US Presidency
1960

In Space expenditures the amounts are practically doubled. But the over-all guiding goal of this budget is national need--not response to specific group, local or political insistence. Expenditure increases, other than those I have indicated, are largely accounted for by the increased cost of legislation previously enacted. I repeat, this budget will be a balanced one. Expenditures will be 79 billion 8 hundred million. The amount of income over outgo, described in the budget as a Surplus, to be applied against our national debt, is 4 billion 2 hundred million. Personally, I do not feel that any amount can be properly called a Surplus as long as the nation is in debt. I prefer to think of such an item as reduction on our children's inherited mortgage. Once we have established such payments as normal practice, we can profitably make improvements in our tax structure and thereby truly reduce the heavy burdens of taxation.