THE ADMINISTRATION: BEGINNING TO BEGIN

FOR weeks Democrats on Capitol Hill had been needling their Republican colleagues about the new regime's lateness in presenting a domestic program. "When," asked Idaho's Senator Frank Church, "is the Nixon Administration going to begin?" Last week seemed to be the week, and it was probably with as much relief as pride that Republican Leader Everett Dirksen announced: "The day of inaction is ended."

In fact, the Nixon program, when it finally emerged, was more the beginning of a beginning than a giant step forward. Set out in ten neat points, Nixon's proposals were unexceptionable:

sbSOCIAL SECURITY. A 7% increase in benefits to counteract losses to inflation.

sbTAX CREDITS. Incentives to encourage business to invest in cities, particularly in the ghettos.

sbREVENUE SHARING. A proposal to divert part of the money collected by the Federal Government to local governments. Cities and states have long complained that the Federal Government takes so much of the total tax dollar (about two-thirds) that not enough is left for local needs.

sbIMPROVEMENT OF AIRWAYS AND AIRPORTS AND DEVELOPMENT OF MASS TRANSIT. Financed by various user charges instead of general tax revenue, this program would help unsnarl and speed up the nation's clogged transportation systems.

sbNEW MEASURES TO COMBAT CRIME. Nixon's emphasis would be on organized crime and racketeering, and he would also attempt to curtail the sale of pornography to minors.

sbREORGANIZATION OF THE POST OFFICE. This, presumably, would embody Nixon's suggestion that the Post Office be taken out of politics.

For the long range, he urged innovation in social programs, including a total--and long-needed--restructuring of the archaic federal-state-local welfare complex. "Our studies," he said of the welfare field, "have demonstrated that tinkering with the present system is not enough. We need a complete reappraisal and redirection." One immediate measure to help the poor will be submitted to Congress this week, when Nixon will recommend that all those below the Government's poverty line ($3,300 for a family of four) be released from any obligation to pay federal income taxes. Many poor people now have to pay income taxes--even as tax money is being spent to raise them from poverty.

Formative Years. Pending separate messages to Congress that will supply specifics, the program was still somewhat formless and indistinct; neither loud praise nor harsh criticism seemed quite appropriate. If not exactly bemused by the program, the Democrats were, for the most part, at a loss for words. Republicans were not much more vocal. Tennessee's Senator Howard Baker, Dirksen's son-in-law, noted the lack of response, but on reflection found it less than remarkable. Said Baker: "There were no surprises."

Some of the recommendations might yet prove enormously important. The sharing of federal tax receipts with local governments might go a long way toward relieving the financially starved cities and could have a profound impact. It will depend on how wide Nixon, and Congress, are willing to open the Treasury doors. Another idea, to apply considerable Government antipoverty resources to the formative period of life --the first five years--might become immensely significant in years ahead. The President's intent at least was clear. "It will be the goal of this Administration," he said, "to propose only legislation that we know we can execute once it becomes law. Merely making proposals takes only a typewriter; making workable proposals takes time. We have taken this time."

A better indication of the President's plans for the immediate future was his revision of Lyndon Johnson's budget for fiscal 1970, which begins July 1. With control of inflation his top domestic goal, most of the President's revision was downward--about $3 billion from Johnson's proposed domestic budget and about $1 billion from his defense budget. The only department to receive an increase was Justice, which picked up $16 million, mostly for FBI and other law-enforcement functions.

Anti-Tax Mood. Despite the slashes, the Republican budget was probably as close to a non-ideological spending program as could be devised, with cuts neither so big as to outrage liberal Democrats nor so small as to displease most Republicans greatly. "By and large," said Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield in a display of bonhomie, "I approve of what he has suggested." The proposed budget was deftly designed to fall somewhere between the savers and the spenders, a product of what has already become typical middle-of-the-road Nixon style.

Though it was smaller than the proposed Johnson budget for 1970, it was a good bit bigger than the actual Johnson budget for the current year, and in some areas of social welfare even raised the Johnson ante. The boosts were scarcely enough to make much dent in the country's serious urban ills, but at the same time the cutbacks in most programs were not enough to seriously curtail any of the efforts that have been made so far.

In its present antitax, anti-inflation mood, Congress would probably prevent Nixon from raising expenditures very much even if he wanted to do so. One of the few voices of criticism was that of Wilbur Mills, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Before he would approve extension of the 10% income tax surcharge beyond June 30, said Mills, he would demand a further $5 billion budget cut.

The Likeliest Target. Mills exacted a similar price for the surtax from Johnson last year, and no one is likely to dismiss his threat. Mills' stature is such that his assent is crucial. Still, Congress seems to feel that the budget has been cut enough. If further slashes are to be made, the defense budget, already under unprecedented scrutiny, will be the likeliest target.

A bigger reduction, in fact, might damage not only some necessary programs but the economy as a whole. Too great a surplus--compared with the $25.2 billion deficit in fiscal 1968--might cause such a shock as to push the economy into a recession. The question is how much is enough and how much is too much. The economy, which is now galloping past a $900 billion G.N.P., has been remarkably resistant to attempts to restrain it. But there is still the haunting danger of overkill.

One compromise might be extension of the surtax at a lesser rate--such as 7% instead of 10%--and either reduction or repeal of the 7% investment credit for business. Many Congressmen are understandably reluctant to approve continued higher taxes while businessmen enjoy the investment credit--in itself a spur to inflation--but might be persuaded to approve a partial surtax on their constituents if business lost the tax advantage. A Democratic House caucus, in fact, recommended just such a move last week, and Nixon may go along with it.

If Nixon's message last week is taken at its face value, the most important part of his domestic platform was neither a new spending proposal nor a new program, but a new way of looking at the existing program. Emphasis was placed throughout on reordering current efforts to make them more workable. "We have learned," he said, "that too often Government's delivery systems have failed: though Congress may pass a law or the President may issue an order, the intended services never reach the intended recipients. We have to design systems that go beyond commitment and guarantee performance." If the President can make good on that promise, the nation will probably not mind the wait for a Nixon program.

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