Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-01-19
Biggest Peocetime Budoet

Oul oyoGeW VI feQeral DuQgeC
planning calls for courage on the
part of those officials charged with
this responsibility Involving mountain
Gus figures and complex calculations,
1t forces the budget makers to gauge
events, public needs and political pres
sures over long advance period in
order to make an educated guess" on
how the books will stand at the end
OF new fiscal year, nearly eighteen
months hence.
All OF the built-in uncertainties of
this process are present in the record
peacetime budget that President Ken
nedy submitted to Congress yesterday.
Mr. Kennedy had promised on several
occasions in recent months that he
would present balanced budget for
fiscal 1868. He has done so in "king-
size" document in new royal blue dress
that forecasts expenditures of 1925
billion and revenues of 500 billion On
the side of expenditures this repre-
Sents an increase of $3.4 billion above
estimates for the year ending next
June 80. And on the revenue side the
anticipated 500 billion is based hope
fully on whopping 500 billion rise
over the total expected in this fiscal
year.
In overall terms, this is a blue
print that Budget Director David E.
Bell has described as one suited to
expansion and growth of the economy,
but also not inflationary and even
mildly restraining. Mr.. Bell has said
further that this budget is neither
rugged nor phony," and that there was
no distortion of judgments in order to
come up with the promised balance.
There are, however some risky as
SumptionS. One is an optimistic fore
cast that business activity, which has
been improving more or less steadily
for the past twelve months, will con-
t1nue in high gear until late summer
or fall of calendar 1868, thus helping
to bring the substantial increase in
revenues that is being counted on for
the tWelve-month period ending June
80, 1868. Another is that Congress will
do something helpful about an old
problem, namely, the postal deficit,
which the administration proposes to
offset by raise in mail rates and by
charging $248 million in public service"
costs to Treasury Department general
funds. 1t is estimated that pending
postal pay increases offset this by only
$50 million of higher expenditures in
fiscal 1868.
Another critically important as
sumption on the revenue side is that
Congress will fulfill administration re-
quests on tax legislation. One Is that
the temporary" rates on corporation
income and certain excuses, involving
$2.8 billion in revenue, be extended
Tor yet another year. Another is the
proposed removal of certain travel
taxes and reduction of others, but
with the imposition of a new system
OF user charges for aviation and in
land waterway transport. Most intri-
cate of all on the tax side, however,
is a pending seven-point package in
VolVlng the suggested per cent tax
credit for investment in depreciable
equipment and several other highly
controversial items. The administration
calculates there would be no immediate
net change in revenue if this package
is approved in toto. If parts of it are
killed off entirely or revised substan-
TALLY, however, revenue estimates would
be affected.
AS for the spending estimates, a
major calculated risk is the assumption
that no new and costly crisis will arise
In domestic or foreign affairs. In the
budget as presented, one of the most
striking estimates of reduced spending
is that $434 million will be Topped
off assorted disbursements in the field
of agriculture. In an election year,
however, Congress may be more gen.
erouS on many things than Mr.. Ken
needy is now proposing.
To repeat, this, on it's face, is
balanced budget, as Mr.. Kennedy prom
1Sed. But the balance results from as
SumptionS which may we'll prove to
have been unwarranted Consequently,
since over all non-defenSe requests
have not been reduced but are, in
fact, somewhat higher, we hope that
Congress will search diligently in this
area for possible economies.