Show just talk Not long ago some presumably good goodnews goodnews goodnews news concerning federal spending and federal fed eral oral deficits flooded out of Washington It was stressed almost gleefully that expenditures expenditures ex- ex during during- the last fiscal year were more than han a billion dollars donars less than the estimate and that the deficit was a hearty 36 billion bilHon less On first glance this seems at least modestly cheering But that first glance doesn't tell the story at all aU The important thing isn't the estimates which frequently are way off the mark What counts is whether actual spending and actual deficits are going up or or down This is where the good news vanishes Expenditures Expenditures Ex Ex- in fiscal 1964 were e 51 billion higher than in 1963 and the deficit was some 2 billion more The national debt deb debt rose again To use estimates as yardsticks of performance performance per per- is to beg the issue and to confuse confuse con con- fuse the public All AU the talk about government government government govern govern- ment economy remains that just talk The probabilities are that federal spending spending spend spend- ing will take another jump during fiscal fisca 1965 And that will continue ue to be the case so long as a welfare state philosophy pre pro vails valls I |