that a continuation of ÛÏthe age-old policy of pork-barrel allocationsÛ by Congress would set a ÛÏhorrible exampleÛ for the country that he will not tolerate.</br></br>At a nationally televised news conference, Carter linked government spending with the rise in interest rates that has been fueled by actions of the Federal Reserve Board, and said that only if spending is curtailed can the Fed be expected to relent and interest rates be expected to decline.</br></br>ÛÏI am going to be very persistent in my own role as president in holding down unwarranted spending in individual bills that come to me from the Congress,Û he said.</br></br>ÛÏI think the time for wasteful spending is over,Û he added. ÛÏAnd 1 think if we can show that we -can get inflation under control through those actions by me and the Congress, that would be an inducement for the Federal Reserve to start bringing the interest rate down.Û</br></br>The president stopped short of threatening specific vetos. although that clearly was the brunt of his message. Several bills to which he has already expressed opposition include the just-passed public works appropriations bill and the pending tuition tax credit and tax cut measures.