Show t c r I Ev Even n Cold War Can Be Pretty Expensive President Truman has upped his proposed proposed pro pro- posed national defense budget for f r the fiscal year starting this July 1 to a total of This compares with I the initial defense budget of about el eleven ven and a half billion dollars which the pr president president si- si dent propos proposed d. d in his Janu January ry budget estimate esti esti- mate In his letter to the speaker of the house announcing the increased defense spending estimate Mr Truman said he had asked Defense Secretary Forrestal to review the entire military program in September and again in December in order to th arrive at a level of defense expenditures which can be supported on ona ona ona a sound basis in subsequent years He added Whenever H increases in military strength are are being considered the effect i j I on the nati national nal economy must be weighed This is a a. point which merits atten atten- tion Everybody Ever body agrees that our national national national na na- na- na defenses must be maintained at an adequate level But there is danger in whooping it up ip for bigger and be better ter military forces without considering the ability of the nation to pay for those forces on n a peacetime basis Ve We have just made a reduction in federal taxes which almost everyone agreed was essential The people we said couldn't stand the heavy wartime income tax burden any longer They had to have relief That tax reduction e amoun amounted ed in all to approximately ly Now ow at the same time we are going to increase incase expenditures by more more than three e billion dollars dollars and and some observers in congress say that is by no noI I means th the end of i increased creased d defense spending Representative G Gavin av i n of i Pennsylvania says the present defense defenseS spending program program is likely to add up to more th than n seventeen billion dollars If that's t true u where ere is the money i going to come from Are we going t to have to take back baek that tax reduction Are we going to stop paying off on the national debt debt or or even perhaps start I going back into debt again The situation is perplexing and wor wor wor- We must have the armed aimed II strength to safeguard the nation and to support our diplomatic position in the world But we must have a strong economic economic economic eco eco- position too I Fighting this cold war with Soviet I r Russia is a tricky and expensive business business business busi busi- ness viewed from this side We Ve only hope that the Russians are having just as many problems on their side of the cold war trenches |