About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 The Federal Budget for Fiscal 1966 1 (1965)

handle is hein.tera/edeetisca0001 and id is 1 raw text is: The Federal Budget ,For Fiscal 1966 Spending Resumes Its Upward Path No. 1 in a Series THE FEDERAL BUDGET for 1966 marks several steps in the evolution of fiscal and economic policy. First, balancing the budget receives only passing and unenthusiastic endorsement as an objective of public policy. If balance is reached it will be, in essence, a by- product of the performance of the economy. Expenditures in excess of revenues are viewed, apparently, not merely as a means of offsetting recession but also as a primary generator of economic growth, even in periods of high prosperity. Second, the budget portends a continuation of the up. ward trend of Federal expenditures. Alternative uses of potential revenue from economic growth.-namely, sub. stantial tax reduction, debt reduction, or the sharing of revenues with the states-appear to have been passed over in favor of programs which will require considerable expansion in expenditure in the future. Third, new programs will mean a substantial increase in activities that will involve the Federal government much more closely in the operations of state and local governments. This budget, like its predecessors, contains many de- vices which combine to make analysis difficult and, it may be said, to mislead any but an expert. Balanced Budget Objective De-emphasized Careful study of the new budget-almost certainly the last of the sub-$100 billion budgets-reveals what many observers will consider a feature more striking than the spending figures themselves. This feature is an emphasis upon Federal budgetary and fiscal policy as an aid in promoting an expanding and healthy economy coupled with the apparent conclusion of the Chief Executive and his budgetmakers that no longer is it necessary to hold out firm promises of budget balances. The message stresses that the revenue and expenditure proposals are designed to promote economic expansion. In one of his few references to a balanced budget, the President says economic growth is also needed to move us toward the objective of budget balance. The message acknowledges that, unless defense requirements decline, Government expenditures will continue to rise over the long run. At their press briefing on the budget, the Secretary of the Treasury and Budget Director appeared to set back for an additional year - to 1968- the prospect of balancing the budget. And the Budget Director indicated that achieving the objective even by this date would be dependent on our ability to sustain the steady advance in the economy, sustain the growth in output which has occurred in recent years. The Economic Report of the President, submitted a few days after the budget, reinforces these impressions. The Chief Executive refers again to the expansionary force of the new budget-with no mention whatever of the balanced budget as an objective. Indeed, the economic message asserts that economic policy has be- gun to liberate itself from the preconceptions of an earlier day, and sees government since 1960 as providing a vital margin of difference which has invigorated the private economy. Spending Turns Upward Again The Federal budget presented a year ago projected a modest reduction in Federal expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1965. Was the reduction, it was then asked, something of a strategic pause, perhaps to smooth the path for the tax cut? Would another upward move in spending follow? The new budget does resume the upward trend. Ad- ministrative budget expenditures for 1966, $99.7 billion, s. TAX FOUNDATION, INC. - 50 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA *: NEW YORK, N.Y. 10020 (Copyright 1965)

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most