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That, like many other things in Nixon's Washington, is still in the discussion stage. Three months after the new men took over, there is a paucity of proposals for social reform. Most of the efforts have been directed toward reorganization. Some of the men in the White House, including the President, react defensively to suggestions that more should have been done. What has been done so far, counters Presidential Aide Stephen Hess, is "not very dramatic. But it's what makes Government work. This is very meaningful stuff."
Finch makes no apologies. He could have had almost any other Cabinet post. Why did he choose one of the hardest? "The first reason," he says, "is that people say it can't be done. The second is that with all of our institutions under fire, it is going to be terribly exciting to head an agency that must deal simultaneously with both the attacked and the attackers." He adds: "HEW is where the action is. I like problems—rather, I like trying to solve problems."
He should certainly be at home at HEW, a 16-year-old agency whose principal wards are the castoffs of the affluent society. The agency's problems multiply even faster than its programs. More than any other man, the President excepted, HEW's Secretary directly touches the lives of more than 200 million Americans, rich or poor, black or white, young or old, ailing or well. When it was established, HEW was responsible for fewer than 70 programs; by the end of the New Frontier, it had 130. By the time Nixon took office, it had more than 250, from Medicare to air pollution. Despite the formidable cost of Viet Nam, domestic appropriations rose dramatically during the Johnson Administration. The figures: a 668% increase for health (to $12.3 billion), 442% for education (to $3.8 billion), 46% for welfare (to $4.4 billion). Social security benefits doubled to $30.8 billion. Today HEW has a budget of $51 billion, second only to the Pentagon's, and Washington's third biggest civilian payroll (107,000), behind those of the Pentagon and the Post Office.
Finch does not intend to add many new programs soon, but he has already indicated what he and the new Administration are likely to do.
∙ WELFARE. Working closely with members of the Council for Urban Affairs, Finch has recommended to Nixon a restructuring of the archaic welfare system. Very simply, the proposal would guarantee every American a minimum income of $31 a month (Mississippi pays indigents $8.50); 17 states now give less. Bonuses would be given for working, so that no one would be penalized, as at present, for earning extra money. At the same time, all poor families would be given more generous allotments of food stamps. Added cost: $3 billion to $4.5 billion in the federal welfare bill.