"President Ford last night signed the $23.1 billion tax reduction bill during a broadcast speech, saying that ?ÛÏserious drawbacks?Û? in the legislation were ?ÛÏoutweighed by the urgent necessity of an anti-recession tax reduction right now.?Û?</br></br>Under the new law, individuals will get tax cuts amounting to about $18,1 billion, including rebates of $100 to $200 on 1974 federal taxes that will be distributed within GO days.</br></br>The President indicated that he decided against a veto, which he had seriously considered, because even, if sustained, such action might bring a ""worse?Û? bill to his desk.</br></br>Mr. Ford declared that the $23,1 billion tax cut total represented ?ÛÏa reasonable compromise?Û? between the $16 billion he had originally requested and the $32 billion proposed by the Senate. But he insisted that ?ÛÏa lot of extraneous changes"" had been introduced into the final bill in ?ÛÏa hectic last-minute ses- ?ÛÏThis is no way to legislate fundamental tax reforms, and every member of Congress knows it,"" Mr. Ford said. If he were still a</br></br>congressman, he said, he would have voted ?ÛÏto send this bill back to committee for further cleaning up.?Û? In a brief radio and TV speech to the nation explaining his decision, the President offered a new estimate of the budget deficit for fiscal 1976 of ?ÛÏapproximately $60 billion,?Û? based on the new tax bill. This is above his original projection of $51.9 billion, but far below recent Treasury estimates running around $80 billion, and a House Budget Committee estimate of $73.7 billion."