Milford chronicle., 1950-01-13
ISN'T 1T ABOUT TIME TO CUT COsTs

President Truman's latest statements on
the Federal financial outlook furnish every
indication that the Chief Executive is per-
fectly willing to go along with his ruinous.
high-spending, deficit-breeding policies. His
budget entails an operating deficit for the
flscai year 1851 at least equalling, and prob
ably exceeding, the $5,5OO,OOO,OOO red-ink
figure anticipated for the year ending June
80, l95O-the current Federal budget wear.
The President has abandoned, temporarily.
ms advocacy of higher taxes as the only way
to make up the gap between what his Admin
lStratiOn is spending and what it is receiving
IN revenue. In this he seems to differ from
Budget Director Frank Pace, who recently
SAID that more taxes were needed for a bal
anced budget, and with the views he himself
expressed not many weeks ago. This is all
to the good, since the tax load, as former
President Hoover pointed out, is already
well above the level which reputable econO-
mlsts regard as safe from the standpoint of
national stability and progress. But if Pres
ldent Truman has no solution for the revenue
side OF the budget, neither, apparently, does
ne contemplate doing anything effective to-
ward reducing the spending side. which has
SWelled to alarming proportions in the past
year or two. Mr.. Truman fatty rejects the
idea OF placing a firm ceiling on Federal
expenditures for the next fiscal year. He
says that's no way to arrive at a budget.
Why isn't it? Granting that unusual, emer-
gency needs crop up from time to time, that
doesn't excuse policy of piling all manner
OF wild spending schemes into the budget
and simply ignoring the question of where
the money is coming from. a
Knowing that revenue is limited to GER
tam amount, is it sensible to act as if this is
no problem at all when compiling a list of
proposed expenses? Wouldn't it be more
reasonable to take the figure for expected
Federal income and try to make the total
OF expenses come somewhere close to agree
ing with it? The way the budget problem is
being handled by the President, there will be
deficits this year and next, and perhaps after
that. And each time there's deficit the add
ed interest costs on the national debt will
automatically increase the spending require
ments for the years to come Mr.. Truman
says he's always in favor of balanced bud
get. II that's the case, how can he be so calm
about a $5,500,OOO, 900 deficit for this wear
which means upwards of $1O0,OOO,O 900 added
to the Federal budgets for 10, 20, perhaps SO
years! UnqueStiOnably the Federal budget
offers serious problem. But the problem
would not be lnsurmOuntable if the President
and all other Government officials tried to
solve it, instead of throwing up their hands
and announcing that we must have a deficit
Inc way to solve it is to give up the nom
senslcal notion that the Government is a bot
tomless grab-bag, into which the Admins
tratiOn can dip at will for handouts to toss to
any group strong enough to demand them.
Instead of encouraging people to believe that
the unlimited Welfare State-or handout
state, as Senator Taft more accurately de-
scribed it's simply a matter of asking and
the truth. 1t should make clear that all these
handouts come, not from a Government with
hmitless resources, but from the people them
selves, in taxes or in deficits which build I'M
debt burden for the rest of their lives. Mr.
Truman and some of his advisers are begin
ming to show signs of understanding that
excise taxes and other discriminatory levies
are bad for business, bad for people and bad
for the country It's about time he recog-
nized the facts of the spending side of the
budget and put firm clamp on the reckless
spending which is piling up disastrous-and
unnecessarily deficits.
5000