Democrats See Inflation as Issue
Democrats zeroed in on the Nixon administrationÛªs economic policies last night, claiming in a televised rebuttal of the President that inflation probably will be the big issue of 1970 politics.</br></br>Sen. Edmund S. Muskie (D-Maine), a potential presidential candidate, moved toward a new position by suggesting that it may be time to impose controls on wages and prices to halt inflation.</br></br>the major political issue in the 1970 congressional elections. Until now, he said, he has supported only the idea of using wage-price guidelines to control inflation, and criticized Mr. Nixon for not using White House leadership for that purpose, ÛÏNow I think we may have reached the point that we may have to go beyond wage-price guidelines into controls,Û Muskie said,</br></br>He was joined by Rep. Henry Reuss (D-Wis.) who specifically urged an ÛÏacross-the-board freeze on wages, prices, rents, salaries, the whole worksÛ for a period of at least three or four months.</br></br>Muskie, Reuss and Democratic National Chairman Lawrence F. OÛªBrien were interviewed on an American Broadcasting Co. program, ÛÏNow.Û