THE 89TH CONGRESS: Acting on the Visionary

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ECONOMY. The 89th pushed through a wad of economy-stimulating bills, most notably a measure slashing excise taxes on items such as furs, jewelry, appliances, cars and entertainment by $4.8 billion over the next four years. The debt limit was hiked to $328 billion. Because of increasing industrial demands for silver, a bill was passed to eliminate it completely from dimes and quarters and cut silver content of half-dollars to 40%. Congress eliminated the 20-year-old requirement that each Federal Reserve Bank keep gold reserves totaling 25% of its total deposits, thus releasing $5 billion in gold to meet international demands on the dollar and allowing the nation's money supply to expand.