The Wilmington morning star., 1947-01-11
R[DCET PROGRAM
BALANCES BUDGET
Continued From Page One)

Continued From Page One)
THE president warned emphatica1
" that his budget cannot be balanc
ID if the Republicans 60 through
u,ith their campaign pledge to Gu.
taxes. ...
There is no justification now fol
+ox reduction he said.
Republicans Hot
His message brought. Republican
leaders in both House Of Congress
o,,t fighting. They accused him Of
ovtravagance and of concealine
tanned expenditures in a maze Of
~b1dgetary statistics. And they serv-
Cd notice that they intend to chop
e. moo. 900, 900 to $4,000, 900, 600 off
his spending proposals to make
c,lre that taxes can be cut this
year. *,
The swift and hostile reaction. OF
tho COP majority made it clear
that Mr.. Truman is in for a rough
time if he stands by his position
that taxes should be kept at their
present high levels.
Republican-contfolled taxation
and appropriation committees were
expected to go into conference inn
mediately to act on his budget, pro-
nosals. Under the new congression-
II concentration bill, the commit
tees must report their findings by
mjd.February and present to both
houses their own detailed ideas the
1913 budget.
COP Plans
Republican plans call for tax re-
auctions of much as 20 per cent.
10 he effective for the entire calen-
dar wear 1947. and there were indi-
cations that a number of Demo
Gratis favored at least a 10 to Is
ner cent cut in income taxes.
Mr.. Truman, however, insisted
in his message that his calculations
Of 1913 revenues and expenditures
leave no room for tax reductions
and that he would not favor them
Al this time even if there were a
larger. surplus.
Textual excerpts from Presi-
dent Humans budget message as
supplied by the Associated Press
follow:
Expenditures under existing and
proposed legislation are estimated
at 37.5 billion dollars and revenues
under existing tax laws at 3T.7
billion dollars, leaving a very
slight margin of surplus.
strongly recommend that the
Congress take early action to con-
tinue throughout the fiscal year
1913 the war excise-tax rates,
which, under present law, will ex-
pire July1, l9F,
| also recommend that the Con
gress increase postal rates suffi-
GENTLY to wipe out the postal de-
ficit.
These recommendations would re-
duce expenditures to 37.1 billion
dollars and increase revenue to
1873 billion dollars. We would then
have a budget surplus of 1.8 bill
lion dollars.
As long as business. employment,
and national income continue high.
we should maintain tax revenues
at levels that will not only meet
current expenditures but also leave
surplus for retirement of the
public debt. There is no justifi-
cation now for tax reduction. At
today's level Of economic activity,
our present revenue system will
not yield SO much in 194S as in the
current year. We shall no longer
collect large sums from the ex-
cess-proflts tax, and sales of SUI
plus property will decline.
In this budget, it has been as
sumed that, with minor fluctua-
lions, business activity will aver
age slightly higher than in the ca
ehdar year 1916. A recession in
business would cause tax yields to
drop.
For the fiscal year 1947, it now
appears that RECEIPTS will amount
10 4o.2 billion dollars and expendi-
lures to 42.5 billion dollars. The l.
olllon-dollar increase in expendi-
lures over the August estimate &C.
CURED largely in veterans pro-
Let me now review the expendi-
lure SIDE Of the budget, taking first
me large items which practically
oe'ermlne the size of the total.
l. interest on the national debt
Will be i've billion dollars. This is
dh oollgation that must be met.
:. Refunds due under the tax
laws are estimated at 81 billion
uoilafs' These are fixed obligations
under present law.
Inese two items total IL billion
dollars,
o. National defense is estimated
d, more than liz billion dollars,
atlloSt all for the operating ex-
LENSES Of the Army and Navy.
nliough we expect the United Ma
uons TO move successfully toward
"uilo security, any cut in our pres
snI estimate for 1948 would inn
nlealalely weaken our international
busltlon. This large part of the
Ouusel, IN my judgement, repre-.