Evening star., 1952-01-27
TIE SUNDAY STAR C-5
washington. D. g.
49, SUNDAY, JANUARY "a, 1853
Budget
Spending Plans Have
Built-in Initiation
BY jones {. Roper

;
man sent to Congress last week
1.222 pages weighing 5A pounds
is staggering collection of complex
plans which cannot possibly be
digested in detail BY the average
man.
But by backing on far enough and
by adjusting the mind to thinking
In terms Of billions Of dollars. the
broad outlines Of the document can
be brought into focus.
The first obvious thing about the
plan for spending and taxing In the :
year beginning next July ! Is that
it is fun Of built-in imitation. The
President proposes to spend 1854
billion. which is $14.4 billion more
than the $7l billion he hopes to cole
lect In taxes. This would leave Q
bigger deficit than In any year since
the war.
President Truman emphasized that !
1t is the Korean war and defense ex-
penditures that once again are put.
ting the Federal finances out Of gear.
He easily proved his basic point, ale
though there viii be lot Of political
argument over whether he Is spending
wisely at every turn.
Three -fourthS Of the spending
$65.l billion-would go for the armed
forces, atomic energy. foreign aid pro-
gram or other activities intended to
add to the Vests military strength.
This would give the United States
more soldiers at better pay and with
more weapons, especially aircraft. Mr..
Truman proposes that the United
States step up shipment of arms to
friendly powers, continue the ecO-
nomic aid to Americas friends and
increase United States overseas prop,
uganda.
The United States armed forces
alone are set to cost $51.2 billion.
compared Vith 1898 billion this year.
Aid to foreign countries is up from
$6.8 billion to sos billion In the
Presidents projected budget. This
may develop controversy In Con-
greSS.
Others Spend Less
Opponents of foreign spending =
may point out that the United States
military budget is five times as, great
as the military budgets of all other
Atlantic pact powers put together.
Great Britain, which has been arm.
ing faster than any Of the other Euro
pean members of the pact, gives only
30 per cent Of its budget to the mill
tary-compared with about rs per
cent in the United States.
President Truman himself left
no doubt that he himself was dis
appointed that the Government il
going into debt. When the Korean
crisis began, he proposed that the
United States meet it on pay-as- .
we-go basis. This year he made no
attempt to balance the budget.
He did ask Congress for IS billion
In new taxes. But that was not
enough to make ends meet and con- 4
gressional leaders don't expect any
important new taxes at all. For one
reason, this is an election year. There
will be an attempt to plug tax loop.
holes" but that is another story, ex.1
planned by Hugh Humphrey elsewhere
on this page. ..s
The current budget thus becomes
political as well as military docu-
ment, so that expenditures on the
home front may be examined more
closely than even the gigantic SPEND
ing for international security. Do
mestic problems emphasize how the
budget brings imitation in the coun-
try and within the budget itself.
To encourage large farm production,
President Truman wants to keep
farm prices up by tripling price sup
ports-making them $240 million.
Higher wheat prices will help cause
the Government to lose more money
on a subsidized wheat export pro-
gram. so he wants $188 million to
cover that.
With deficit financing, big indus
trial wages and high farm prices en-
couraging imitation, President Tru-
man faces new problems in how to
keep consumer prices down. There
fore he has asked for $37 million
more than last year for price con-
troll and other economic sterilization
work. And he needs more money for
the job Of collecting taxes.
interest Payments Grow a.
The growing national debt forces
the Government to set aside more
and more money to pay interest,
Next year, nearly cents out Of each
tax dollar will go to pay interest.
The Government also faces nun1@
Der Of standing obligations, such as
veterans programs and pensions. The
cost Of veterans benefits during the
next fiscal year is expected to drop
below the present level. but then
increase rapidly because of the larger
armed forces the country is building.
President Truman tried to pare
costs where he thought he could.
Government construction next year
will be way down. The President
soft-pedaled welfare proposals that
he has been boosting for the last few
years. Many of these apparently will
be put aside until defense spending
slackens.
The President suggested several
ways for the Government to pick up
some small change. He wants $500
million increase In postal rates. He
wants to eliminate hidden subsi-
dies" which he said the shipping in.
dustry receives through tax conces-
sions. He also wants commercial air.
lines to pay for nsyigational and
landing aids that the Government
has been furnishing free.
But these can have no important
percentage effect on the total budget
for fiscal 1858. Spending will be at
the highest rate In peacetime history.
Taxes viii be as high as Congress will
let them 60 in an election year.