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 headed for 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.

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