Monday, Aug. 09, 1943
Alltime Peak
The rate of U.S. war spending has reached top speed at top altitude, although the totals may and probably will go higher, off toward infinity.
This was implicit in the President's semiannual revision of the budget last week. Mr. Roosevelt's findings on the U.S. fiscal health:
> The "fantastic" expenditure of $97 billion for war in the 1943-44 fiscal year still stands. The Army budget is to be revised downward by $6 billion; the Navy pro gram revised upward by $4 billion. The remaining $2 billion will be absorbed by merchant shipping and other war goods.
> Since July 1940, Congress has appropriated $330 billion for war, of which $110 billion had actually been spent as of last June 30. The rate of spending is now al most $8 billion a month.
The national income is now running at the rate of $150 billion a year, twice the actual income in 1940.
> On June 30 the national debt reached $137 billion, compared to $53 billion in 1940. By next July, unless there is additional heavy taxation, it will reach $206 billion. Annual interest payments alone aggregate $2,700 million.
Most startling revelation was that im roved tax collections under pay-as-you-go would bring in an unlooked-for $5,067 million. But Franklin Roosevelt, noting that the Government is now paying only slightly more than a third of its current expenses out of current revenue, again called for "truly stiff" taxes or savings, or both.
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