The Budget: On to $100 Billion

Last week President John Kennedy prepared to submit to Congress a record budget of more than $92 billion for fiscal 1963—and vowed that it would be in balance. But many economists and Congressmen had deep doubts. There have been only six budget surpluses since F.D.R.’s first inaugural—and 24 deficit years. The budget for fiscal 1962, an Eisenhower-Kennedy hybrid, so far shows a deficit of $6.9 billion. In “balancing” the first pure-Kennedy budget, the Administration counts heavily on a higher tax take from rising corporate and personal income, and on congressional approval of a controversial rise in postal rates (which could be gobbled up by postal wage rises ). The Administration also assumes that there will be no extraordinary and unexpected defense spending—the very factor that caused the 1962 deficit. Most members of Congress feel that budget expenditures in 1963 will fetch up closer to $95 billion, with revenues running a few billion behind.

The steady rise of the U.S. budget points to a milestone that cannot be far distant. Just as the nation’s gross national product crossed the long-awaited half-trillion dollar mark in 1960. so the U.S. budget is headedfor a less eagerly awaited pinnacle: $100 billion. If Kennedy’s next three budgets increase at the same rate as Eisenhower’s last three, the big day will arrive in 1964.